Wigan defeat ‘was a real blow and a real shock’, says Big Sam

Saturday, October 27, 2012
6:51 PM

Sam Allardyce was highly critical of West Ham’s performance, particularly when his side had the ball, as they lost 2-1 at Wigan.

The Latics had not won at the DW Stadium all season, while the Hammers had lost only twice in the league before today.

Ivan Ramis and James McArthur notched for the hosts early in each half while the east Londoners could only manage an injury time consolation from James Tomkins.

West Ham went into the match on the fringe of the top four but were poor all afternoon and their manager said: “From start to finish we never got going.

“They hadn’t won a game at home and, if you stay in the game, they get a bit more nervous.

“I’m surprised because our last away performance against QPR was outstanding and it was that performance I was asking for.

“We might have had a better start than Wigan but we’ve only just got here [to the Premier League] and we can only go out and give 100 per cent to get a result. Any less than that you get punished at this level.

“Their technique was 10 times better than ours. Our technique on the ball was ridiculously poor today. The one thing that’s got us where we are is our technique has been very good in possession. Today was a real blow and a real shock.”