Do it, Allardyce
HOW THEY STAND
the home side would crumble. But Pickford, who saved a penalty in Everton’s last home match against Atalanta, repeated the trick to defy Lanzini.
Having survived the scare, Everton got their third in extraordinary fashion. Hart raced from his area to clear as Calvert-Lewin chased. Rooney, inside his own half, attempted a first-time shot that sailed over everyone and landed in the net. Allardyce looked on in amazement. He was not the only one. Everton then added a fourth as Williams scored with a looping header from a corner.
EVERTON (4-2-3-1): Booked: Goals: NEXT UP: WEST HAM (4-2-3-1):
deal with the Baggies worth £2million annually and he might run a mile if he hears Albion chairman John Williams knocking on his door come the festive season.
Pardew said: “Two days before Christmas Day I’ll be nervous and try and hide from the chairman.
“Actually, I got the Charlton job on Boxing Day, so Christmas has been a bit up and down for me managerially. Hopefully this one will be a very good Christmas.”
Pardew said that despite being shown the door by Palace he SAM ALLARDYCE made clear last month what he would do if appointed Everton manager.
He spoke of the importance of discipline, of commitment, of clean sheets and getting results. He also said that he would get Everton “back to basics”.
Those comments, made while working as a TV pundit in Qatar, gave a good indication of what the immediate future holds at Goodison Park following his arrival on an 18-month contract worth about £9million.
The pragmatic approach must take priority for now. Fans might not like it, but it should ensure they have a Premier League team to support next season.
Maybe Allardyce’s reputation as a long-ball manager is unfair. He would certainly say so. It is true that he can build attractive sides; those who remember the Bolton team built around the skills of Jay-Jay Okocha 15 years ago can vouch for that. It is just that, in a business in which results are everything, there is only so much room for the pretty stuff.
Allardyce has made his name salvaging the top-flight status of clubs in trouble. Having ended Bolton’s 21-year exile from the top division in 2001 and led them into Europe, he brought stability to Blackburn, until the club’s owners took to it with a wrecking ball. He guided West Ham back to the Premier League and kept Sunderland there when they looked destined for relegation.
After his one-match stint with England ended amid allegations of malpractice, he then rescued Crystal Palace from the drop. His methods have been criticised and he was not a popular manager at West Ham, fans retained a soft spot for the club he served as both player and manager.
But he promised Baggies fans any personal emotions, good or bad, would be banished when he takes his place in the dugout on Saturday with Roy Hodgson, right, close by.
He said: “I know their manager very well. He is doing a good job and they are in the best place they’ve been all season.
“It’s a group of players I know very well and a lot of people I love in the dressing room. It will be different for me personally but it’s not about me, it’s about West Brom and I’ll do everything I can to win this game.” Pardew is hoping to fast-track struggling West Brom up the table with a little help from Formula One. He has not been idle during his 11 months out, revealing that he has been taking a close look at team management in industry and sport. Pardew has swapped ideas with England rugby coach Eddie displaying banners claiming he was “killing” their club with his style of play. Jose Mourinho accused him of playing “19th-century football”.
The consolation for Everton’s fans is that the days of their team conceding four or five goals a game should be short-lived.
Even so, his is an appointment that has a strong feel of ‘make do and mend’. No one can pretend that Allardyce was Everton’s first choice to replace Ronald Koeman.
Major shareholder Farhad Moshiri wanted Watford’s Marco Silva and chairman Bill Kenwright would have liked caretakermanager David Unsworth to have made a success of the role.
Neither got their way and the result is a return to Premier League management for a man who hinted he was ready to retire to have more family time after leaving Crystal Palace in May.
His sentiment was genuine; he agreed to Palace’s demand, as part of the terms of his departure, that he would pay them £2m in compensation if he were to take another managerial job within two years.
He distanced himself from the Leicester job but the hunger was there. He spoke of being interested in an international job, with the gaps between fixtures allowing him to spend time at his Bolton home.
The Everton role ticks boxes for him because it is within commuting distance of his family base. The attraction of trying to lift an underachieving big-name club out of their torpor was just too much to resist.
Everton, for their part, just needed to get an experienced manager in place. They can let Allardyce perform his rescue act and think again next summer.
A club that have taken far too long to find Koeman’s replacement have given themselves breathing space. That, as much as anything, is the value of Allardyce to them right now.
MIKE WHALLEY Jones and been in the pits to get the inside track on what makes the best motor racing teams tick.
“I’ve been a guest of Force India and also Marussia, who now unfortunately have gone,” he said. “That industry is not unlike the Premier League. You go from one week to the next, one race to the next.
“If you don’t develop the car, you’ll fall behind. These margins are something we’ve always worked on. It’s about making sure when we enter the building on Saturday we’re trying to cover all of that.”