SHOW ME THE MONEY... AND I WILL GIVE YOU ENTERTAINMENT

Big Sam throws down the gauntlet to Toffees

SAM ALLARDYCE will tell Everton owner Farhad Moshiri this week: ‘Give me the tools and I’ll produce an entertaining team’.

Big Sam is under fire from many Everton fans who believe the former England boss has provided unacceptable sterile football during his five months in charge at Goodison Park.

That has left Moshiri with a big decision to make when the pair hold crunch face-toface talks about the future once today’s final game against West Ham is out of the way.

The toxic, almost choking atmosphere, claims Allardyce, is often now the price on the ticket in the demanding money-rich Premier League – one which would even test the capabilities of a young Sir Alex Ferguson.

Allardyce said: “The change has come with the money. Every time the money has gone up the game has changed and it’s become more and more volatile for managers.

“There is less patience and less time to achieve what you’ve got to achieve – and that’s all about the money.

“Yes, Sir Alex, who I’m glad to say is on the mend, would struggle now.

“You have to survive by results.

“If you play a brand of attractive football and lose every game you get sacked.”

Allardyce, to Moshiri’s delight, has led Everton from the relegation zone to complete safety and just a few points from a Europa League spot.

That though hasn’t been enough for his legions of detractors who follow the club and whose chants at games inform Big Sam in no uncertain terms that his time is up. It’s why he is far from certain to complete the final 12 months of his £6million-a-year contract.

But Allardyce insists: “There’s nothing wrong with our style of play because it suits the players.

“My job as always is to get better players because then we get better results and we will play more attractive football. You can only deal with the tools and players you have at the time.

“You just can’t magic something overnight when you walk into a struggling club. You can’t get two magic wands and say we’re going to play like Manchester City.

“It’s impossible. If you’re asking the impossible, it’s never going to be achieved.”

Allardyce insists that he has met the first criteria of his appointment – to stave off relegation – and believes he should now be backed to continue the club’s resurrection.

He added: “I didn’t leave retirement to come into this football club just to save it. I could have stayed retired because I’ve done all that.

“I came here to try to take the football club into a new stadium and try and build a team that can fight for the European places.

“That’s what this club demands.”

On the continual stick from the stands and various phone-ins, he added: “I don’t enjoy the criticism. But it’s part of the job, isn’t it? You can’t let the criticism affect you like you can’t let the adulation affect you when it’s deemed you’re overachieving.

“You just have to know what you need to do and you work with the players you’ve got available.

“I’ve never played the way we play at Everton anywhere else.” Now Allardyce is hoping to be given the green light to continue as Everton manager from Moshiri (left) and to bolster the squad. He said: “I’m looking forward to having my meeting because there’s a lot to be discussed. It’s a very difficult summer because of the World Cup. “If we accept improvements need to be made, the way we make them is by signing better players. No disrespect to what the squad have done this season but if we want to finish higher up we’re all going to go into the market.

“We recruited two players in January [Cenk Tosun and Theo Walcott] who have been very influential, players who make and score goals.

“If you look back on that, and people say I’m negative, well those two players have made a massive difference since they arrived.

“They are among the elements that have improved us since January.”

It’s all about results, there is no patience for managers... even Fergie would struggle today...