Sam Allardyce – A History

Everton appear to be ready to appoint Sam Allardyce as their new manager. We take a look at the career of the ex-Bolton and England boss. For our look at whether Sam is the man for Everton, click here.

Successful Sam

Allardyce’s management career started at Limerick, although there has been no such poem made about his time there. He floated back into coaching after his time in Ireland but left Preston North End complaining about John Beck’s long ball style of play.

Honestly.

Big Sam then moved to Blackpool where he took them to the Second Division play offs, missing promotion by a point. He was surprisingly sacked by Owen Oyston and didn’t work as a manager until January 2007 when he took over at Notts County. He was unable to save the magpies from relegation that season but brought them back up to Division 2 the following season before re-joining Bolton in December 1999.

Allardyce’s time at Bolton is where he built his reputation. He brought Bolton up from the Championship and kept them there, consolidating in his first couple of seasons whilst building for the future. He brought in experienced internationals such as Gary Speed, Ivan Campo and Fernando Hierro and made a big splash when he signed Jay Jay Ococha on a free transfer from PSG. These players and Allardyce’s commitment to coaching and statistics transformed Bolton from relegation battlers to top 6 contenders. He resigned from Bolton in a dispute about transfer funds in 2007 with his side 5^th in the Premier League.

 

Sam’s Slip Up

A month later Sam joined Newcastle which turned out to be a bad move for Allardyce. After a bright start, his time at Newcastle faded badly. A section of fans had turned against him for not picking fan favourites and he was sacked after only 8 months in charge. In truth, Newcastle were a managerial merry go round at the time which they have only just recovered from. Everton would be wise to learn from the shambles that Newcastle were at that time.

Fireman Sam

His next move was to relegation threatened Blackburn Rovers at the end of 2008. He steadied the ship at a club which had dramatically declined after winning the Premier League only 3 years earlier. Blackburn did not have the finances of the Jack Walker years and Allardyce wheeled and dealed to keep the club at mid table. New ownership came and Allardyce was surprisingly sacked in favour of his assistant, Steve Kean. Blackburn were 13^th in the league at the time and were relegated under Kean in 2012. They haven’t returned since.

In June 2011, Big Sam dropped down a league to take over at West Ham. By now in the Championship, the Hammers were desperate for promotion and brought in Allardyce with that remit. He brought in former Allardyce players Abdoulaye Faye, Kevin Nolan and Joey O’Brien. As usual, he was very active in the transfer widow bringing in 19 players in total and selling 25 as he overhauled West Ham. He kept his promise regarding promotion by defeating former club Blackpool in the play off final.

Big Sam consolidated the following season and finished 10^th with Andy Carroll on loan. He then spent 15 million on the former Liverpool and Newcastle man only for him to get injured. Unfortunately, Allardyce fell afoul of the fans of the Irons for his style of football, despite the club finding stability in a mid-table position, as he had done at Newcastle and Blackburn previously. West Ham did not renew his contract and have recently appointed David Moyes to get them out of relegation trouble.

Sam Makes Mackems Better

Allardyce was once again appointed for his fire-fighting skills at Sunderland in October 2015. The Mackems were a side in perennial trouble at the bottom of the Premier League. Allardyce though turned them around from a position of having only 12 points from 19 games. Everton currently have 12 points from 13 games. He again showed his ability to spot a player signing former Koeman target Lamine Koné and Sunderland beat the drop with a 3 nil win over Everton. Ironically, this defeat was Roberto Martinez last game for the toffees after he had fallen out with the fans over his style of play.

Fall and Redemption

For years Allardyce had coveted the England job. He had narrowly lost out to Steve McClaren in 2006 but had given up on his dream by 2016. His performance at Sunderland had gone unnoticed though and in July 2016, the FA appointed big Sam as manager.  Allardyce’s England career was record breaking but not in the way he intended.

After winning his only game in charge, Allardyce was fired after a newspaper sting where he talked about getting around the rules for 3^rd party ownership and player transfers. His dream had turned to a nightmare and his reputation was in ruins.

Premier league clubs are huge businesses though and the amount of money relegation costs forces clubs into making unpalatable decisions. Crystal Palace were in the mire last season in 17^th Palace and had taken only 26 points in 36 games in 2016 under Alan Pardew. He took Palace to 14^th place with 8 wins in his 21 games in charge at Selhurst Park although it took him 6 games to get his first win. He then retired from football wanting to enjoy life and see his family.

He told the BBC, “While I’ve got the energy, I want to travel and also spend more time with my family and grandchildren without the huge pressure that comes with being a football manager. I owe that to my wife and family.”

Allardyce looks like being the next Everton manager. Click here for our look at whether he is the right man for the job. Let us know in the comments below if you think he is the man for Everton.