West Ham manager Sam Allardyce could not hide his joy after the Hammers earned a rare away win at Stoke City yesterday.
Allardyce has been under pressure in recent weeks as the East Enders have slipped alarmingly towards the bottom three but Jack Collison’s winner at the Britannia Stadium quietened the boo boys.
The former Bolton, Newcastle and Blackburn manager is out of contract at the end of the season and the Hammers’ owners have stated they will not be offering Allardyce a new deal until West Ham’s survival is assured.
A minority of West Ham supporters have called for ‘Big Sam’ to leave Upton Park in the summer but results like yesterday’s away at an improving Stoke side should put the doubters in their place.
The Hammers are now nine points clear of the relegation zone and have a far superior goal differences lifting the weight of pressure from the team with Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Everton still to play.
“It was the biggest one (victory in the season) without a doubt,” Allardyce told Sky Sports.
“I think we’ve played well enough the last few away games but not got any points and certainly the disappointment on Monday night having played so well against Tottenham and being in the lead and not getting anything out of that was a big pressure on us today and we’ve come up trumps.”
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