Why Sam Is Our Man!

Sam Allardyce has been the victim of unfair criticism in recent months by many West Ham fans. In my opinion, Big Sam is doing a solid job as manager as West Ham and I do not feel it is fair to heap the blame on him. Yes, he has made some questionable decisions in team selection this year as well as some questionable tactics and substitutions, but answer me this: Has a manager ever gone more than 2 or 3 games without anyone questioning their judgement on a decision they have made for their team? Ill answer it for you. No managers have done it. Every manager makes at least 1 questionable decision every week.

Some fans, a minority I may add, seem to just heap the blame of our every mistake made on the field on to our manager. Is that fair? Do fans think Sam tells the team to play "hoof ball"? Do fans think Sam tells the strikers to miss numerous sitters in a game? Do fans think Sam has a word with the ref before each game and tells them to make some dodgy decisions? Do fans think Sam tells the defence to gift teams numerous goals? I'll answer the question for you again! No he does not. How can a manager be blamed for players making numerous mistakes, its not his fault that the strikers don't know where the net is at the moment. In January, we were all calling out for goal scorers and Sam responded. He tried to get Rhodes but it didn't happen so he did the next best thing and brought in Vaz Te, who has been a magnificent capture and Maynard, who is a proven goal scorer. 2 very good signings, who have helped us. It hasn't quite happened for Maynard yet, but eventually he'll start scoring regularly.

My next point on why Sam is doing a good job is a reflection on our last spell in this division. Every fan was fully behind Alan Pardew in the Championship as all fans should have been, he done a good job. But Sam has done much better than him in this league. I raised this point on Twitter a few days ago. Pardew's Seasons were like this:

Season 1: Pos 4th W19 D17 L10 PTS 74 - After 46 Games

Season 2: Pos 6th W21 D10 L15 PTS 73 - After 46 Games

Pardew gave us two solid seasons in the Championship, getting us promoted in his second year. Big Sam's Championship record currently stands like this:

Season 1: Pos 3rd W20 D12 L8 PTS 72 - After 40 Games

He is 1 win away from bettering Pardew's best season in charge of West Ham, which goes back the reason that I bring this up. Why isn't Sam receiving the same backing as Pardew from fans. The answer is simple. Some fans have never been willing to give him a chance. This stereotype about Sam where people say he only plays "Hoof Ball" is a load of rubbish. We have played football on the floor numerous times this season. I had this stereotype, but I no longer had this idea of Big Sam's Long ball philosophy after about 3 games. Fair enough it is not up to the standard of Swansea, which was a silly comment from Sam but at least its not as bad as some fans make out.

My view is this: Sam is not telling the players to hoof the ball. He wants them to play on the floor but if we're not winning at half time then players lose the composure and their cool, they start to panic and start to hoof the ball up field hoping a Cole or a Carew might get a knock on and we might nick a goal going route 1. If players like Cole, Baldock, Faubert and Carew took their chances we would be top of the league. Its not Sam's fault they don't do this. Support the manager, even if you don't like him. Gold and Sullivan are not going to sack him, so getting on his back does not help him or the team. Hes not going anywhere, so you may as well support him.

United We Stand!