Sacked In The Morning: 3 Potential Allardyce Replacements Should West Ham Get Rid

West Ham’s poor season can be blamed on a few things, but the one that stands out most of all is the manager, Sam Allardyce. Old school West Ham fans never accepted him from the start and those that did take to him are now starting to see the cracks. Despite the joint-chairmen David Gold and David Sullivan supposedly giving Allardyce their backing, it seems to be only a matter of time before he gets the sack. Here are three potential replacements.

1) Steve Clarke

The former West Brom manager is on the market after being sacked by the Midland club earlier this month. The Scot may not bring the ‘West Ham way’ that many fans are craving for, but he will turn the Irons into a more attacking team.

When he was brought in to replace Roy Hodgson, there was a major change in the way the team attacked. Instead of Hodgson’s regimented approach to going forward, players were given free roles in attacking positions, which led to more goals being scored.

Allardyce’s style is similar to that of Hodgson’s in that West Ham are well organised and don’t let in too many goals. If Steve Clarke is brought in at the Boleyn Ground, there will be most likely be more goals going in at either end, something that fans would not complain about if it meant their team was winning.

2) Roberto Di Matteo

Di Matteo is another former West Brom manager who could possibly be the next manager of West Ham and one that will bring a much more fluid style of play to East London.

The fans have been longing for a manager to get their team playing in the way that they were famed for the 1960s and 1970s and Di Matteo could well be the man to do that.

The only question surrounding Di Matteo being appointed is that of money. David Gold and David Sullivan have said before that money is tight and after spending big on Andy Carroll; a player that hasn’t featured at all for West Ham this season, will the owners be willing to spend big on a manager? After all, Di Matteo did win the Champions League, so he won’t come cheap.

3) Pepe Mel

The ex-Real Betis manager has been linked with a move to England in recent weeks and is another manager that would bring an attacking style of play to West Ham.

The main strength of Real Betis during Mel’s stint at the club was being able to overpower the opposition, simply by putting as many players forward as possible. Another feature of Mel’s previous sides has been isolating players, something that could get even more out of Ravel Morrison if used at West Ham.

A major turn off for the West Ham owners will undoubtedly be the fact that when Mel left Betis, they sat rock bottom of La Liga, but so did Espanyol when Mauricio Pochettino was sacked and Southampton have flourished under his guidance.

It would be a massive risk bringing Pepe Mel to West Ham, considering he has no experience of managing in England, but with the threat of relegation looming, it may be time for West Ham to take a risk. You only have to look back to the 2010-11 season to see what happened when Gold and Sullivan didn’t take the chance to bring in a new manager at this time of year.

Thomas Baxter