Sam Allardyce hits back at West Ham owner David Sullivan over transfer rumoues

Posted Saturday, January 10, 2015 by Dailystar.co.uk

SAM ALLARDYCE has hit back at West Ham owner David Sullivan in the latest of a series of public spats.

Allardyce spoke out after his judgement seemed to be questioned for the second time in the space of a few days.

Co-owner Sullivan recently insisted on TV that nine-goal top scorer Diafra Sakho was his choice not Allardyce's.

Sullivan then had another dig last weekend by claiming Allardyce chose to sign Andy Carroll when he had a much cheaper deal for Wilfried Bony lined up.

Bony is now on the verge of joining Manchester City from Swansea for £30m after scoring more Premier League goals than any other striker in 2014, while £15m club record signing Carroll has been plagued by injuries since arriving at Upton Park.

But yesterday Allardyce said: "I'm not picking an argument with him for what he said in a recent interview, but I think it is right to put across my point of view.

"Yes, we knew about Bony but we all agreed to go for Carroll - with the caveat that if the deal didn't work out for any reason, we would switch to Bony.

"Whatever anyone says now, at the time a bid for Bony, unproven in English football, would have represented a bigger risk than Andy, an established Premier League player.

"The likelihood of achieving success, had we signed Bony, was far less than with Carroll.

"Hindsight is a wonderful thing but, at the time, we were looking at these two possibilities.

"In my experience over more than two decades in football management, you always have to minimise the risk.

"David likes a gamble, which is no problem at all, and when it pays off it's great. If you keep going down that route, though, you end up with more failures than successes."

Allardyce's contract is up at the end of the season with both sides admitting no talks will take place until later in the season.

But the Hammers have been one of the shock successes of the season, even though they have recently slipped to seventh.

Allardyce also suggested Sullivan got lucky with Sakho, a bargain £4m summer signing from Metz.

He added: "It's particularly rewarding when one of those gambles pays off for everyone, but it's difficult to see how you can keep doing it without threatening the club's growth.

"Admittedly, the £8m-£10m player represents a risk that you are going to have to take more often than in the past because there are far fewer top players around.

"Diafra Sakho, at a lot less than that sum, could prove to be a one-in-a-million signing.

"As far as Bony is concerned, I wish him well wherever he plays but for one player we could have signed, who then went somewhere else and did well, there are many we have looked at and decided against signing, who have gone elsewhere and not been a success.

"Often, when you are debating whether or not to try and sign a player from abroad, you're working with very limited knowledge, unlike someone from this country who you've seen or had watched on a consistent basis.

"Statistics are important but you should never ever rely on those alone.

"Watching countless DVDs is all well and good but it can never replace seeing the players yourself.

"As I said, David loves a gamble - and I'm sure he will be up for a few more along the way."