Saturday 30th January 2021
Veteran trainer Sam Allardyce
England's neurosurgery threatens a bitter premiere
By Hendrik Buchheister, Manchester
Old Fashioned Faith Healer: Sam Allardyce is an expert on England's relegation battle. But his current task could be overwhelming even for him.
Sam Allardyce has just received a compliment from the top. "A genius" is the 66-year-old coach from Dudley near Birmingham, said not anyone – but Pep Guardiola. Actually, it is the Catalan who has the reputation of a genius, but before Manchester City's Premier League game at Allardyce-trained promoted West Bromwich Albion last Tuesday, Guardiola paid tribute to the experienced colleague for good reason: "He keeps taking over clubs all of which think it's over and then get results. When that happens once, twice or three times, you can say it's lucky. But he's made it so many times. "
Allardyce, known by everyone as "Big Sam", does indeed have a special ability. He is the most prominent firefighter in English football, the greatest expert on relegation battle, a kind of Peter Neururer of the Premier League. Somehow a joke that you don't want to be associated with your own club, but also a miracle healer in need. Clubs such as Blackburn Rovers, Sunderland AFC and Crystal Palace took over the former defender in a hopeless position and kept them in the league. Allardyce has never been relegated from the Premier League.
His current rescue mission has been running since mid-December. After almost two years, he returned from retirement, back to his own roots. In 1989 Allardyce had his first coaching post at West Bromwich Albion, back then as an assistant. Now he has been hired as the successor to the former Karlsruhe professional Slaven Bilic in order to save the climber from the Black Country, as the area west of Birmingham is called, from returning directly to the second-rate championship.
Only relegation battle "because my name is not Allardici"
The task is ungrateful, because the Baggies are by objective standards the weakest team in the Premier League, with the cheapest squad of all 20 teams. Still, Allardyce couldn't refuse. He likes to be a trainer: "This job can wear you down, but being away from this job can too. I'm quite healthy for my age and I know the pressure that comes with this job," he says.
Allardyce is considered an old school man. In the past, he has made derogatory comments about the many coaches from abroad in the Premier League. In his opinion, he has disadvantages on the job market because of his British origins: "I will never get one of the top four clubs because my name is not Allardici, but Allardyce," he once said. His football is defensive and the coach is always accused of only letting long balls play, typical British kick and rush. José Mourinho once called his colleague's style "football from the 19th century". Even Allardyce was amused by the fact that the Portuguese master of dark magic pretended to be the guardian of the beautiful game.
It's too easy for yourself to label "Big Sam" as a tactical dinosaur. Early on, he integrated knowledge of sports science and video analyzes into his training work, worked with innovative scouting and showed himself to be flexible in his style of play at various stations. He has looked after eight clubs in the Premier League. Only four coaches have more games in England's glossy league on their résumé. You can't just do it like that. Allardyce accomplished his greatest work with the Bolton Wanderers, whom he led from the second division to the Uefa Cup at the turn of the millennium, for the first time in club history. Even today the team around Jay-Jay Okocha, El Hadji Diouf, Youri Djorkaeff and Fernando Hierro is revered by the now fourth-class Wanderers.
Embarrassing episode as national coach
Allardyce's lifelong dream came true in 2016, but it quickly burst again. The English federation made him coach of the "Three Lions" after the embarrassing end of the national team at the European Championships in France. After 67 days, he had to resign because he had given business people tips during an informal chat on how to circumvent the English transfer rules, and he also complained about his predecessor Roy Hodgson. The problem: the business people were journalists in disguise. Allardyce was denied the culmination of his career, but in the Premier League he is still in demand when relegation threatens somewhere.
The new job at West Bromwich Albion could, however, overwhelm even the most experienced of all escape artists. The gap between the bottom of the table and a non-relegation place is seven points. The Baggies' home record under Allardyce is particularly devastating. There were four defeats in four games, with a goal difference of 0:17.
"Unless something spectacular happens in the coming days, what should be the glorious end to an illustrious career threatens to fail terribly," the Mirror suspects – and means that Allardyce could be relegated from the Premier League for the first time. Not even his admirers feel sorry for "Big Sam". After Pep Guardiola declared him a genius, Manchester City won 5-0 at West Bromwich Albion.
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