AVRAM GRANT appears to be on borrowed time after it emerged West Ham are giving serious consideration to replacing their manager with Sam Allardyce.
Grant said before the weekend he did not envisage being sacked despite West Ham’s precarious position at the foot of the table but the club’s owners are alarmed at their predicament and beginning to run out of patience. It is unlikely a managerial change will be made before Saturday’s trip to Blackburn Rovers, with Grant understood to have a few more games to turn things around, although that would almost certainly change if West Ham were to suffer a crushing defeat at Ewood Park.
Allardyce’s unexpected availability has prompted a rethink at Upton Park and cranked up the pressure on Grant to produce a run of results that has so far proved beyond him this season. The club’s owners have been desperate to see Grant succeed after they appointed him as Gianfranco Zola’s successor in the summer, but there is an acceptance the managerial landscape has changed now that Allardyce is out of work following his surprise sacking from Blackburn.
Having previously been less than impressed at the managers in waiting, West Ham have the chance to turn to someone with a proven record in the Premier League to rescue their season. Allardyce’s uncompromising approach would make him a highly controversial choice for a club that prides itself on playing free-flowing football, although the imperative of remaining in the Premier League may outweigh any aesthetic concerns.
Allardyce’s former chairman at Blackburn, John Williams, is expected to stay at the club despite his deep concern at recent events.
Alex Ferguson has predicted a bleak future for Blackburn as the club’s new owners revealed they sacked Allardyce because he was not the man to take them into the Champions League. Venky’s chairwoman, Anuradha Desai, claimed that the first-team coach Steve Kean could remain in charge for “a couple of months” as they consider potential replacements.
Allardyce was dismissed on Monday having objected to the prospect of players being imposed on him during the January transfer window. Desai insists a desire for entertaining football was also a contributory factor but, given the Indian poultry company have allocated a €5.9 million transfer budget for next month, Rovers’ new owners have invited accusations of harbouring unrealistic ambitions.
Ferguson said: “The game has gone mad. Apparently they have taken on an agent to advise them on how to run the club, which players to use and pick. It’s unbelievable . . . I don’t know how they will possibly replace Sam. I think there are troubled times ahead at Blackburn now.”
Guardian Service
