Pundit Danny Murphy has been discussing West Ham United and feels Everton manager Sam Allardyce should still be in charge of the Hammers.
When West Ham appointed Allardyce after relegation under the hapless Avram Grant he was the bitter medicine the club needed to get better.
Allardyce divides opinion throughout football and the same was true among Hammers fans.
But no matter how much a section of the club’s supporters disliked Allardyce’s style of football, the majority would agree he did a good job during his four years in East London.
West Ham and Allardyce parted ways in the summer of 2015 with Slaven Bilic coming in as third choice.
With the considerable help of Dimitri Payet and a team galvanised by the emotion of the farewell season at Upton Park, Bilic guided the Hammers to their best ever Premier League points total, a first positive goal difference in the top flight since 1986 and to within four points of Champions League qualification.
It was all downhill after that, though, and the club has taken a big step backwards in the 18 months since with David Moyes brought in on a rescue mission, initially to much apathy – but no lack of support – from fans.
Meanwhile, Allardyce has successfully saved Sunderland and Crystal Palace, been hired and fired by England and is now in what many argue is his biggest club job as a manager at Everton.
“I thought what he did at Bolton was unbelievable over a long period of time, developed them and their squad and since then really probably West Ham was one of the longest ones (jobs) he had and I thought they were developing really well,” Murphy told The Debate.
“He got a bit unlucky there I thought losing his job, I know there’s always a bit about the style thing with West Ham, but getting them up, keeping them mid table, playing some good stuff.
“He had a bad second half to the season just before he left and I think he’s more than capable (of developing Everton).”
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