Sunderland boss Allardyce takes swipe at West Ham fans: Good luck, Slaven!

Sam Allardyce will found his Sunderland rescue mission on trying to fix the holes in a porous defence.

Sunderland welcome Newcastle to the Stadium of Light in their first Premier League derby of the season on October 25, after they travel to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

“James is a West Ham United player and has four-and-a-half years left on the contract”.

The Black Cats sit alongside Wear-Tyne rivals Newcastle at the bottom of the Premier League, with each outfit amassing only three points from their opening eight fixtures.

Asked how tough the challenge ahead of him is likely to be, he said: “Well, I don’t really know that until I’ve actually got amongst all the players and find out their various strengths and weaknesses as individuals and as a team”. Steven Fletcher seems to be scoring quite regularly, we all know Jermain Defoe can score and we have got Fabio Borini, so we can score hopefully a few goals from set plays, so if we can keep that going, then sort the defensive side out, then we should be okay.

“People forget that when they got relegated, he got them promoted in the first year and they kicked on from there”.

Allardyce took aim at the West Ham fanbase over their tempestuous relationship with him in the latest serialised extract from his autobiography.

“As soon as I was appointed West Ham manager in 2011 the big debate was whether I would folow the “West Ham way”, which nobody could define but, whatever it was, I apparently I didn’t play it”.

Allardyce wrote in his column in The Sun: “I felt the West Ham way ought to be about wearing your heart on your sleeve, showing passion for the club and winning”.

Sam Allardyce has blasted the “brainwashed” West Ham fans for believing West Ham should play in a manner “akin to Barcelona”.

“I once called the supporters deluded and I stand by that”.

But the former West Ham boss insists there is enough quality and experience within the club to turn things around.