Attended a small (approx 50 people) charity-fund-raiser last night in Shoreditch where the guests were Sam, Brian Woolnough (The Star) and Shaun Custis (The Sun).
Highlights from Sam (that I can remember after several pints of Staropramen...);
1. If Sam had the opportunity to acquire one Prem player who would it be? Joe Hart....he explained that he is young with years ahead and is the leading English goalkeeper by a long way (lots of banter about Lansbury at this point)
2. He got down to short list of 2 between him and McLaren for the England job....and lost out......and the FA didn't actually tell him he had lost! On the day he realised, they were playing Middlesborough so had a few drinks with McLaren after the game to celebrate.
3. Mrs Allardyce was not keen on him taking the England job at all!
4. Made it clear that he was still ambitious for the England job. Thought it wasn't a nailed-on certainty that Redknapp would take the job as he sees him as needing the day-to-day involvement which he wouldn't have with England.
5. Sees his immediate ambition as a rapid return to the Prem with us plus establishing us as a solid Prem team. Wants to prevent us being a yoyo club
6. He was asked about Nolan ands whether he would get straight back in the team. Made it abundantly clear that he (and Nolan) had inherited a really broken team - major internal conflicts and back-biting going on plus very low morale. He said that without a strong leader, like Nolan, he would not have been able to get the harmony that the squad has now. He also said he expects to see more from him but pointed out he is a goalscoring midfielder rather than a core creative player. Made it really clear he sees Nolan as a core cog in his team and plans. We should assume he'll be in midfield for the Cardiff game next week.
7. He was asked about Karren Brady's Sun articles - said she gets paid a lot of money to do them and that means she doesn't need as much from West Ham...and that as long as she is not critical or negative towards the team, he doesn't have a problem.
8. Thought Ipswich would be the team to watch for next season in the Championship! (no surprise!)
9. Pretty much confirmed that he believed Steve Kean had stabbed him in the back to get him (and Neil MacDonald) sacked at Blackburn.
All in all, he came across really well and certainly confirmed my belief we now have a proper professional, top notch Manager.
....as an aside, Shaun Custis got a load of stick from one table (who had clearly topped up well beforehand!) for the Sun always being negative towards the England team. It got pretty lively.
