Sam Allardyce - A Man For All Seasons

Known affectionately as 'Big Sam', he can be described as a 'Man for all Seasons- but for all the wrong reasons. This is not to malign him but to point out that when a club has appointed him as a manager, quite often it is because they are in a difficult situation. This is the current case with West Brom choosing him to replace Slavin Bilic, having previously had Alan Pardew and Tony Pulis from the managerial merry go round, as recent managers. 

Ironically Sam Allardyce was born on the 19th of October 1954 just six miles down the road from The Hawthorns in Dudley and had watched West Bromwich Albion matches on the terraces as a kid. He spent his youth with semi-professional side Dudley Town, making his debut at the age of 14, where he quickly learned how to be a physical centre-half. He spent most of his playing career at Bolton Wanderers where fans gave him the nickname "Super Sam Bionic Man' due to his tough tackling approach and resilience in the tackle.

He started his coaching career in 1989 at West Brom as player/assistant manager to Bryan Talbot but both were sacked in 1991. His next appointment was for Owen Oyston's Blackpool in 1994, who would sack him whilst in prison in 1996 with 'Big Sam' shocked and desperately worried that his reputation would be damaged forever. Notts County were his next club in 1997 where he broke several club and national records, winning the title by a 19-point margin and becoming the first post-war side to win promotion by March. However a lack of transfer funds being available led to a fall out with the Chairman and he resigned in 1999 to return to Bolton Wanderers.

Bolton success

He says that when he got there, the club was clearly in a bad position, which is why he was given the job. However they made it to the top tier within 18 months using a long-loan system adopted from abroad, where you get the player for the full season as a temporary transfer and pay the players’ wages. Financially it wasn’t a burden on the club if they didn’t manage to stay up but they did really well in signing players of such great quality from throughout Europe. He led Bolton Wanderers to four top-half finishes in a row, the club's best top flight run in more than three quarters of a century and took the team to the Europa League for the first time in club history. An early member of the sport's statistics movement, he was one of the first managers to use ProZone, a software that used advanced statistical analysis to evaluate player and team performance. His setup was considered one of the most advanced in the Premier League, if not in all of Europe, and he was turning Bolton into a winner. Bolton's success with the long-ball game along with their physical style of play, earned Allardyce a great deal of points, but very few friends. It was at this point it seemed he felt that his ability was not fully appreciated and with club chairman Phil Gartside unwilling to spend the type of money he was requesting, the relationship between the two became strained culminating with two games still left in the 2006-07 season, he resigned. He stated the club unfortunately lacked the same drive he had and didn’t have the ambition to achieve what he believed the staff, the team and he could accomplish. It was while in charge of Blackburn in 2010 he indicated his frustrations saying he would be "more suted to managing Inter Milan or Real Madrid" and that he "would win the double or the league every time" if given the chance".

Sunderland survival

Newcastle United next offered solace for him and he joined the Magpies. After just half a season there, Big Sam was on the move again, this time to Blackburn Rovers, where he enjoyed a few modestly successful campaigns followed by an unimpressive spell at West Ham. Since then, he has held various short term posts, mostly at struggling Premier League sides, but in the summer of 2016 he was given his dream gig when he was appointed England manager. Often touting in the past he had been unfairly overlooked for the top job, he won his only match in World Cup qualifying before, after only 67 days in charge, he was sacked for improper conduct.

On the 23rd of December 2016, he signed a two-and-a-half-year contract to become manager of Crystal Palace but announced his departure on the 23rd of May 2017, saying he had no intention of seeking another job, in what was interpreted as a retirement announcement. Despite this he took the chance to manage a 'big club' when signing a short term contract with Everton who were fearing a relegation battle. Everton ended the season in eighth-position, but fans were dissatisfied with the style of play. Whilst under his management they were ranked 20th for total shots, 19th for total shots on target, 16th for passing accuracy and 17th for shots faced in the Premier League.

Famously never been relegated, having masterminded rescue missions at Bolton, Blackburn, Sunderland and Crystal Palace he has previously taken over in situations with Premier League clubs in the bottom three, with his accomplishments including saving Sunderland and Crystal Palace from the drop. West Brom will be he hoping that record continues.