What is loyalty? Defined, it is "a feeling of attitude of devoted attachment and affection or a feeling of allegiance. A human quality where we can be loyal to a person or a cause".
As a West Ham fan I am loyal, my heart belongs to West Ham, I have put off many things in life so that I can be there. Call that loyalty, stupidity, devotion or whatever; when it comes to football I am loyal to the Hammers.In the previous statement I also said it can be stupidity and, on the whole, loyally following the Hammers is stupid. We will never be Premier League front runners, a European force in football but still I remain loyal, buying the kit, going to matches, taking the ridicule from the Cardiff branch of the Manchester United supporters.
But West Ham are my team. I didn't choose them, they chose me, As a kid in the sixties I was drawn to the greats playing for the team, and every year since 1963 the next season was going to be our season. It's loyalty that has stood the test of time.
However some forms of loyalty can and are totally misplaced, when the seemingly obvious tells you that your loyalty to certain causes is wrong and you have to accept that the loyalty you have shown has to stop for the great of the good.
I think those reading this will know where I am heading. I accept there will be many who shout "no, no, shoot him, hang the author he is wrong" - whereas there are I hope some who will agree with me.
Sam Allardyce has shown unwavering loyalty to Kevin Nolan, and I believe this is now having a detrimental affect on the team and on the club as a whole. During the Championship season and the subsequent Premier League season Nolan was undoubtedly extremely valuable to the team , his goals alone got us up and kept us up.
This season however, the same cannot be said. What little pace he had seems to have entirely deserted him. Is he worth his place when in reality, apart from getting on the end of knockdowns to poach a goal, he offers very little to a midfield?
He place is as secure as David Cameron's constituency seat, but so secure is he that if he's fit he plays. Will this put off prospective targets, like the 'striker gate' issue with Sam earlier in the season?
Again Sam has a level of loyalty to Andy Carroll, to the extent of being willing to gamble all on him being fit for a whole season and not recruiting another striker, until he was forced into looking for one.
Happy Clapper: But has the bubble burst for Kevin Nolan?
Sam is indeed a very loyal man, he has those players he is loyal to. He is also loyal to a one-dimensional system of play. We did well last season, let's not take that away from Sam but this season every team seems to know exactly what is coming and, due to Sam's misplaced loyalty to his system, he is unable - no, that's the wrong word... He is unconvinced that any other system will work.
Sam is a loyal man, he protects his squad from the press which is very admirable. But for how long is Sam's loyalty going to be enough? We need to change the way we play, we are as predictable as an Eunuch in a nudist camp. Nothing's going to happen. I think it's time Sam bit the bullet and dropped Nolan. A midfield with Joe Cole or Ravel Morrison in that role would be more mobile.
And for how long are the two Daves going to be loyal to Sam? I can't accept that this is what they expected for the the money they have doled out. Maybe they honestly cannot afford to be shot of Sam, or if they did it would drastically deplete the so-called transfer fund available in January.
I have no doubt Kevin Nolan is a nice guy, but I'm afraid Sam's misplaced loyalty in him is damaging our season, a season that looks like it's going to be one of attrition.
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