'Big Sam' Allardyce hits out at critics of his time at West Ham on Hong Kong visit
Long-ball jibes unfair says Londoners' former manager
Down to earth, pragmatic and with a propensity to call a spade a spade, Sam Allardyce is something of a dying breed among English football coaches.
The former manager of Bolton Wanderers, Newcastle United, Blackburn Rovers and, most recently, West Ham United, "Big Sam" has been one of the most outspoken and divisive characters in the English Premier League for the past 15 years, as lauded for his no-nonsense opinions and winning mentality as he is criticised for his perceived reliance on long-ball tactics.
In Hong Kong this week to speak at a fundraiser for the Indochina Starfish Foundation, a charity that helps disadvantaged children in Cambodia through football-based programmes, Allardyce is as forthright as ever, and remains bullish about his time with West Ham despite a departure marked by a lack of support from the club's owners and fan disgruntlement.
I don't get worried about the fans like everybody else does, I worry about my players and what we're like as a squad
"My time was fantastic with West Ham," says Allardyce. "You take a football club that's on its knees, that's riddled with depression and the financial fallout of getting relegated, and resurrect it ... I felt the criticism was unfair towards what I'd achieved."
Despite getting West Ham back into the Premier League in his first season in charge, beating Blackpool 2-1 in the 2012 Championship play-off final at Wembley, and following that up with midtable finishes in the next three seasons, Allardyce was accused by the club's fans of playing unattractive, long-ball football, a criticism that has dogged him throughout his career.
For Allardyce, however, it was water off a duck's back.