West Ham supremo Gold praises Allardyce
West Ham joint-chairman David Gold has heaped praise on Sam Allardyce after masterminding their excellent recent Premier League run.
A run of one win in 10 league matches through December and January looked to have put West Ham in deep trouble, as they sat in the relegation zone with some sections of the Upton Park support calling for a change of manager.
However, four successive victories in the past month has left Allardyce's side in 10th, seven points clear of the bottom three, and Gold said the decision to keep faith with the manager had paid dividends.
"Fans are frustrated, are angry and the first thing that happens is that they want a change of manager," he told the club's official website.
"Then the second thing they want is a change of the chairmen.
"It comes with the territory, and there's no question that Sam's vindicated himself and I'm delighted for him."
Gold also took time to praise captain Kevin Nolan, who came under fire after two petulant dismissals in games against Liverpool and Fulham led to him a miss a total of seven matches in all competitions.
"He'll be the first to tell you how disappointed he was at getting sent off," Gold added.
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"He definitely felt that he let the team down, he let the fans down and most importantly of course, he left himself down.
"He found it hard to deal with, but he's dealt with it in the best possible way in coming back and scoring five goals in his last four games.
"You couldn't ask for more from him. It has been a true captain's performance on the field and what people don't often get the opportunity to see, but I do, is what a great captain he is off the field, in the dressing room and on the training pitch. He is a special character."