Fan blogger Chris Brown writes following the departure of Sam Allardyce...
Sunday's disappointing defeat marked an end to what will be remembered as a fairly stable period for West Ham United brought to the club by Sam Allardyce.
His remit was to get the club promoted and stable in the Premier League after the promotion and this was all achieved with a fair bit of investment from the Board, a job well done but I think this season highlighted that Sam won’t be able to take us much further.
Sam spent well in the summer and brought some good players in and we were flying high in the league in fourth place before Christmas. At that point, most would have predicted that something catastrophic would have to happen for Sam not to lead us in to the Olympic Stadium.
Well it did. Just three wins in the last 21 league games was as bad as anyone in the league, we went from Champions League form to relegation form in a matter of months which has put a hugely disappointing feel to what promised to be a fantastic season.
And I think it is this form that has cost Sam so dear, as despite good investment from the owners Sam has not been able to take us further up the league in terms of points or position in the last three seasons and as the club looks to go to the next level it is clear Sam is not going to achieve that.
He has taken us as far as he can and I think it is right that the time has come for the club to part ways with the manager. And that is not to say overall Big Sam has not done a good job and he should certainly be appreciated for the work he has done for the club, and I for would like to wish him well for the future.
But our future is looking bright now, a new manager, be it Bilic, Laudrup or even Emery will have a bright young squad that has gained valuable Premier League experience this season and will only improve over the summer as the new manager is given ‘significant funds’ to improve the squad.
And with a possible European adventure and the last season at the Boleyn Ground on the horizon it does indeed promise to be an exciting season to look forward to.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of West Ham United