Friday, 3 June 2011

Sam Allardyce - The man to take us up

One of English football's most prominent managerial names, Allardyce has taken charge with immediate effect and spoke straight away of his desire to get the Hammers back into the Barclays Premier League as soon as possible. With full backing from the Board, he intends to sign several players to achieve that ambition and has pledged to instil "a winning mentality" from day one at the Boleyn Ground. He said: "It is an honour to be the new manager of West Ham United. It is a fantastic club with a great tradition and loyal supporters who deserve to be in the Premier League. I can't wait to begin pre-season training as I am determined to get this club back where it belongs." The new Hammers boss is the 14th man to take charge of the club, and he ended his first interview by saying there was no job out there "that excites me like the prospect of managing West Ham".
The 56-year-old added: "I wouldn't have taken this job if I didn't think we could bounce straight back into the Premier League. More than that, I wouldn't have contemplated the job if I didn't think there was the opportunity to build something substantial at West Ham."
As a die hard 'Whammer' fan these are encouraging words to hear from a manager who has a proven track record and numerous successes as clubs with a low budget. West Ham United have always been a footballing team renown for its expansive passing football whereas the teams that have played under Allardyce have never been the best footballing outfit but what he will hopefully bring in to the side is a winning mentality and to makes us a lot harder to beat. His teams have always been a nightmare to play away at and hopefully he can instil that in our team. I would personally sacrifice a season of good looking football for a team full of scrappers and cruddy football as long as it got us promoted. Having a big name manager like 'Big Sam' as he's known should hopefully persuade some of the bigger players to stay with us and see us return to the top division swiftly.
Allardyce has also mentioned the potential of the academy and he will make sure to give some of the younger players their first chances in professional football at the championship level, Who knows? We could find someone like Newcastle did with Andy Carrol, Playing a lower level this season should mean we are able to have a more detailed look at our whole squad and what the future holds for West Ham United as the younger players like Sears, Hines and Spence should be getting more opportunities to impress.
One thing that already makes me prefer Big Sam to our previous manager, Avram 'I dont like to smile' Grant is that  Allardyce will some passion that has been so drastically missing from our touchline in recent times, He really will grab this West Ham Team by the scruff of the neck and drag us up the championship table. Even if it does mean sacrificing the clubs playing traditions for the moment, Not that anyone was going to see our beautiful football anyway, the championship matches hardly get shown on the tele! However the manager did mention this:
"I know there will be West Ham fans asking whether I'm going to abandon the style of play that's been the club's heritage over the years. All I'll say is it will be a tale of home and away. At Upton Park we'll attempt to play the kind of passing game the fans want. We will aim to continue in the same way on our travels but we'll also be tough, hard to beat and utterly resilient."
Hearing those words from a confident manager makes me very excited to see how the Hammers fare next season.
On a personal note, Dad's just said he's considering buying season tickets... get in there!
Matt Cooper

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