Affectionately known as Big Sam, Sam Allardyce is rarely a happy man.
Today the Hammers’ boss was extremely upset with West Ham’s 2-2 draw against Tottenham, as his side held a two-goal lead with ten minutes to play.
[ RECAP & HIGHLIGHTS: Tottenham 2-2 West Ham ]
Danny Rose had cut West Ham’s lead to one before Harry Kane earned a penalty kick for Spurs with just 15 seconds left in stoppage time.
Kane had his penalty saved by Adrian, but followed up the rebound to steal a point for Tottenham. After the match, Allardyce talked about the ‘NFL timekeeping’, as he believes the final whistle should have been blown immediately after Adrian stopped the penalty.
From Sky Sports:Asked if Moss should have blown for full-time immediately after Adrian had saved the penalty, Allardyce replied: “The answer to that is yes, but he wouldn’t be brave enough to do that at home would he?
“He’ll say there were still two seconds to go. He will say when the penalty was taken, there were five seconds left, when the rebound came off there were three seconds left. So we’re doing NFL now aren’t we? I’d like a time-keeper to be perfectly honest with you.”
Referee Jonathan Moss had signaled five minutes of added time, and awarded Tottenham the penalty at 94:45. By the time Kane took his shot, the clock was nearing 96:00, over the five minutes added on. Yes Big Sam is going to be upset with the result, but does he really believe a referee would end a match during a scramble in the box following a penalty kick?
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Allardyce went on to say his side is too honest as the Hammers have only drawn one penalty this year, and when asked about going down easily in the box, he said maybe his players “should do more of that.”
Sour grapes from Big Sam or a legitimate gripe?