So long, Sam...
TOM SEYMOUR looks back at the colourful managerial career of Sam Allardyce
ON MAY 24, 2017 and to the surprise of all except presumably those very close to him, Sam Allardyce resigned as Crystal Palace manager after five months in charge.
Not only that but the 62-year-old also admitted that he was effectively retiring from football, with, in his own words, ‘no ambition of taking another job’.
“I want to be able to savour life while I am still relatively young, and when I am still relatively healthy enough to do all the things I want to do, like travel, spend more time with my family and grandchildren without the huge pressure that comes with being a football manager,” a statement from Allardyce read.
Cynics argued that he would be back saving another relegation-threatened team – as he had just done with Palace – before too long, but to most this seemed like a genuine goodbye from the world of football from one of the most experienced bosses the Premier League has seen.
Since England’s top tier was rebranded in 1992, only four managers have been in charge of more top flight games than the man affectionately known as ‘Big Sam’.
That experience has come with six different teams, the first of which being arguably Allardyce’s biggest achievement and one which certainly established him as more than just a safe pair of hands.
In October 1999 he was appointed boss of Bolton Wanderers, a club where he had come through the ranks as a youth player and where he spent the first nine years of his professional playing career.
Struggling to assert themselves, with only four top flight seasons to their name since 1964, Allardyce took Bolton back into the Premier League in 2001 after beating Preston North End in the play-off final.
Whereas their previous exploits at this level in the 90s had seen immediate relegation, this time the foundations had been built for long-term success and that was thanks largely to one man. In more recent times Allardyce has been viewed as something of a dinosaur in English football, perhaps not helped by his slightly geezer-ish persona and his team’s supposed one-dimensional tactics on the pitch. Yet at Bolton his behind-the-scenes work was way ahead of their competitors. Admittedly, he inherited a talented squad and the Reebok Stadium was a state-of-the art ground, but in many ways the club were behind the times. Allardyce invested large transfer fees received for the likes of Eidur Gudjohnsen and Claus Jensen into improving training facilities and development away from the pitch. The Trotters were one of the first clubs to introduce player analysis system, Prozone, for example – something which is common practice now.
Backroom staff specialising in medicine, sports science and performance analysis were all hired - which was probably one of the key reasons why Bolton could attract and prolong the careers of ageing, yet technically gifted, players such as Ivan Campo,Youri Djorkaeff, Fernando Hierro, Jay Jay Okocha and Gary Speed.
Rather than struggling near the bottom, the Lancashire outfit were now the division’s biggest overachievers, finishing no lower than eighth between 2003 and 2007 and qualifying for the UEFA Cup in the process.
It was form that saw Newcastle United come knocking and, with it, a difficult period in Allardyce’s managerial career, but one from which he would eventually have the last laugh.
Having ended an eight-year spell with Bolton, his time at St James’ Park lasted just eight months, with the Magpies parting company with Big Sam with the club 11th in the table.
The following season they were relegated, while Allardyce used his reported £4m pay-off to buy a villa on the Costa Blanca and name it ‘Casa St James’.
He was not out of a job for long, replacing Paul Ince as Blackburn Rovers manager in December 2008 with them 19th in the Premier League after 17 games.
By May they were 15th and well and truly safe, and Allardyce was earning
there have been dark times. Yet LIKE HIM OR LOATHE HIM, THERE IS NO DENYING THAT BIG SAM WILL LEAVE A BIG GAP IN ENGLISH FOOTBALL
himself a reputation as the man to call on when a side was in crisis.
In 2009/10, Blackburn finished 10th, but two years after getting the job, new owners the Venky’s decided a change was needed and with the club 13th, Big Sam was sacked.
The following season Rovers were relegated and have been on a downward spiral ever since.
Next came West Ham United and the fourth promotion of Allardyce’s career, as he led them out of the Championship at the first time of asking in 2011/12 – again via the play-offs.
During his three years in the top flight with the Hammers, the club never finished lower than 13th.
Meanwhile, he further enhanced his own reputation for beating top six managers with what Jose Mourinho scathingly called “19th Century” football.
That particular comment came after a 0-0 draw with Mourinho’s Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. And Allardyce’s response? “He can’t take it because we’ve out-tacticed them,” he laughed.
Making up phrases such as “out-tacticed”, being filmed dancing in Marbella (Google the video, it’s worth it) or ordering a pint of wine is what endears Big Sam to many.
Well, who else could get Steve Bruce to rush from watching his Hull City side draw 2-2 with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium to Manchester for their 60th birthday? As reported by the Daily Mail in 2014.
Others may think of this as buffoonery, but in the dugout there is no doubting his record. Guiding Crystal Palace away from the drop last term and Sunderland the season before (when they were 19th with three points from eight matches when he took charge) means Allardyce has never been relegated as a manager.
Of course there have been dark times, none more so than during the aforementioned “pint of wine” incident.
This came as Allardyce, who was then in his self-described “dream job” as England boss, was secretly filmed explaining how to “get around” FA regulations on third-party ownership, among other indiscretions.
As a result, his contract with the Three Lions was terminated by mutual consent after just one game and 67 days in charge.
The resulting media circus that surrounded this perhaps contributed to the “huge pressure” that convinced Allardyce to step away from the game in the end – although not before he had rebuilt his reputation somewhat at Selhurst Park.
Like him or loathe him, there is no denying that Big Sam will leave a big gap in English football.