Big Sam got it right by getting Coleman back
SAM ALLARDYCE was entitled to bristle when Everton fans were asked by the club marketing department to rate the ‘level of trust’ they held in him for ‘making the right decisions.’
One call Big Sam got right was his resolve in restoring Seamus Coleman to the first XI as soon as he could.
On Monday night, Coleman’s crucial headed clearance late in the game at Goodison Park averted danger and helped secure a 1-0 win against Newcastle.
For all that Allardyce has had to defend his record, and his style of play, he can point to the courage of his Coleman call.
Not every manager would have been convinced that a player out for 10 months with a shattered fibula and tibia could land running on his return. Allardyce liked what he saw on the training ground and felt the presence of Coleman would lift the players, and the mood among the Gladwys Street diehards. On all counts, he was right.
It was January 31, when the Killybegs native Coleman was thrust back into the Premier League cauldron. At that time, Everton were on the crest of a slump with three draws and three losses in their previous six games.
They were a mere four points off the relegation places and Big Sam wouldn’t have won any personality contest on Merseyside.
It was the cue for his saviour Seamus to make his entrance.
Coleman (right) played 90 minutes on his reappearance and helped Everton to a 2-1 win over Leicester City.
Scroll forward to Monday night and Coleman was again hugely influential as Everton edged out in-form Newcastle. In a dour game, his concentration and application were admirable as he shored up the right flank.
It was a third clean sheet in six games and a win which guarantees Everton will finish in the top half this season. They have extended their membership of the top flight to a 65th consecutive season since Dubliner Peter Farrell captained the team to promotion from the old Second Division in 1953-54.
For the many Everton fans in Ireland — there are many, for the club was the focal point for Irish players and supporters long before Liverpool — Coleman is to the team what Farrell was in the late 40s and 50s.
He is wholly committed to the blue jersey and acutely aware of what it represents to the Merseyside community. He is not flashy in combat, rather he is reliable.
Like Farrell, he lifts those around him, as much by deed as word. It is no surprise that he has followed Farrell as a Republic of Ireland captain.
With Coleman in the team, Everton’s Premier League record reads: Played 9, Won 5, Drawn 2, Lost 2. One of those losses was to Manchester City, which was no shame.
If that form was multiplied by four, to mirror a near 38-game season, Everton would have chalked up 20 wins and 10 draws — oh, happy days.
For a top level trustworthy service at right-back, for a player who knows his priority is a clean sheet but can gallop forward when the opportunity presents itself, Coleman is yer man. Just ask Big Sam. M SAM ALLARDYCE is one of many managers in England who served their apprenticeship, so to speak, in the League of Ireland. Two former Sligo Rovers managers, Paul Cook (Wigan) and John Coleman (Accrington), have both won promotion this season.