WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce has held a positive first press conference as West Ham
United's new manager
22.06.2011
Sam Allardyce has set out his plan to lead West Ham United back to the
Premier League. The 56-year-old held his first media conference in a packed
Press Room at the Boleyn Ground and immediately stated his aim to lead the
Hammers to the top-flight at the first attempt. Smiling broadly, the man
known throughout the game as 'Big Sam' explained how he plans to turn the
club's fortunes around, with whufc.com there to record every word.
Sam, to start, how do you plan to achieve promotion this season?
"Without sounding too arrogant, I think that my experience and my expertise
as a manager that I've gained, particularly in the Premier League over the
last ten years, will help me to bring the club together, to get a team
spirit and a togetherness that is going to achieve the ultimate - to get
promotion back into the Premier League at the first time of asking. "As
difficult a task as that is going to be, I think it can be achieved. At a
club the size of West Ham, it needs to be done as quickly as possible
because the long-term goal is the Olympic Stadium and the team must be back
in the Premier League when it is going to move into that great venue. "So,
I've got to instil a bit of discipline, a little bit of magic and creativity
and certainly a bond between the players and the staff to drive ourselves on
through what is a very difficult season trying to get into the Premier
League. Lots of big teams are spending lots of money aside from ourselves to
try to achieve that goal. "It won't be an easy task. There are 46 very
difficult games, but last year we saw QPR and Norwich achieve it and we're
hoping to do the same. "I've got to try to really get rid of the hangover
that relegation brings to a football club and transform that as quickly as I
possibly can into a positive mental attitude."
Have you spoken to the players about their futures?
"Not just yet. They are all on holiday and will come back next week. "I've
talked to some of the younger players - Jack Collison and James Tomkins -
this morning and it was great to see them in and around the training ground
at this stage of the season. They could still be on holiday, as most are. "I
think when we all get together, I've got an awful lot to sort out in terms
of pre-season training, staffing and relocating myself. I'm going to try to
do that before the players get back and speak to them on an individual and a
group basis and set out some goals, really, and what we need to achieve. "I
think we'll look at moving some players on because their desire is to want
to play in the Premier League. From a financial point of view, it suits us
as well to lose that financial commitment because the drastic loss in
revenue is what we all have to face at West Ham, first and foremost.
"Certainly the owners have got to really back-up with their own money to try
to get us back into the Premier League. Some of the cuts we have to make
will have to come and some have already been made, of course, because some
of the players have already left.
"We will try to get as best a squad as we possibly can. "On a positive note,
we've signed on Abdoulaye Faye and Kevin Nolan already, which are good
positive moves and, like I said, I think there are still some very good
young and experienced players at the football club. "If we all want to work
together and go in the right direction, we can give it our best shot and
hopefully that will be good enough next season."
How many players will have to leave?
"The speculation is probably around Carlton Cole, Robert Green and Scott
Parker. At the moment, we haven't had any concrete bids for any of those
players. "Other than them, there is no rush to sell anybody else. "Thomas
Hitzlsperger has already left, as far as I'm concerned. He had his contract
terminated and that position has moved on."
There have been comments about the possible style of play you will employ
and whether it will fit in with the 'West Ham way'. What do you have to say
about those comments?
"I thought that question would have come first! We will be OK. When did West
Ham last play the 'West Ham way?'. It can't be the 'West Ham way' if we got
relegated.
"The club has been up and down like a yo-yo so I don't see the fans as
thinking of that as playing the 'West Ham way'. "The 'West Ham way' is about
winning football matches and the enjoyment of winning. The fans are in the
game to watch winning football and I'm in the game to play winning football
and to entertain the public, and that's what I do. "Everywhere I've been,
I've entertained the public, regardless of the perception. The perception
from the media is that 'Sam Allardyce plays long ball' but that's only a
perception. Football is run on perception today."
Why have you decided to drop down a division at this stage of your
managerial career?
"Because it's West Ham, that's why. I think that as a football club, it's
such a big club and has great tradition and a great fan base, really.
