Being the shrinking violet he is, it’s been rather unsurprising to see Big Sam Allardyce come out swinging regarding various incidents of his management career with the release of his autobiography, serialised by the Sun, on the horizon.
Having already been dealt some tasty snippets, including the man’s undeniable hate of a certain Mr Wenger and the England job he should of in no way been rejected for, here’s Allardyce’s opinion on his ‘beloved’ West Hams fans who he kissed goodbye following his Hammers departure at the end of last term.
Obviously narked by the ‘old’ school’ label bestowed upon him by critics, Allardyce comments;
“My long-ball label was started by Graeme Souness, who got upset whenever I beat him when he was at Blackburn or Newcastle, and was picked up by Arsène Wenger and Rafa Benítez, As soon as I was appointed manager in 2011 the big debate was whether I would follow the ‘West Ham way’, which nobody could define, but, whatever it was, I apparently didn’t play it.
“I felt the West Ham way was about wearing your heart on your sleeve and showing passion for the club and winning.
“But the fans were being brainwashed into thinking that, historically, the club had a particular style of play which was akin to Barcelona, which was potty. I once called the supporters deluded and I stand by that. I don’t know who invented the West Ham way phrase, but it’s a millstone around the club’s neck.”
“I’ve talked to my predecessors Alan Curbishley, Alan Pardew and Harry Redknapp and they got it in the neck from the crowd as much as I did, none of the players would admit it but they used to sit in the dressing room at half-time going: ‘Listen to them, never fucking happy, slaughtering us all the time.’
“It must be a big anxiety for the owners, who need to fill the 54,000-seater Olympic Stadium with entertaining and successful football next year. The fans won’t turn up if West Ham are playing fantasy football and losing 5-3 every week. Slaven Bilic is the new man in the hot seat and good luck to him. He will need it.”