Big Sam faced the media ahead of Saturday's London derby with QPR
West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce faced the press ahead of Saturday's game with Queens Park Rangers.
Find out what he had to say on Aaron Cresswell's future, injury news and rising to the challenge QPR pose.
"The performance in the first half against Manchester City and the second half against Stoke City wasn’t good enough. Even though we were seconds away from beating Stoke, I’m still interested in the performance levels. We have to make sure results don’t affect our confidence."
"We haven’t lived up to that expectation or coped with it as well as I thought we might. There are several reasons for that, reaching the level of football we played, injuries have played a part as well as fatigue for some of the players who have been playing in the Premier League for the first time.
"I think that is to be expected, and overall they have performed better than we expected. It’s been a great experience for them and hopefully they will learn from it and improve next season.
"The fact is, we wouldn’t be talking about that if we got the points we should’ve got. We should be on 50 points or more and we would be looking pretty good for a strong end to the season. We’ve put pressure on ourselves, we must accept that pressure and deliver."
"We’ve had problems like that before, particularly in transfer windows. Who knows what will happen in the summer, someone asked me if he has £25 million pound buyout clause and it was the first I’d heard of it, so there are a lot of rumours going around and not much facts."
"We have to be at our best on Saturday because it’s a London derby and QPR are fighting for their lives. We experienced that at Leicester. We will have to match the fight that QPR will bring and also Burnley next weekend. The players have to realise they’re not on the beach yet, far from it."
Find out what he had to say on Aaron Cresswell's future, injury news and rising to the challenge QPR pose.
Morning Sam, what is the team news ahead of QPR this weekend?
SA: "We still have the same injury list as we had last week. Andy Carroll is out until next season, whether we have Diafra Sakho back before the end of the season is touch and go. The same goes for James Tomkins and Doneil Henry. Guy Demel picked up a calf injury so he probably won’t be available. Apart from that everyone else is OK."Karren Brady has been speaking recently praising the job you’ve done here and saying contract negotiations will happen at the end of the season, does that put to rest the speculation around your future?
SA: "It doesn’t make too much difference because I’m in constant contact with David Sullivan and Karren. People think we don’t communicate but that’s not the case. The focus for me is getting the team winning football matches again. Not winning has been a massive disappointment of late and it’s my responsibility to get us back to winning games.""The performance in the first half against Manchester City and the second half against Stoke City wasn’t good enough. Even though we were seconds away from beating Stoke, I’m still interested in the performance levels. We have to make sure results don’t affect our confidence."
Does the uncertainty around your future have effect on the players?
SA: "I would sincerely hope that it doesn't. If it has I’m not really sure, you’d have to ask the players. I think dealing with the raised expectations has been a problem."We haven’t lived up to that expectation or coped with it as well as I thought we might. There are several reasons for that, reaching the level of football we played, injuries have played a part as well as fatigue for some of the players who have been playing in the Premier League for the first time.
"I think that is to be expected, and overall they have performed better than we expected. It’s been a great experience for them and hopefully they will learn from it and improve next season.
"The fact is, we wouldn’t be talking about that if we got the points we should’ve got. We should be on 50 points or more and we would be looking pretty good for a strong end to the season. We’ve put pressure on ourselves, we must accept that pressure and deliver."
There’s been speculation about Aaron Cresswell’s future, he’s said that he is very happy here and that he has years left on his contract. Is West Ham the best place for him at the moment?
SA: "Yes. As far as I’m aware no one has bid for Aaron, it’s pure rumours and speculation from people in the media who need space to fill. My main concern is that it doesn’t concern Aaron and to make sure he keeps playing like he has been doing."We’ve had problems like that before, particularly in transfer windows. Who knows what will happen in the summer, someone asked me if he has £25 million pound buyout clause and it was the first I’d heard of it, so there are a lot of rumours going around and not much facts."
Is he better off staying here?
SA: "There’s no doubt about that. He’s only in year one of life in the Premier League. It’s an ongoing experience where you discover what level you’re at. Next season Aaron will have to learn and grow from that experience. He can’t rest on his laurels and think ‘Yes I’m here, I’ve made it’. I’ve seen that before where year two is a bit of a disaster. His professionalism will come into play and I’m sure he’ll be able to handle it."What is there still for you to achieve this season?
SA: "We wanted to finish with more points than we’ve ever managed and we should've achieved that a long time ago. After Christmas we were in a good position and we thought we might be able achieve a bit more than that. But we’ve made life difficult for ourselves.""We have to be at our best on Saturday because it’s a London derby and QPR are fighting for their lives. We experienced that at Leicester. We will have to match the fight that QPR will bring and also Burnley next weekend. The players have to realise they’re not on the beach yet, far from it."