Why Big Sam's the right man for West Ham - and why Sparky WAS right for Villa

By Robbie Savage

Published 22:59 02/06/11

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I know exactly why Sam Allardyce has joined West Ham.

He was fed up of my terrible suits and me nudging him in the ribs every time I made a bad joke on ESPN.

Big Sam isn't everyone's cup of tea. Some Hammers fans are already moaning that his style isn't the West Ham way. Others see his press conferences and find him a bit blunt.

Neither is true. Having spent the last few months working alongside him on TV, I know he's a very funny guy who loves telling football stories and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the game.

If there's one thing he is blunt about, it's the long-ball tag that's followed him round for years.

But the Allardyce-managed Bolton teams I played against weren't all about Route One.

Yes, they could look to Kevin Davies for knockdowns when they needed to. But there was much more to their game, with the likes of Jay-Jay Okocha and Youri Djorkaeff stroking the ball around.

A good manager - and Sam is definitely one of those – uses all the tools at his disposal to get results.

He'll do that at West Ham.

Irrespective of who goes out and comes in now, they will start next season as my favourites for promotion back to the Premier League because of the Allardyce factor.

He'll toughen up a team that was a soft touch under Avram Grant. He'll mix up playing styles to keep the fans happy.

And he wouldn't have taken the job without telling Karren Brady and the owners not to get involved in his business.

It might not be the best time for West Ham, but he is the right man for the job.

Mark Hughes was the right man for Aston Villa at a difficult time too, and I’m shocked to hear the noises out of Villa Park saying they no longer fancy him to replace Gerard Houllier.

It’s a bizarre turn of events.

Knowing Sparky as I do, I’m sure he would not have left Fulham without believing he was heading for a new challenge somewhere.

The crazy thing is that Mark is perfect for Villa. That was the job that would have decided whether he ended up managing a Manchester United or Liverpool one day.

A master at spotting talent, he could have helped them cope with the probable losses of Ashley Young to Old Trafford and Stewart Downing to Anfield by picking up the kind of bargains he’s shopped for in the past – the likes of Christopher Samba, Roque Santa Cruz, Moussa Dembele, Nigel De Jong and Vincent Kompany.

He loves players he knows and trusts and I wouldn’t have been surprised to see the likes of Craig Bellamy, Clint Dempsey, Wayne Bridge and Shaun Wright-Phillips at Villa Park next season, alongside promising kids like Barry Bannan and Marc Albrighton.

I’m sure his first orders of business would have been to re-sign Brad Friedel and target Samba, who Sparky picked up for £350,000 from Hertha Berlin and who is worth 25 times that now, because Villa need a long-term partner for James Collins. He could also have revived the career of Stephen Ireland.

What next for Sparky?

It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that he might be about to follow Big Sam into the Championship, trying to lead Cardiff to the Promised Land. Or could he even enter the frame at Chelsea now, working as manager under Guus Hiddink as director of football?

Whatever happens, Villa seem to have turned their back on the next Martin O’Neill, a man who could have led them to semi-finals and finals and into the Europa League.

Whoever they have lined up instead is going to have to be very good indeed.

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