"Weighing up all the odds, I thought 'Let's go and try and be successful at
a football that's not been as successful as it should have been over the
last four or five years'. "I think the excitement of rebuilding the football
club was a big pitch to me - the idea that I could go and reinvent West Ham
as a club with sustainable success. "Too often this club has had fleeting
moments of grandeur mixed with too much depression in terms of the times
it's been relegated. "I do think it's a football club where something
sustainable can be built if we all pull in the right direction."
Will it be harder to emulate the success you achieved at newly-promoted
Bolton Wanderers in the modern-day game?
"I provided the benchmark for success - survival was only two years of my
seven and the last four were eighth, sixth, eighth and seventh, so I
shouldn't really be tagged as a 'survival' manager. I am a productive
manager who breeds success wherever I go. "Yes, I had to survive in the
early stages at Bolton. Yes, I had to make Blackburn survive when I went
there, but my ultimate goal is to be in the top half of the Premier League
table searching for European places and cup finals, as I did at the end at
Bolton. "That is a long way off at the moment at West Ham - the only focus
is to get promoted and get out of this division as quick as I possibly can.
If I don't do that, I don't expect to be here, to be quite honest."
How confident are you that you can get West Ham United promoted?
"It's early days yet, so I'll know more once we've started training and got
through the first two or three weeks and I've ironed out any particular
problems that need urgent attention, whether they be contractual or family
issues or whatever it might be. "Those things will have to be dealt with
first and then we can get down to setting some goals on how we will get out
of this division. "The players will tell me whether they are good enough to
get out of this league by their attitude, by how well they train and how
well they perform in pre-season. "I'll speak to the owners if and when need
be in terms of modifying that squad or getting somebody new in.
"I just hope it's minimal now and there's not too much to be done because
it's a very difficult job to change around a team that's been relegated, but
it's even more difficult when you lose more than 50 per cent of your players
and then have to bring ten or 12 in to actually get a team together to play
as a team. "You're basically putting a bunch of strangers together virtually
that you've got to try to mould into unit and a system that brings the best
type of football to the fans of West Ham, to entertain them so they can go
home happy when they've won."
How big a challenge is this for you in your career?
"Personally I have taken a risk by losing my Premier League status which has
been built over the last ten years or so and come down into the Championship
to try to bring success to West Ham. "Hopefully I've made the right
decision. I'm going to do my very, very best to get them back where we all
want to be. There is nobody at this club who wants to be in the Premier
League more than me now, believe you me. "I don't want to spend too long in
the Championship if I can help it. It's a great, very competitive league and
there are lots and lots of teams looking for the gold at the end of the
rainbow. "At the end of the day, only three teams can go up a year and we've
got to be one of those, certainly in the next two years."
Will the planned move to the Olympic Stadium in 2014 serve as a distraction?
"No, I don't think the players will worry about it. "I think Upton Park is
one of the reasons I am here, anyway. Even though it is one of the oldest
stadia in and around the country now, because the fanbase is so big and
vocal, it has a great atmosphere. "As players, managers and coaches, you
like to feel that atmosphere. That's why you do the job on a Saturday. I
think the atmosphere they give the players and everybody around Upton Park
is fine by me. "The players won't be worried about the Olympic Stadium
because it's quite a way off. "We've got to create a very good atmosphere at
West Ham and the only way I can create that is by creating winning football
on a regular basis. If the fans get behind the team, then the team will
deliver to the fans and that is what has happened wherever I've been -
particularly at Bolton and even down as far as Notts County and Blackpool,
where I managed before. "So, we can create a fortress here at Upton Park,
hopefully, and people will not look forward to coming here. "The big
transition is also improving the away form because I've done my research and
over the last couple of seasons we could be great here and win, but when we
go away we seem to be a soft touch in terms of results. That has to change
if we want to get promoted."
Finally, how are you settling in on a personal level?
