Source: FOOTYMAD
Big Sam Puts Toon 'Iron' Into The Irons!
Sam Allardyce has signed former Toon defender Abdoulaye Faye from Stoke, another of his former Bolton men. Allardyce knows the challenge which awaits him to transform West Ham from a "soft touch", but believes summer signing Kevin Nolan - whom he had as a player at the Reebok Stadium - has the perfect characteristics to meet those head on. Sam Allardyce: "Kevin has been in the Premier League an awful long time at Bolton, before he move to Newcastle. "He then guided Newcastle back at the first time of asking - not only with 17 goals, but by being captain. "I see Kevin as a great player and a great captain off the pitch. "Nolan could perhaps succeed Scott Parker as skipper, were he to be sold. "He got the skills to do that. "He showed that, not only with me at Bolton, but at Newcastle - when you get someone like Joey Barton almost crying on the TV because he's left, shows you the respect he has gained. "That is not just because of what he does on the field, but because of what he is like of it. "Kevin looks after the players and he drives them on, he creates a team spirit within himself. "It is not that he comes telling tales to me, he just sorts out the stuff I don't need to know about - then he goes and scores 12 Premier League goals from midfield."
