Allardyce puts Christmas party on hold
‘I will pay them back after we escape danger’ Everton manager plays down Benitez rivalry
Sam Allardyce has cancelled the Everton players’ Christmas party, insisting the club must escape trouble before any celebrations.
Although Everton have moved into mid-table since Allardyce’s appointment, they are still too close to the bottom three to be comfortable. Their new manager feels it would send the wrong message to arrange a night out, so the planned get-together after next Monday’s home game with Swansea City is off.
Allardyce promised the squad he would make alternative arrangements in the new year once targets were met. “Yes, I’ve stopped the Christmas party because it is not needed at the moment because of the position we were in when I first arrived,” said Allardyce. “I told the players I will pay them back when they come out of Christmas and into January and they can go and socialise at the right time.
“It’s off until there is a period when we are in a very good position that you can say, ‘Lads, have a relaxing time, which you deserve, but whatever you do, I don’t want a phone call telling me you’ve been in trouble because you will be in even more trouble with me’.”
Allardyce says there is greater responsibility on players to moderate their revelry during the festive period. “As a manager, it was very important that the players, in today’s environment with social media, were not seen to be out enjoying themselves too much,” he said.
“They have turned that around already for me but I’m still going to say, ‘Look, lads this is our biggest demand’.”
Allardyce returns to former club Newcastle tonight, when he will renew a personal rivalry with Rafa Benitez. Allardyce made a headlinegrabbing claim about the former Liverpool manager in his 2015 autobiography, suggesting the 2005 Champions League win had “nowt to do with him” and was due to Steven Gerrard.
Allardyce was more diplomatic ahead of the trip to St James’ Park. “Stories, isn’t it? It’s what sells the book,” he said. “There were some belting stories much better than that. It’s all water under the bridge, two managers pitted their wits against each other … it was the same with Arsene [Wenger]. We used to have a bit of a tete-a-tete.
“I used to enjoy that when I was younger. It’s not so much now because I don’t feel as though someone with my age and my experience needs to talk about that and go down that route any more.”