West Ham Fans Should Get Off Allardyce's Back

Bloody hell, I can't believe I wrote that headline. Am I sickening for something? Has Doctor Evil slipped me some drug that distorts the thought processes. I was one of his biggest critics, and I here I am defending the great big Northern bastard!

There's a few reasons why West Ham fans should get off his back. Firstly, his dealings in the transfer market have been bloody good. We don't know how much say he has, but I can't see him as a puppet, nodding through deals for players he doesn't want. From Nolan to Joe Cole, he has proved himself astute - and the fact that somebody like Cole has agreed to sign gives a lie to the myth that Sam is simply a Warnock style kick and run merchant.

What is more, he has offloaded players at the right time, and retained those that we needed to keep hold of. Diame may slip away because of that release clause in his contract, but who else has gone that we wanted to keep? Has Rob Green torn up any trees since taking his terror of crosses to Loftus Road? Has anybody noticed how Spurs are suddenly scoring less goals now that Parker has replaced the injured Sandro in midfield? Dear God, Allardyce even turned on his favourite son on Saturday, taking off Nolan and thereby proving that sentiment does not come into his decision making.

Why did the fans boo when Chamakh was withdrawn? Simply because it meant we stayed 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 / 4-2-3-1 / 4-2-4-1. But the point is, that was the right decision! We were bossing the midfield and creating chances, what we weren't doing was converting them, with Chamakh the principle offender. How much better did Carlton look after replacing the Arsenal loanee? So Allardyce was right!

Of course he is not above criticism. I would have liked to see Taarabt man marked and kicked early doors and Cole released from the wing earlier. But second half changes were made and we absolutely dominated the game. Allardyce cannot be blamed for the failure of Chamakh twice, Nolan, Reid twice and Joe Cole to score from great positions.

Allardyce critics will point to the huge money spent on Jarvis and the huge wages being paid to Carroll, but I fancy those two will deliver over the final third of the season. And the football is better than many are willing to admit. How often do we hoof it from the back? Rarely. Actually, even at Old Trafford with a virtual reserve team out, we played the ball through midfield more often than not.

So I say get off Allardyce's back. He has reshaped the squad superbly and if he keeps us up, he will have done a great job. But having typed that, I really do need a lie down. There's only so much humble pie a guy can eat without vomiting!