While I am not a big fan West Ham boss Sam Allardyce and bis style of play, I can acknowledge that he does know how to keep teams in the top half of the Premier League. His sides will rarely challenge for a European place, but they finish mid table year after year, which is an accomplishment in itself.
So I am shocked to hear that Big Sam’s contract is up at the end of the season and that West Ham have not started talks on a new deal yet. What are they waiting on?
According to the Sunday Mirror, West Ham co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan have told Allardyce that no decisions are likely to be made until the club have secured their Premier League status for next season. A Hammers source told Sunday Mirror Sport:
“There are certainly no guarantees that Sam will be offered a new contract at the moment.
“It is already clear that the club are going to assess their options and there is a real fear Sam’s contract situation could be allowed to drag on.”
West Ham are currently in 11th place in the table with 23 points, 8 points above the relegation zone. They are actually closer to a Champions League spot than the bottom three.
But apparently that is not good enough for Gold and Sullivan who have grandiose dreams of playing flowing attractive football in the Olympic stadium.
Big Sam has never been truly embraced by the West Ham faithful and if his contract is not renewed, Gold and Sullivan would most likely look for a more popular replacement like former players Paolo Di Canio, who is manager at Swindon, and Charlton boss Chris Powell would both be in the frame.
In my opinion this would be a massive mistake by the Hammers owners. They just need to look at how Blackburn have done after firing Big Sam for a more attack minded manager. And how did that work out for them?
