My Club: Kriss Akabusi

BACK IN THE BIG TIME ... Sam Allardyce after winning the Championship play-off final

Will West Ham be able to fill it out though?

They will because we will become the West Ham of 1986. We’ll be a top-tier side.

Slowly but surely we’ll build towards it. We’re a stone’s throw away from Canary Wharf – when we move to the Olympic Stadium we’ll be the natural club for all the banking money. It won’t be overnight, but in that setting, we’ll grow, for sure.

The Hammers are back in the top flight now. What are your targets for this season?

Staying up, of course. I don’t want to be biting my nails on the last day of the season wondering if we’ll be going down or not. We need to aim for 40 points past February.

West Ham will have to get used to the long-ball game that Sam Allardyce prefers, and if it keeps us up, I won’t be complaining.

Would you be satisfied with that style of football in the long term?

Sam does say he can be flexible and that he has plans A, B and C. If we can become like the Bolton of old that was a top 10 team for two or three years, eventually we will get better players and a better system.

You have faith in Allardyce then?

I do. We’ll get there in the end. One thing you do know is that in 10-15 years, Sam Allardyce will not be at West Ham – but I’m a Hammer for life. Sam has a job to do and eventually someone else will come in to replace him. Managers come and go but the team will always be there.

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