Former West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce is now at Everton but he is still managing to upset his old club.
Everton boss Allardyce has had three clubs and briefly managed England since leaving West Ham two and a half years ago.
He saved Sunderland and Crystal Palace from relegation and has turned the Toffees around completely since being named boss at Goodison Park with the club going on a seven game unbeaten run with five wins and two draws – one of which was a 4-0 triumph over the Hammers as he watched on from the stands.
Everton and West Ham are widely considered the two biggest clubs outside the Premier League top six.
Allardyce did a fine job over four years in East London, re-establishing the Hammers as a mid table Premier League team.
But West Ham fans grew tired of his pragmatic style of football and his apparent unwillingness to attack cup competitions.
However, Allardyce has now suggested on Sky Sports that not only are Everton the biggest club he has managed but also that the small club mentality of owners of his previous clubs like West Ham under David Sullivan and David Gold saw him criticised for his approach to cup competitions.
“I never thought I would get a club like this (in terms of size and history) in all honesty, but here I am and looking forward to working as long as I can to bring as much as success as I can,” Allardyce told Jamie Carragher for Sky Sports.
“To win a trophy (is one of my aims). Too many times I have had to sacrifice a trophy or the chance of winning one because the owners have said you have to stay in the Premier League at all costs.
“I take the can for changing the side and people have said you have disrespected a cup, but the owner’s instructions have been you must stay in the Premier League, that is the priority, and I have taken that on board and that has meant we have had to play weakened teams in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup.”
It is a clear reference to his time at West Ham, where he was roundly criticised for fielding hugely weakened teams in the cups and effectively tanking in the competitions much to the anger of supporters.
Allardyce famously once fielded almost an entire team of youngsters – most of whom were making their senior debuts – in an FA Cup tie at Nottingham Forest which the Hammers lost 5-0.
He also threw the towel in for a league cup semi-final against Manchester City, losing 9-0 over two legs in the same month of the same season.
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