Our West Ham blogger questions the wisdom of asking Big Sam to play attacking football

Newham Recorder: West Ham manager Sam Allardyce (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)West Ham manager Sam Allardyce (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images) (Image: 2014 Getty Images)

The new season is under three weeks away and West Ham are on the brink of a full scale civil war.

The vast majority of fans want Sam Allardyce to face the ‘tin tack’ before a ball has been kicked in anger, Sam is already showing signs of becoming frustrated with the change of direction issued by the board and lastly the board and Sam hardly seem to be on the same page.

The three parties all have equally valid arguments; tickets down at Upton Park aren’t cheap so of course you want some entertainment for your hard earned, from Sam’s point of view he ideally would like to rely on his tried and trusted methods that haven’t thus far steered him wrong in his managerial career and lastly from the board’s view point they have a duty to try and improve the product on offer to keep the fans coming through the door.

Perhaps with hindsight if the powers that be wished for a sea change in playing style instead of asking a gruff Dudley boy to change his spots they would’ve been better off going in a different direction.

Unfortunately the caveat with that is that they’d risk going down hiring a tiki-taka proponent; like for instance Michael Laudrup who was in and amongst the rat race last season before his P45 arrived.

The antipathy towards Sam has now reached a point that some fans want him sacked before the season has even commenced, only at West Ham would the fans want the manager out based on a thus far poor pre-season results wise. I would like to remind those fans that under Avram Grant our pre-season record in the 10/11 season was exceptional...it counted for nothing and we finished bottom of the league.

With each pre-season game without a victory the hatred much of the support feel towards Sam is only further fuelled and one fears it will reach breaking point if we suffer defeat at the Boleyn against Spurs on the opening day.

In fact unless Sam gets off to a good start I simply cannot see him holding on to his job beyond the first dozen or so matches, the scariest thing is that Sam is the third longest serving manager in the Premier League; fans and owners alike it seems still have yet to realise that the revolving door policy usually isn’t a lasting solution.

The only thing that matters in West Ham’s immediate future is to make sure we enter the Olympic Stadium as a Premier League club, yes if we can play football with a stylish swagger then that’s great, but the harsh reality in the Premier League is that apart from seven clubs everyone else is in a rat race to escape the clutches of the Championship.

I applaud the board for attempting to ensure the team play better football and they’ve certainly so far backed Sam with the funds needed for a change in style, I would urge fans to not condemn Sam on the basis of four poor pre-season results.

The fans baying for Allardyce to be relieved of his duties will get their wish, whether it’s now, mid-way through the season or at the end of the campaign Sam’s days are numbered.