Blind Hammer looks at the latest nonsense from Allardyce.
I had a genuine sense of gratitude towards Sam Allardyce and his services for West Ham.
Whatever the many criticism of the style he imposed he came out on the credit side. He achieved the priceless feat of a rapid return to the Premiership. This was of incalculable value.
This rapid promotion prevented a scenario which afflicted other clubs like Leeds , Sunderland, Sheffield Wednesday or Forest who languish for years, even decades in the Championship after parachute money disappeared.
My goodwill is rapidly being eroded though. Allardyce seems to now indulge in sniping at his old club.
Last season he confidently predicted that West Ham would not be up for the physical fight with his Leeds team as we would have our eyes on the prize of European glory.
In the event West Ham proved that they were more than up for the physical fight confronting a team who were statistically the dirtiest team over the last 2 seasons.
Allardyce’s latest pronouncement is to claim, allegedly “without any disrespect that “, Maguire’s decision to stay at Old Stafford was rooted in his concern around our league performance.
Allardyce’s refers to his friendship with Maguire’s agent as the source for this belief as to why the transfer collapsed.
Well of course Maguire’s agent is going to say that.
The only conclusion we could otherwise come to is the realisation that Maguire and his agent are desperate to maintain hugely inflated wages, relating back to a period when he was considered one of the best defenders in the world, and not the busted flush he is in increasing danger of becoming. He is already the 5th choice central defender there.
If Allardyce’s assertion is to have any logical credence then Maguire’s arrival at the London Stadium would never have been a prospect in the first place. Maguire was perfectly aware of West Ham’s recent league performance.
Allardyce’s suggestion that Maguire pulled the plug, only after days/weeks of painful, unresolved negotiation, because he became suddenly aware, in a flash of revelation, of West Ham’s lowly league position, is utterly absurd.
The only narrative which makes any sense to accounts for the protracted and eventual failed Maguire negotiations is his unhappiness with the financial terms offered.
Maguire pulled the plug for financial reasons rather than any concern over West Ham’s league performance. If West Ham’s football performance was the genuine reason for him backing out it makes inexplicable as to why he was negotiating with the club in the first place.
So what we have from Allardyce is a disrespectful comment about West Ham’s standing as a club with no basis in reality. I am sure Maguire would even now prefer to join a club challenging for the Champion’s League, but to imagine cluns of this ilk are queuing up for his services is fanciful in the extreme.
I don’t particularly blame Maguire and his agent for trying to protect their current financial packages, but please don’t stretch our credibility by trying to spin out a narrative that Maguire pulled out of a move for “footballing reason”.
It was the cash on the line which determined the outcome.
David Griffith