Iain Dowie was always a hard worker who went against the flow!

Not much appears to have changed  for the big former Hammer reckons Sam Allardyce can “hopefully build a squad which can fill the Olympic Stadium.”

Clearly “a Sam Man, Dowie said: “If West Ham are competing in the top-half of the league they will get big, big crowds. And I think Sam is slowly, but surely doing that.

“He cannot do it in one big hit, but in small stages he can.

“The co-chairmen will feel they have invested heavily and deserve to dream of the top-six, but I believe if they are top-10 and above it is an amazing achievement.”

He believes the manager has been handed the perfect chance to kick things off in style against Spurs.

He said: “Sam will be rubbing his hands and looking forward to that.

“It is certainly not a game that I feel Spurs will be looking forward to, that’s for sure.”