Allardyce is not feeling the heat to the same degree as Hughton or Jol – that despite his West Ham United team sitting a point below the former’s Norwich City outfit, and just two places above the latter’s Fulham by virtue of a superior goal difference.
The Midlander is the just beneficiary of some extra breathing space thanks to two years at the Hammers in which he secured their instant promotion out of the Championship, and then established the club’s top-tier presence with an admirable 10th placed finish at the end of their first season back.
Nevertheless, the denizens of Upton Park are not renowned for their patience. Allardyce has already experienced his supporters’ ire as a consequence of the typically direct football he implemented to secure the team’s passage back into the Premier League.
There has been a notable tightening of the West Ham defence – a side which shipped 53 goals in its 38 outings last term has conceded 11 in 11 this time out. That is a record that should have yielded far more than the ten points accrued so far.
A glance at the ‘goals for’ column reveals where the problem lies. While never free-scoring during 2012/2013 – they struck on 45 occasions in league games – this season’s nine goals is a dismal return.
A third of those came in the Hammers’ classic away performance at Tottenham. That was the day when Allardyce, shorn of forward options, decided to send out a team without a designated striker in its line-up. The tactic surprised Spurs, and worked to perfection.
Notwithstanding his initial success with its adoption, loading the centre of the park is not a viable long-term approach. Since winning at White Hart Lane, West Ham have taken two points from a possible 12. Both of those were earned as the result of 0-0 draws.
Allardyce deserves a touch of sympathy, having been without his injured talismanic target-man, Andy Carroll, for this campaign’s entirety. Yet, it was the manager who chose to spend £15m of his budget on a forward with a less than reliable appearance record – and who left himself short of alternatives should his prize asset pull up lame.
The 59 year-old appears to have an array of attacking individuals at his disposal, but lacks faith in any of them to provide his unit with a definitive spearhead.
Allardyce’s faith in Modibo Maiga has all but disappeared, while he was comfortable letting the now returned Carlton Cole walk through the exit door only five months ago. Ricardo Vaz Te is set for an enforced spell on the side-lines, although the Portuguese is another striker who has never won his manager’s full trust. Matt Jarvis and Stewart Downing were recruited with maximising Carroll’s impact in mind.
With Chelsea and Liverpool looming on the Hammers’ fixture list, not to mention what have become crucial bottom of the table encounters against Crystal Palace and Fulham, Allardyce needs, swiftly, to find an answer to his team’s goal scoring conundrum.
If West Ham’s boss hopes to rely on Kevin Nolan’s timely arrival in his opponent’s penalty areas or a piece of magic conjured up by Morrison or Joe Cole, then he is treading dangerous waters indeed.
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