Sam Allardyce

I mean, this is a great ball.

You know, people don't give him credit how good he is on the floor, Andy.

Because he's 6'4", 6'5", they think it's all about his aerial prowess.

He's very, very good with both feet on the floor and holding it up and using his body.

Absolutely.

Well, you do now, because when...

He first came to me at West Ham from Liverpool on loan.

He was a young man.

He was a very young man in my short spell at Newcastle, making his way into the first team.

Played with Kevin Nolan, a great goalscoring record between them, put them both back together.

And then, unfortunately, it became one injury after another, another operation, another injury, another operation.

And you were hoping at some stage that all these injuries would go away or disappear, that he couldn't have any more.

So perhaps now, after a long period off, he would like to get a run in the side.

I think for Andy's concern is when his contract's coming up, which that'll be shortly, I think.

He'll be fifth then only.

I mean, yeah, probably, yeah.

You know...

And I think that's a concern for him.

And a concern on West Ham, do they invest again in him with his playing record?

But certainly you can see the effect he has on the team.