Team spirit delights Allardyce
February 23, 2012 10:29:00 UK
Sam Allardyce knew when he took the manager's job at West Ham that he would be under more pressure than at any time in his career.
A Premier League return at the first attempt wasn't an option but a requirement, as made clear by co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold. The Hammers are 1.50 to be promoted, and 201.00 to go up as champions.
Every player is doing his bit when we get something that is going against us.
Sam Allardyce
The response has been spectacular and the Hammers - perhaps for the first time in their history - are learning to "win ugly".
Allardyce knows he hasn't been to the Hammers' purists' taste but as they tear away at the head of the Championship the complaints are entirely muffled.
And after a 4-1 victory over Ian Holloway's Blackpool he had every right to praise his team, although the remark that "the thousands of West Ham fans who were here must have seen one of the finest West Ham performances they've ever seen in the entire time they've been watching West Ham United" may not have been entirely accurate.
He said: "We're doing it the hard way, that's what it's telling us. Every player is doing his bit when we get something that is going against us and we seem to find the resilience and the ability and skill to overcome it. In my time I've never seen anything like it."
The Hammers welcome Crystal Palace to Upton Park on Saturday and are 8.00 to win 2-1, and 2.20 to keep a clean sheet.
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