Nigel Kahn has been Sam Allardyce’s most relentless critic both in public and private!
He regularly called for the manager’s head throughout last season and has been unapologetic over his mega hardline attitude towards the man.
So how does he feel now with with the Irons sitting proudly in fourth spot. ClaretandHugh catches up with ‘Nasty’ Nigel!
By Nigel Kahn
Times are good indeed – the performances, the results and in fact the whole club is in a great good place and the team is playing in a way that befits the club and football in general.
Yet there remains a divide between the pro and anti Sam fans Those that have stood by him – on Twitter anyway – seem hell bent on crowing over the change of fortunes and attributing that to Sam.
What they fail to realise is the owners made it be known after the end of season meeting that there had to be a change of style. It’s there in black and white in a website statement on May 20 when they announced he was keeping his job.
The reason the owners made that demand was because of uproar over his tactics all last season culminating in the most dreadful of victories v Hull.
Pressure by the fans was put on the owners to sack him with around 80% voting for him to go on a poll across over 16 West Ham independent websites.
Constant pressure was applied on the owners to do something. Some may say it is to their to their credit they didn’t sack him but gave him one last chance to change.
However, without fan pressure from the so called Anti brigade, the owners may not have considered asking Sam to change.
Fan pressure works. It may not have achieved its ultimate aim in removing Sam it can be seen as being the catalyst for this upturn in the club.
Thus it follows that if you are a fan of Big Sam and always have been, the next time we win don’t be baiting others with the “Sam out brigade gone quiet” or “no Sam outs around Tonight.”
Remember instead that if it hadn’t been for those who voted for him to go, or those that booed him off after Hull or even those that emailed DS urging him to sack Sam there may have been no change and no fourth place!
I still make no apologies for wanting him out and asking the owners to get rid of him for the sake of the club. He is a divisive manager and those that support him reinforce that with their constant swipes at those, like me,who wanted him gone.
The constant digging out of other West Ham fans, with in some cases a holier than thou attitude, will not bring this club together when at last we are looking upwards and not downwards.
So next time you want to call out those fans that didn’t back Sam last season, think again as it’s possibly down to those fans that we are now where we are.
The views in this blog are not necessarily shared by ClaretandHugh but are solely the views of the author.
I totally agree with your comments, without the intervention of the fans making our thoughts clear to theowners as early as Peterborough away in the Championship “We play on the floor” and Hull at home etc etc, we would still be playing one up front with mug Nolan supposedly feeding off.
Big Sam’s now enjoying all the plaudits for the new signings, apparently it was Sullivan who insisted on signing Sakho, BFS didn’t want him, that’s why he’s so pleasantly surprised by his form. Sullivan probably didn’t trust his Manager’s judgement after witnessing the ‘skills’ of Maiga, one look at his highlights on You Tube beforehand would have indicated to anyone that he wasn’t up to the job.
I said on websites 2 years ago that we would never improve as a team with Nolan in the side, Big Sam has always shaped everything around him and in my opinion he just isn’t a good player.
Unfortunately we are forced to listen to the likes of Shearer this week demonstrating his total ignorance of the situation when asking, “Where are the Sam out brigade now”.
The ‘Sam out brigade’ should be rightly proud of the turn around in the manager’s attitude, the Boleyn is once again a good place to watch football – come on you irons.
Did you cheer when we needed it most last year,when Nolan scored six in three when we won four crucial games on the trot.Not a mug,just a player who is getting toward’s the end of his career. C.O.Y.I.
Let’s call it a day on this baddow. It’s tedious from all sides now
I’m sorry Hugh but though I can see why this is ‘tedious’ for those who wanted Sam out, in fact this is exactly the time that we should be at our most reflective.
The reason for that is not some sort of bitter ‘I was right, you were wrong’ thing, but because a realistic assessment is that we are only ever two bad results away from the whole thing starting again. Two games from the ‘Sam out’ campaigns to start again, a couple more injuries to our centre backs and suddenly we will be a crisis club again, just like last season when somehow a 13th place finish in a tough season was the end of the club as we know it for some.
So yes, lets please call it a day, but can we first take just a little time to learn from last season and to recognise that we are only ever a hair’s breadth from the same thing happening over again. We WILL hit a bad patch at some time this season; the question is will we all have learnt from the mistakes made last year in terms of how we as supporters react to that?
Afraid this all sounds way too bitter. The divisions in our support (if there still are any of substance) ALL stem back to last season. And the reason things got bitter back then was the different reactions to the poor form the team were displaying.
Many, like Nigel, campaigned for Sam to be sacked. As someone who disagreed with that view (not out of any great love for Sam – which can be difficult at times! – but out of simple pragmatism) I was regularly accused of ‘betraying the club’ or not understanding the ‘West Ham way’. On many many occasions last season anyone who put their head above the parapet to disagree with the most extreme of the ‘Sam Out’ campaigners, or those who pointed to injuries or squad limitations (rather than just the identity of our manager) as significant factors for our bad season, was shouted down and ridiculed.
This season, thankfully, life is a lot happier. But not for everyone it seems. As this post indicates, there is still a lot of bitterness apparently felt towards those who opposed Sam’s sacking and towards those who have since pointed out to some of the most vociferous of the ‘Sam out’ campaigners that they may have been – whisper it – a bit wrong.
Now I refuse to get dragged into too much negative thinking as I am enjoying the season too much, but the cold reality is that if Nigel had got his way, the chances of us enjoying this now would be much much slimmer. All I need to say, without labouring the point, is “Ole Gunnar Solksjaer”, “Felix Magath”, “Pepe Mel” and “Paolo Di Canio”.
