It’s official Big Sam saved yet another struggling side from the dreaded drop this season and Crystal Palace live to fight another day in the Premier League.
In December, the Eagles brought in Sam Allardyce, the best survival expert since Tom Hanks, to save their season. Big Sam duly delivered, and Palace preserved their Premier League status thanks to a 4-0 thrashing of Hull City. Jamie Redknapp claimed that it was Allardyce’s easiest job yet, but the Palace boss disagreed.
On May 23rd of this year Allardyce resigned from his position at Palace and stated that he doesn’t wish to take another managerial position (at least not for now anyway).
So how has Big Sam performed throughout his managerial career? We rank Allardyce’s managerial performances from his worst to his best:
5. England
Let’s face it, we all knew what was coming. In what was a short and not at all sweet England reign, Allardyce managed just one game: a 1-0 win against Slovakia thanks to a late Adam Lallana goal.
However, Big Sam was soon in hot water with the FA after being filmed giving advice on how to get around Football Association rules on third-party ownership of players.
The Englishman embarrassingly left the job by mutual consent after just 67 days.
4. Newcastle United
Again, this wasn’t Allardyce’s longest job in the world. He was brought in in May 2007, after having an offer from Manchester City to secure his services withdrawn, and replaced Glenn Roeder at the helm of the Magpies.
After a promising start with five wins and two draws in his first nine games, Newcastle began to stutter. Having taken just one point from relegation threatened Wigan and Derby, Allardyce was given the push in January 2008 and replaced by local hero Kevin Keegan.
3. West Ham United
Big Sam found rather more success as manager of West Ham United from 2011-2015.
He arrived amid scrutiny about his style, with many suggesting that he liked his teams to play long, boring balls over the top. However, Allardyce vowed to play attractive, attacking football with the Hammers and made numerous signings – such as Henri Lansbury and Ravel Morrison – to try and emphasise his point. It appeared to work, with the Irons gaining promotion to the Premier League in what Allardyce has previously described as his best ever achievement.
However, old problems arose at the Boleyn Ground in 2014, with many fans calling for the Englishman’s head due to him allegedly ‘killing the club’ with his tactics. He finally left West Ham in May 2015 with his side sitting comfortably mid-table.
2. Crystal Palace
The aforementioned Jamie Redknapp told Sky Sports: “Sam Allardyce has done a good job but I would say it’s [the Crystal Palace job] probably his easiest job he’s ever had.”
However, the pundit’s comments seem to be slightly on the harsh side. Since signing a deal with Palace in December, he has orchestrated wins against Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool to edge the Eagles closer to safety.
Despite wobbling towards the end of the season, a convincing 4-0 win against Hull City saw Palace survive for another year.
1. Sunderland
In arguably his best performance as a manager (so far/ever), Sam Allardyce guided Sunderland to safety in 2016 after having joined with the Black Cats in 19th place.
He endeared himself to Sunderland fans in just his second game in charge, overseeing a 3-0 win over arch rivals Newcastle. However, Big Sam struggled to gain points over the Christmas period and his Sunderland side went in to 2016 in the relegation zone.
However, as Billy Ocean once said, ‘When the going gets tough, the tough get going’ and that’s exactly what happened, with 3-0 wins against Norwich City and Everton ensuring the Black Cats survival from a seemingly impossible position.
Allardyce was praised for his defensive approach at the Stadium of Light, and there was little surprise when the national team came knocking for Big Sam in the summer of 2016.
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