Supporters visiting unofficial club sites online this week will find themselves being asked to take part in a cross-site survey regarding the future of Sam Allardyce. The results apparently to be sent to the West Ham board to deal with as they see fit.

In what would be a very 21st century coup, the internet pressure is mounting on David’s Gold and Sullivan to heed the fan’s calls for Allardyce not to be trusted to oversee another season at the Boleyn Ground.

Together with the vociferous barracking at the Hawthorns as the travelling faithful watched the Hammers lose their fourth successive match, the media have picked up the growing unrest and are now trying to produce headlines where there aren’t any.

‘No vote of confidence’ screamed one banner this week, harking on the not unreasonable premise that David Sullivan had refused make a comment on Sam’s future just minutes after he’d watched the 1-0 defeat at West Brom.

The chairman is a shrewd businessman and although it’s difficult to imagine considering West Ham’s current malaise, if the Hammers were to manage a trio of wins over their north London rivals on Saturday and upset Manchester City’s efforts to win the league the following week, then the board could hardly consider the season as a total disaster.

The mid-table finish that would bring - plus a cup semi-final – would seem to be a reasonable return in a season where injuries have played a massive part in what has transpired on the pitch.

On the other hand though, six losses on the spin might make things look a lot different.

Outside of the World Wide Web, I’ve noticed most fans are more circumspect about Allardyce’s Upton Park career. It’s hard to equate the manager’s supposed ‘arrogance’ with expectations for next season.

For surely, Sam knows things haven’t been great this campaign and – given the funds to improve the squad – why wouldn’t he want to improve things? Why would he want to fail?

There would always be a certain amount of percentage football under Allardyce but if he can find a bit of pace and flair – and be certain he knows the squad needs some – then the situation is hardly beyond redemption.

If the board feel they must bow to fan pressure though, then the hunt for a new manager will be on and – barring a few exceptions – with the club’s record since John Lyall was sacked then I will start to worry.