Nigel, last year you didn’t just campaign for a new playing style or a stronger squad (as many of those who wanted to keep Sam were arguing), you instead campaigned for a NEW MANAGER. Unfortunately, your suggestion instead that it’s the people who disagreed with you over sacking Sam who are the ones who somehow now have a chip on their shoulder, distorts the truth and does you no favours.
You my friend are spot on! I couldn’t have put it better myself. A well thought out and reasoned piece,
I think what you missed is the article stems from the pro Sam camp constantly calling out after every win “where are they”
I got texts and tweets started just 15 minutes after the Liverpool game about screwing up my agenda.
Then I see threads on Internet forums doing the same,
Extreme as my article is it is born out of the stick being dished out by others
Allardyce is riding his luck and no more than that.The Song and Noble led players have performed wonders but bar picking a fairly obvious team and then bringing on Nolan for no good reason what else has Allardyce done.Mac does the training and virtually therefore picks the team ,he is proving himself. As with the showings against Saints,QPR and first half Saturday Allardyce is still a poor manager because he doesn’t work hard enough or know anything but lump ball.Let’s see after the excuses for Saturday before getting carried away.
How do you know who does what. ? C.O.Y.I.
I take your point Ironsider where you quote numerous failures in management, had we got rid of Sam we could have ended up with one of them and been back to square one.
However, I have to disagree that ALL divisions of support go back to last season, the football we played in the Championship, with the so called strongest squad, was nothing short of appalling and surely a prime example of hoof-ball the Allardyce way. Do you ever remember Rob Green throwing the ball out in that season? I went to most games home and away and I don’t.
The only thing I will accept that I’ve been wrong about with Allardyce is that he’s finally conceded to change his style of play. I find it hard to believe however that he would have changed his style of play without the severe pressure applied by the owners and to a lesser extent, the fans. The Manager has done himself no favours with his stubbornness, his pig-headed approach and his apparent disrespect for many thousands of ‘deluded’ fans.
Hopefully we can all draw a line under the past performance of BFS and, as you say, enjoy what we now have which so far is a vast improvement.
Only Nigel Khan could possibly think he is in some way responsible for our clubs change of fortunes. Actually that’s not true there was a guy on C&B’s claiming the same the other day! Deluded if you ask me!
Only last year of Sams 3 years have been unacceptable but that was for 2 reasons. One the Owners screwed up the transfer windows and never provided the tools so we had no strikers and two we had appalling injuries. That has been addressed by the board and by Sam this year and not because of Nigel Khans input but because they knew they had to.
I think people forget we did play well early on last season. I can recall many early matches where we played well and should have won and I left cursing we never had a striker.
Can I recommend to you all, anti and pro Sam, that you read an excellent article by Paul Walker on Kumb.
Kahn not khan
It may be deluded, then again it could be right.
Only the owners can answer as only they know why the didn’t sack him but put those conditions on him.
Kahn, I appoligise.
Nigel you miss however that the anti’s were shouting the loudest last season when it wasn’t so good. Many moderate fans were driven off websites by the noisy minority. As I say BOTH camps could take a lesson from Paul Walkers article on Kumb. I don’t think I have seen a more sensible post. Sadly it won’t change a thing but we can live in hope.
Spot on Ironsider, I couldn’t have put it better myself.
I can’t thank the Sam out brigade for anything thanks since they very nearly sabotaged any progress Sam and his entire back room staff and everyone at the club including players and staff had worked so hard to achieve. we didn’t play as well as we wanted last year. Allardyce became the scapegoat. This year he has better players to work with. It really is as simple as that.
I agree with hammersmiff.Sam is an “egomaniac”.The club is in it’s current position, not because of BF Sam but because of the spending by the owners and supporter pressure. Allardyce is still at the club more by good fortune than anything else.If the club is to succeed further it will have to find a manger to blood our young players and BF Sam certainly isn’t doing this.
Have been moved to sign up just to point out the massive failing in logic in a certain element of our support when looking at this situation.
Nowhere last season was there a concerted “Sam’s style of football out to be replaced by a new one” campaign. True, that was one of the many sticks used to beat the manager with (along with the fact he’s a bit northern, he chews gum, he sits down, he doesn’t play enough teenagers that aren’t up to the required standard) but ultimately the cry was “SAM OUT”. If the people behind these cries had got their way we may well have seen a different style this season but we also wouldn’t have seen Sam at the helm still.
There are a handful (comparatively) of people responsible for the seismic shift seen this season and they are, in no particular order – Sam, Sullivan, Gold, the new signings, the existing squad. Not an ounce of credit should go to a group of manchildren with internet connections and grudge to bear because Sam dared to criticise their delusions from the start.
Was going to write a comment,but you’ve just about covered it all there well said C.O.Y.I.
Spot on
Nail. On. The. Head.
While you can’t possibly rule out the POLL and what effect that had, small or big along with the shouts for “SAM OUT”, there is no way on earth they should be credited with everything that has happened since.
Tell you what, say they had got their way, where would we be right now? I would lay a penny to a pound it wouldn’t be 4th and with this style of football many are happy with! We could’ve been back where we started from years ago.
I’m just glad I kept the faith, I can deal with people who stand by the fact they will never accept SA (to a point), what I can’t deal with is people who refuse to give him any credit (even begrudgingly) for anything (which really isn’t balanced or realistic) just because they can’t get over the fact he’s still with us, done (in the main) his job and is actually part of something that looks very good right now. Also the ones who believe he’s got nothing to do with any kind of positivity we’re enjoying, whether it be signings, tactics, performances…….one eyed, with an agenda.
Bitter, bitter people.