Former Hammers boss Sam Allardyce has accused West Ham owner David Sullivan of treating current manager David Moyes as poorly as he was treated.
Speaking on the ‘No Tippy Tappy Football Podcast’, Allardyce asked guest Stuart Pearce whether David Moyes had been given a new contract at West Ham yet.
I find it hard to believe that Big Sam wasn’t in full possession of the answer before asking the question because Moyes’ contractual situation is common knowledge in football. I suspect Allardyce was loading the question to fire out his response.
Upon hearing Stuart Pearce confirm that Moyes’ deal was soon to expire, Big Sam jumped in with his criticism of David Sullivan. “Oh no, don’t start that again, come on David [Sullivan], get him signed up, will you?” moaned Allardyce.
“They did that with me, you know? They dragged it out, we were 4th in the league in December, and everybody was talking about my contract. It was a distraction. I did my job, I did my time, and then decided to move on.”
Allardyce thinks Moyes is being treated just like he was
Selective memories
It’s funny how people’s memories can sometimes be selective because my recollection is somewhat different.
Big Sam had indeed got West Ham into 4th before Christmas, however, what happened next played a massive part in him not getting a new deal. The Hammers were riding high in the league with Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho performing incredibly well.
During that period, Sakho had equalled the Premier League goalscoring record for goals in consecutive games. Stuart Downing had been moved into an attacking midfield role where he was so effective that he won back his England place.
Everything was going brilliantly until Allardyce uttered the immortal words, “We have to find a way to get Andy Carroll and Kevin Nolan back into the team.” Both players had been injured but were huge favourites of the manager, and there had always been a rumour that he resented owner David Sullivan signing Sakho.
Upon Nolan and Carroll’s return to fitness, Big Sam was true to his word and both players were reinstated to the team. As a result, Stuart Downing was moved to a less effective wing position, and the lethal Valencia/Sakho strike partnership was broken up.
The Hammers then spiralled into one of the worst runs of form in recent memory. We were incredibly lucky the season ended when it did because during the second half of the season West Ham were comfortably in relegation form.
Therefore, Allardyce’s recollection of events is somewhat mistaken. The decision not to give him a new deal was proven to be a prudent one, irrespective of how he chooses to remember it.