West Ham co-owner David Gold has praised former Hammers manager Sam Allardyce for leading Sunderland to Premier League safety.
Sunderland's 3-0 defeat of Everton on Wednesday ensures they will remain in the top flight next season and continues their recovery since Allardyce's appointment, following their poor start to the campaign under Dick Advocaat.
The Black Cats' survival also confirmed the relegation of Norwich and Newcastle, who sacked Allardyce in 2008.
Despite leading West Ham to promotion to the Premier League and leaving them in a position of strength from which they have built under Slaven Bilic this season, Allardyce was often an unpopular figure at Upton Park and appeared to have a strained relationship with club owners Gold and David Sullivan.
But Gold has hailed the work done by Allardyce on Wearside and felt certain from the moment he was appointed that he would achieve his goal of keeping Sunderland up.
"It doesn't surprise me, he is the great survivor, and he's old, which gives him something which young people don't have, and that's experience,'' Gold told Press Association Sport.
"He's had vast experience as a player, and as a manager, in difficult circumstances. He's never really managed a 'glamour' club -- maybe with the exception of West Ham, of course -- but he is a survivor.
"When he went to Sunderland, I immediately said, 'He will keep them up.' And it was doubtful, it was in the balance for months. But when it mattered, Sam delivered.
"Experience pays off more, and is more valuable in a 'doubt' situation, where you need level heads, patience. You don't need that at a big club. You need to be adventurous, you need to be innovative.
"Sam fits that category [of a doubt situation]. He would probably argue that he could also do it for a big club, but certainly his track record says that that's what he does best.''