Big Sam refuses to gloat after another victorious Tyneside return

Newcastle United 0 West Ham United 1

The indecent haste with which his seven-month reign was curtailed by the then newly-arrived owner Mike Ashley in 2008 still rankles with the West Ham manager, who repeated his feat of winning here with Blackburn Rovers two years ago thanks to the only goal from Kevin Nolan, the former Newcastle skipper and one of several players on each side with links to the opposition.

Asked if victory was extra special because of his history on Tyneside, Allardyce played a straight bat: “Winning away gives me huge satisfaction regardless of where it is.”