Some PR advice to Big Sam

It might help Big Sam if he was less Alpha Male about the "We're West Ham United we play on the floor" chants at Peterborough. His response to press queries was typically combative, declaring  “I’m sick of all that rubbish. It just keeps rearing its head. We’ve outplayed and out passed the six teams we’ve played recently. The facts speak for themselves and the perception of people that it is anything other than that, is deluded."

He needs to be more Blair and less Thatcher in his dealings with the supporters. It would be far better PR for him to say that he understands the traditions of West Ham and the worries of the fans and will endeavour to play good football whenever possible, but it's a difficult and physical division to get out if. The fact he called the chants "rubbish" meant most people ignored the sound point he made later on that: “You can play on the floor when you’ve earned the right to play but you can’t do it when the opposition are shutting you down as Peterborough did in the first half.You play according to the situation which means long balls only when necessary."

I thought he got his tactics right at Peterborough, allowing the home side to tire and then playing some excellent  passing stuff in the second half. But instead the main press story is now of division between manager and fans.