“Be careful what you wish for”, if I had a pound for every time a pundit from the BBC or even elsewhere I’d be a rich man by now. This witty remark was of course what was said by every pundit when asked about whether West Ham should dispose of Big Sam’s services.
The likes of Alan Shearer and Danny Murphy often remarked that West Ham would be worse off if they let Big Sam go, but what was the basis of this? And why did they love the former Bolton manager so much?
He did achieve what was asked of him in his first two seasons at the Upton Park helm, however in his last two seasons despite over £60m investment in the transfer market the club did not improve on the 10th place finish he achieved in their first Premier League back in the top flight.
12-13th for the investment is not good enough, and while keeping the club up is what Big Sam achieved that simply is the bare minimum and that is not enough as the club look to move to the next level.
So the time was right to part ways and both West Ham and Sam could see that, except the BBC could not for some strange reason.
Under Sam’s stewardship despite a fantastic start, West Ham were on relegation form in the second half of the season and what club would keep a manager who has overseen three wins in 22 matches, and a run of 12 away games without a win – a new Premier League record? I don’t think any would.
Big Sam is of course a big character and has his moments like the occasional outburst or laughing at Chico Flores an amusing moment for sure – both reasons why the BBC loved him so much.
But as a football manager you could describe Big Sam as a poor man’s Tony Pulis, once on a par with each other but nowadays Pulis is seen as a more popular choice among clubs due to some fantastic work, whereas Big Sam has not gone anywhere in the same period.
And the BBC seemed oblivious to the fact that Big Sam was on the decline as a football manager, he achieved a lot at Bolton and took them to the UEFA Cup and even to the Allianz Arena to face Bayern Munich.
But since then, his best achievement was promotion with West Ham in 2012, not easy sure, but he had the benefit of the best squad in the Championship and the biggest financial investment.
The signing of Kevin Nolan from Newcastle highlighted that, no other Championship club could afford a £5million signing on £45k a week contract.
It is not to say Big Sam will slip into the managerial wilderness like Alan Curbishley did once he left West Ham, but I would not rule it out as the stats don’t lie.
Other than average seasons playing a standard of football that has been dull and boring for Hammers fans, barely even doing enough to warrant that style while other clubs like Swansea City and Southampton leave West Ham behind changing managers and playing better football with better results.
It is hard to say why the Beeb love Big Sam so much, but perhaps the best answer is that other than coming up with anything better and because they know little about West Ham so it is easier to say “be careful what you wish for”.
If it is better football and more excitement that Hammers fans have wished for then new manager Slaven Billic should deliver that.
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