BIG SAM’S TAKEN OFF HIS CROWN
NOT long ago Sam Allardyce could be found rekindling a love for crown green bowls at his village club with a few mates.
It involved grass, the challenge of pitting his skill against an opponent with a spherical shape and, no doubt, a sneaky bevy afterwards.
But, much as he embraced bowls, there was something missing. Swopping the bowling lawns for a relegation scrap at West Brom with the odds piling up against you hardly seems like fun.
But Allardyce is happy to be back in his natural habitat – even if his relegationbusting reputation could be dented at The Hawthorns.
“I missed being in football and the daily inter-action that gives you. I missed working. It wasn’t so bad last summer, at least we had some decent weather to be outdoors and I got into bowls again.
“It was a popular game around Bolton when I first went there as a youth player in my late teens and it was nice to pick it up and have some fun playing again.
“Once winter came, though, that was it and I realised I wanted to work again and be back in the Premier League.
“People have questioned why I took on West Brom. They say my record of never being relegated is in danger of being broken this season.
“But that’s not a concern for me. It’s not about my past. It’s about what I can do now, can I take on the challenge.
“A big concern has been making sure I don’t catch Covid because you are going into an environment full of young people where maybe the risks are greater.
“But we are tested twice a week and the protocols in place are excellent although it makes management extremely difficult.
“The players are split over three dressing rooms at the training ground. We can’t have a team meeting with all the squad together so we have to have separate meetings in smaller groups and they can’t take too long.
“That’s not ideal when you are discussing a game plan and tactical details that involve the whole team. We travel to games in three coaches.”
West Brom are heading back to the Championship unless they start picking up points. Allardyce said: “We have to stop losing, it’s as simple as that. I’m not asking the players to win every game, just take some points from games then you give yourself a chance.
“The key is defending properly, keeping clean sheets, picking up some one-nils.”