One of the many things that troubled me as a child was Gail Lewis and Paul Robinson and their marriage of convenience. Many’s the time I would watch Neighbours bewildered as to why Paul would choose to enter into a relationship with a woman, not because he fancied her, but for business. Although the relationship didn’t have a happy ending, Paul and Gail did at least learn to love each other as much as they did the Daniels Corporation.
West Ham and Sam Allardyce’s own marriage of convenience shows scant sign of blossoming into a genuine love affair any time soon. From a business perspective everything seems ok. Allardyce, whilst living within his means, has guided the team straight back to the Premier League and, one win and a few draws permitting, will see the club retain their top-flight status. But in terms of job security he has been given about as much reassurance as Rafa Benitez.
The message coming out of the club is that the plan from the start of the season was always to discuss Allardyce’s future only once safety had been assured. The argument is that discussions part way through the season would only serve as a distraction. A nice idea, but in reality uncertainty is the biggest distraction of all.
Announcing that an extention to the manager’s contract will only be considered once another season in the Premier League is 100% certain smacks of a reluctance to retain Allardyce’s services. That feeds through to the fans, many of whom already have a frosty relationship with the man who last season accused them of “talking bollocks” (or so went the media’s interpretation of a very specific comment about James Tomkins playing in midfield). Throw in the prolonged Olympic Stadium saga, and you are left with a club in a state of limbo.
It needn’t be this way. After all the turmoil that characterised life at West Ham during the noughties, Allardyce has halted the decline and provided stability. A club with a winning mentality would embrace this and look to the future. Sadly, the owners seem to be contemplating the idea of returning the club to its soap-opera status by taking a chance on a sixth different manager in seven years.
In a world where social media encourages the dissenting voices to shout the loudest, it is easy to believe that the removal of a successful manager would actually be backed by a significant number of fans. The mentality nowadays does not seem to be ‘Winning: it’s what we’re here for’ so much as ‘Whining: it’s what we’re here for’. I live in hope that the average West Ham fan is much more balanced than the self-opinionated oafs who tweet me their anti-Allardyce bilge on an increasingly regular basis.
The ultimate plot twist of course would be the return of Paolo Di Canio. In this month’s When Saturday Comes, a Swindon Town supporter writes of his horror at how Di Canio conducted himself during his 18 months at the County Ground. His departure has hardly led to uproar amongst Swindon fans. I loved to watch Di Canio as a player but as a coach I just see another League One managerial casualty.
That he is passionate about West Ham counts for little in my eyes. The same could be said of Julian Dicks, but spend a few minutes in his company and it is quickly evident that he is not leadership material. I’ve never met Di Canio and have no insight into his managerial capabilities.
One club that embodies soap opera more than any other is Blackburn Rovers, who are now looking for a fourth manager of the season to halt their slide into League One. Sam Allardyce will understandably feel a degree of Schadenfreude at the continued decline of a club that ignored his record when deciding to give him his P45. If West Ham choose to make the same mistake, don’t be surprised if the script reverts to the old miserable storylines.
Follow Love In The Time Of Collison @OnWestHam
Follow Love In The Time Of Collison @OnWestHam
