Sam Allardyce admits that West Ham United's dreadful run of pre-season results was of grave concern going into the 2014/15 campaign.
Big Sam, who had guided his team into fourth place in the Premier League with a quarter of the season gone went into the new campaign having seen his team win just ONE of their SEVEN pre-season fixtures (in normal time) - the very final match at home to Sampdoria.Prior to that 3-2 win, Allardyce had watched his side labour to draws against Stevenage, Ipswich and Schalke and lose to New Zealand part timers Wellington Phoenix, A-League side Sydney FC and La Liga outfit Malaga in Germany.
It was a scenario that so concerned Allardyce he moved to boost his squad with three additional players - Diafra Sakho, Alex Song and Morgan Amalfitano - between the end of pre-season and before the transfer window closed.
And the trio's introduction - combined with some excellent performances from fellow new arrivals and existing squad members, such as the rejuvenated Stewart Downing - has ensured West Ham have started the new season on a roll.
"I never take too much notice of our results in pre-season but it does create a bit of doubt ahead of the season," he admitted. "And of course you never quite know how the signings are going to settle in. Thankfully all those anxieties have been put to rest pretty quickly.
"I think the new players will be surprised at how well they've done so far. But that's been down to their own application and determination. I think we're all surprised at how consistently good our performances have been so far this season that has been very pleasing.
"We've had quite a number of injuries to deal with, but only one-and-a-half performances so far have been below my expectations in nine matches, so that shows fantastic consistency."
Despite the wonderful start to the new campaign, which has exceeded all expectations, Allardyce insists the bulk of the hard work lies ahead with a packed schedule prior to Christmas likely to go some way to determining West Ham's fortunes this season.
"There's no point trying to make an accurate prediction on where we'll finish," he added. "November and December are notoriously difficult months so I'm waiting until after that period to make a proper judgement.
"I think this period coming up is the hardest of the season so if we do better this season than in previous ones we'll know roughly where we could finish."
A Nightmare on Green St: pre-season Blues
July
12th: Stevenage FC 2-2 West Ham Utd
16th: Ipswich Town 0-0 West Ham Utd
23rd: Wellington Phoenix 2-0 West Ham Utd
26th: Sydney FC 3-1 West Ham Utd
August
2nd: Schalke 0-0 West Ham Utd (West Ham win 7-6 on pens)
3rd: Malaga 2-0 West Ham Utd
9th: West Ham Utd 3-2 Sampdoria
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