Outstanding! From start to finish everybody really enjoyed the day,” Allardyce told West Ham TV. I think the players were a little nervous, which was a good thing, I think, as that gave them the edge to go out and perform like they did against a very good Tottenham side.
“Even before they got the player sent off, we had such a positive start in threatening the opposition’s back four, where we felt that their weakness would be. Of course, when Stewart Downing got through one-on-one, he was going to get a shot off on the ‘keeper. It’s definitely a free-kick and definitely a sending off.
“Had Tottenham not had Lloris on the pitch, I might be sat here with four or five goals. But certainly two was more than enough at half-time. Pity we didn’t get any more, but a fantastic performance overall and a positive end to the season [at home.]
“The squad has had to stick together through tough times, but on Saturday, to finish off at home with a win, against our old rivals, our third win on the trot against them, it really couldn’t have finished any better. We did want to do better in between times, but we’re safe, we’re in the Premier League, we can grow, we can build, we can hopefully get better.”