Sam Allardyce: West Ham new boy Nene not fit for Tottenham trip
Saturday 21 February 2015 13:17, UK
Sam Allardyce has contradicted his chairman's claim that new signing Nene is fit to make his debut this weekend.
West Ham signed the Brazilian striker this week on a deal until the end of the season, and David Gold tweeted on Thursday to say the 33-year-old "is fit and ready to play".
Gold added that former Paris Saint-Germain forward Nene could be on the bench at Tottenham on Sunday, but Allardyce dismissed that idea at his pre-match press conference.
He said: "Nene isn't ready physically yet. He's just started training with us, it'll be about 10 days maybe two weeks before he's ready."
Reports this week suggested there had been tension between Allardyce and the board over the signing, and West Ham's owners have form for making signings above the manager's head having instigated last summer's move for Diafra Sakho.
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But Allardyce said: "It's great to have a player like Nene, with his CV, at the club. We're all looking forward to seeing him play."
The manager's contract is up in the summer, and there are no plans to discuss his future until then. In the meantime, last weekend's FA Cup defeat at West Brom brought criticism from some supporters.
He said: "It's not my desire to listen to praise or criticism, it's my desire to be professional and work with the people in the football club to try and get best out of them.
"I know about it, but I don't take any notice of it. I just do my job and on a day-to-day basis work with everybody at the football club, including the owners. We move forward after the disappointment of last week."
Allardyce expects to have centre-halves Winston Reid and James Collins available this weekend for the first time since January 31, while winger Matt Jarvis is also fit.
"Having those players back for us is huge," he said. "If we avoid further injuries we'll have a good rest of the season."
Reid was among the scorers when West Ham won 3-0 at White Hart Lane last season, a result Allardyce described as "one of the best results in my time here".
Harry Kane has emerged as a consistent goalscorer for Spurs since then, and the England hopeful is fresh after starting on the bench against Fiorentina on Thursday.
"Harry Kane is the main danger man," Allardyce said. "He didn't start last night so we expect him to be ready for Sunday."
