Big Sam’s top three games as Hammers boss

Sam Allardyce and West Ham fans may not have always seen eye-to-eye, but there were no doubt some treasured results whilst he was in charge at the Hammers.

From guiding the club to promotion – via the play-offs – at the first attempt, to comfortably keeping them up for consecutive years with some memorable victories along the way. This was all achieved whilst being under constant scrutiny from a large percentage of the West Ham fanbase, due to the questionable style of football at the time.

Big Sam had accomplished what he set out to do as Hammers manager and set a sturdy platform for his successor Slaven Bilic in the dugout.

Here are his top three games as West Ham boss.

1) West Ham 2-1 Blackpool (05/19/2012)

Having missed out on automatic promotion by just three points, the Hammers headed into this play-off final at Wembley as favourites to go up.

Allardyce’s men had already completed a comprehensive double over the Tangerines during the league season, with a 4-0  victory at the Boleyn Ground matched by a famous 4-1 win at Bloomfield Road, as Henri Lansbury finished the game between the sticks for the West Ham.

This time around, however, the teams were much more well-matched, with Blackpool, in fact, dominating large portions of the first half. The Hammers capitalised on Ian Holloway‘s sides missed opportunities, though, as they opened the scoring through fan favourite Carlton Cole.

Matt Taylor roamed forward down the left flank before delightfully crossing into Cole, who calmly placed the ball past Matt Gilks in the Blackpool goal.

The Seasiders didn’t let it get them down for long, though, as they equalised through a Tom Ince strike just three minutes into the second half.

After further Blackpool pressure, West Ham finally got their chance to win the game as the ball broke to Kevin Nolan deep into the Tangerines half. He crossed hopefully into the box as it found its way to Ricardo Vaz Te, who fired home into the roof of the net, sending half of Wembley Stadium into a state of euphoria and the Hammers back to the Premier League.

2) Tottenham 0-3 West Ham (10/06/2013)

Perhaps the most unexpected result in recent history, as Big Sam lined his West Ham side up in this fixture away at London rivals Tottenham Hotspur without a recognised striker.

After being cursed in the build-up to the game with no forwards eligible due to injury, Allardyce decided to improvise with the players that he had at his disposal.

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A backs-to-the-wall gameplan was expected and, to be fair, the Hammers displayed their defensive qualities throughout the first half, as Spurs looked to take advantage of the supposed lack of threat in West Ham’s offensive ranks.

It was the second half where the match came to life, however, and the heaven’s aligned to help everything fall the Irons’ way.

Winston Reid opened the scoring for the Hammers in the 66th minute as he poked home from his second attempt at goal before Vaz Te popped up with yet another important goal, this time rather fortuitously, as the ball ricocheted back off him as his initial strike was saved.

There was nothing lucky about the third and final goal, however, as Ravel Morrison travelled from West Ham’s territory and danced like a ballerina through the Spurs back-line, before calmly chipping over an on-rushing Hugo Lloris.

It was a perfect way to rub the salt in Tottenham wounds as West Ham took three points back to east London and, ultimately, Sam ‘Allardici’ was born.

3) West Ham 3-1 Chelsea (12/01/2012)

Not long after getting promoted back to the top-flight, Allardyce’s Hammers side took on reigning European champions Chelsea at the Boleyn Ground.

West Ham had a strong opening stretch to the season and was sitting comfortably in mid-table, whilst Chelsea had already sacked their European Cup-winning manager, Roberto Di Matteo, before bringing in Rafa Benitez after a shaky start to the campaign.

There was nothing shaky about the Blues start, however, as they took the lead through a Juan Mata finish in the 13th minute and looked the team more likely to grab the second goal throughout the first period, too.

It must have been an inspiring half-time team talk by Big Sam, though, as his side upped the ante as they came out into the second half firing, whilst finally levelling the scoreline in the 63rd minute through a Carlton Cole header.

It looked as though the match was heading towards a close, but a Cole lay-back found Mohamed Diame on the edge of the Chelsea box as he fired home past Petr Cech to give West Ham a late lead.

Modibo Maiga sealed the famous victory in added time as Allardyce and his backroom staff bounced around on the touchline just as the fans were doing in the Boleyn stands.

Looking back on his tenure as a whole, Allardyce, whilst it wasn’t always sun and roses, gave the Hammers faithful some moments that will live long in the memory.