Should The Board Act Now?

At the beginning of the season their was a real sense of optimism around West Ham United FC

The players, fans and owners of the club finally had something to look forward to.
A few months later and we are 19th in the table and as we go into January with one point separating ourselves and bottom club Sunderland many of my fellow West Ham fans want Sam Allardyce out!

In the summer transfer window I believe our fate was sealed then, we managed to spend £20 million on players who have failed to help the club from falling down the table. The players in question, Andy Carroll and Stewart Downing shouldn't be fully blamed for our inevitable demise, as the whole club needs to be!

I hear many pundits and fans saying when Andy Carroll returns we'll be safe, and although they have good reason to believe that, I find it worrying that one player has defined our season. It would appear that the loss of Andy Carroll has also taken away much confidence from the team and one player shouldn't have so much influence over a club. If more Strikers were brought in I feel as-if we could have bypassed the state we are currently in, but instead we face yet another relegation battle and echo's of the Avram Grant era can still be heard.

So, like with Grant, should the two David's gamble and hold onto Sam Allardyce and hope for the best, or should we change the manager?

After-all it's not as-if their isn't talented managers out there who could do a good job with the team we currently have-and being January a young manager like Malky Mackay or Steve Clarke could come in, make a some signings and stamp their authority on the squad, before it's little too late!