BIG SAM’S BACK IN THE MONEY
Palace couldn’t resist Allardyce even after his England humbling
SAM ALLARDYCE will have another £4million in the bank by the end of 2017 if he saves Crystal Palace from relegation. The former England boss agreed yesterday to become Alan Pardew’s replacement at Selhurst Park.
Allardyce has signed a two-and-ahalf-year deal worth £2.5m per year in wages and will also net a seven-figure bonus — similar to the £2m Tony Pulis received for keeping Palace in the top flight in 2014 — if he guides the club away from the drop zone.
Allardyce’s return to football is his latest lucrative job. He earned £1.5m for six months’ work at Sunderland, plus an estimated £2m bonus for keeping the club in the Premier League. He took home £650,000 for his brief stint with England, plus a £1m pay-off when he was sacked after the newspaper sting that saw him discuss how to circumvent the FA’s third-party ownership regulations with undercover reporters.
Allardyce was at Palace’s training ground yesterday to complete his return to football. As he arrived, he said: ‘I’m here to complete talks with (Palace chairman) Steve Parish and if everything goes all right, then it should be okay.’
Asked if he will take charge at Watford on Boxing Day, he added: ‘We’ll wait and see as it is early days. It’s been a bit of a rush. It’s a fantastic club.’
Over the coming days, Allardyce will no doubt receive a text message or phone call from his old friend Sir Alex Ferguson.
The Scotsman will wish Allardyce a merry Christmas and his best regards for the new job — and the Crystal Palace manager will show gratitude in his reply.
In the hollow-hearted world that football folk inhabit, it is easy to leave people behind. Ferguson, however, stood by Allardyce when the 62-year-old’s stock plunged to new depths in the autumn.
A frenzied 67 days as England manager had ended in shame for Allardyce, who was sacked after only one match in charge.
As the postmortem began, he fled to his Spanish villa. He took refuge with wife Lynne at the couple’s Costa Blanca home, seeking respite from the flashing cameras on his doorstep.
Allardyce was a toxic brand, a national disgrace whose demise warranted coverage among the lead items on News at Ten.
‘How could he be so stupid?’ one highly-respected former Premier League manager asked Sportsmail in October. ‘He’s been daft, but are you really surprised? And I tell you what, everyone is going mad now, but he’ll be back. Someone will need him, a Sunderland, a Crystal Palace. He guarantees results.’
Two months later, here we are. Allardyce is back where he feels he belongs — in the Premier League.
Plenty will feel uncomfortable. Allardyce’s reputation has endured body-blows this year, but he picks himself up off the canvas and he is in the money again.
Yet even for a man of Allardyce’s brazen assurance, his ego must have been fragile in the weeks that followed his England departure. Indeed, he might even have wondered if the sport to which he has devoted his life might conclude it is time to move on without him. Slowly but surely, however, the rehabilitation began.
His first public appearance came when his old pal Sir Alex hosted him in the directors’ box at Old Trafford during Manchester United’s Europa League match against Fenerbahce on October 20. What better way to start. If Fergie, the doyen of British football, can be seen with him, you can be sure a club fighting relegation can stomach him, too.
Over the past six weeks, Allardyce’s public profile has slowly but surely increased.
At the Football Writers’ Association northern dinner at the beginning of this month, Allardyce appeared back to his old self. He sat at a table with David Moyes, playfully heckling speakers, enjoying wine and exchanging tales with old friends.
Last week, he ensured he returned to the newspaper back pages after an interview with TV channel BeIN Sports. ‘I will probably return in the new year, if not before, depending on who approaches me,’ he said.
Allardyce also suggested he might have a ‘global itch’ that would take him abroad. On reflection, it reads like a barely disguised message to the Crystal Palace hierarchy.
As Sportsmail revealed, he made his case directly to American joint majority shareholders Josh Harris and David Blitzer, sending a detailed dossier with statistics of the squad and season so far.
Pardew’s sacking has been on the cards for weeks, clinging on only because of the close relationship he maintains with Parish.
But even Parish had come to the view that Allardyce was needed. The coach sensed his chance and manoeuvred himself into position.
In an uncertain world, Allardyce offers the nearest thing to a guarantee and, for owners who require safety, that is an invaluable quality. So he is back, his ambush paint at the ready as he tries to pluck another beleaguered side out of the mire.
It is a happy conclusion to a mindboggling year but he must wonder what might have been.
At the beginning of September, Allardyce had been planning a Christmas trip to Dubai. His intention had been to secure a 100-per-cent start to England’s World Cup qualifying campaign, then head off to the sun over the festive year.
Instead, he will be at Palace’s New Beckhenham training ground today and tomorrow, readying himself and his new team for a visit to Watford on Boxing Day.
Let’s face it, though, there is nowhere else he would rather be.
He offers clubs the guarantee of safety. That’s an invaluable quality to have