"I haven't settled anywhere yet because I've hardly had any sleep. The phone
hasn't stopped ringing and nor have the emails, so I'm haring around at the
moment, trying to get a plan together in my head to focus on what is most
important first and trying to move through that on a daily basis. "I seem to
be waking at four or five in the morning and writing these notes down, but
when I get up in the morning they don't make too much sense. "Like I said,
there is a lot to go through but I've done it before so I know what to
expect. It's not easy for me or the club at the moment, but we've got to get
through it as quick as we can. "We've got between now and 7 August when the
season starts for me to get everybody settled in their own department -
players and staff - and hopefully we'll have a united staff and a happy and
very contented environment."
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Taylor in talks
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 22nd June 2011
By: Staff Writer
Bolton midfielder Matt Taylor could be on his way to West Ham, according to
reports. The 29-year-old, who can also play at left back is said to be 'in
talks' with the Hammers over a permanent switch, according to Setanta this
afternoon. Taylor started his career at Luton back in 1999 and moved to
Portsmouth three years later in a £750,000 switch. After 178 appearances in
six years at Fratton Park he joined Bolton, having lost his place at
Portsmouth to Niko Kranjcar. Gary Megson paid around £4million to take
Taylor to the Reebok Stadium during the 2008 winter transfer window. During
his first full season Taylor scored ten goals from 34 league games, then
eight from 37 the following season. Last season he appeared in 36 of
Bolton's 38 league fixtures. Should he sign for West Ham, Taylor would be
the third former Bolton player to arrive at the club since Sam Allardyce was
unveiled as the new maanger.
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Hitzlsperger gone
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 22nd June 2011
By: Staff Writer
Sam Allardyce has confirmed that Thomas Hitzlsperger has left the club.
29-year-old Hitzlsperger - who arrived at the club last summer but failed to
make his debut until January due to a lengthy injury - had been offered
improved terms to remain at West Ham. However Allardyce confirmed today that
the German international was not being considered in his future plans.
"Thomas has already left as far as I'm concerned," he said. "He's gone and
has moved on." Allardyce also revealed that he expects Scott Parker, Carlton
Cole and Robert Green to move on before the beginning of next season.
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Allardyce: Premier League or bust
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 22nd June 2011
By: Staff Writer
Sam Allardyce says that his number one target this season is promotion - but
that he hopes to achieve it with a little style. Allardyce, speaking at his
first press conference as manager this afternoon spoke at length about a
number of issues. However his core message was that promotion is an absolute
necessity - and that he feels it is a target that can be achieved.
"Without sounding too arrogant I think that the experience and expertise
I've gained as a manager - particularly in the Premier League over the last
ten years - is trying to bring the club together to get as team spirit and a
togetherness that's going to achive the ultimate, which is to get promotion
back into the Premier League at the first time of asking," he said.
"As difficult a task as that's going to be, it can be achieved I think. With
a club the size of West Ham it needs to be done as quickly as possible,
because obviously the long-term goal is the Olympic Stadium and the team
must be back in the Premier League when it moves into that great venue.
"It won't be an easy task, there's 46 very difficult games," he continued.
"I've got to try and get rid of the hangover that relegation brings. I've
got to transform that as quickly as I possibly can into a positive, mental
attutude really."
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Immediate promotion 'can be achieved' insists new Hammers boss Allardyce
Published 15:06 22/06/11 By MirrorFootball
The Mirror
New West Ham manager Sam Allardyce insists he can "achieve the ultimate" by
guiding the club back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
Allardyce was today unveiled as the Hammers' new manager after succeeding
Avram Grant following their relegation to the npower Championship. And the
former Bolton and Blackburn boss acknowledged promotion is all the more
crucial with the club eventually set to move into the Olympic Stadium after
next year's Games. "I want to achieve the ultimate, which is to get
promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking," Allardyce
said. "As difficult as that is going to be, it can be achieved, I think.
"And with a club the size of West Ham that needs to be done as soon as
possible. The long-term goal is the Olympic Stadium and the team must be
back in the Premier League when it is going to move into that great venue."
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