Sam Allardyce was planning on playing golf last weekend – but then the phone rang. After two years out of the game, it was a call he wasn’t expecting.
Leeds United were on the other end, the latest in a long line of Premier League clubs to draft Allardyce in hoping he will save them from relegation.
His weekend suddenly looked very different. He instead found himself stood on the touchline at Etihad Stadium, facing Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, thrust right into the heat of yet another relegation battle.
A 2-1 defeat was a closer result than many would have expected – but nevertheless means the pressure is on for Newcastle’s visit to Elland Road on Saturday.
‘He’s a player’s manager’
The 68-year-old is seen as a survival specialist. Bolton, Blackburn, West Ham, Sunderland and Crystal Palace are among nine Premier League teams to call upon his services.
“Sam is the man for this kind of situation; a special situation for a special person,” Phil Brown, Allardyce’s assistant at Bolton, tells BBC Sport. “Is it a long-term strategy? I don’t think so. Sam is wide awake to that.”
Allardyce has only once been relegated from the top flight, during his short spell with West Brom under a similar brief two years ago.
In his first news conference at Leeds, in typically boisterous fashion, he claimed no manager was better than him. Brown says that was all part of his strategy.
He said: “He will bring experience; he’s already taken the pressure off the players with that comment.
“Sam is brilliant at getting players to transfer their performance in training to a game because he makes them feel better. Leeds are not a bad team; Sam has looked at it and thought: ‘no brainer’.”
Stewart Downing was signed by Allardyce at West Ham in 2013, and the belief and clarity he showed helped him regain confidence after a difficult time at Liverpool.
“His people skills made him special,” Downing says. “He normally takes over a team low on confidence, not believing in themselves.
“I wasn’t sure if [then Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers] wanted me, I was overthinking things. Sam goes in with very clear messages, ‘this is what we are going to do, this is how we are going to play’. You like playing for him; he is a player’s manager.”
‘He gets the respect of people straight away’
With just three games remaining, there needs to be an impact soon. Leeds are 19th, two points adrift of safety.
“At some stage in these next three weeks, they will see the whites of his eyes and they will see how he can be really serious,” Brown adds.
“If he needs to, he can rip your head off. I would say 95% of the time it’ll be light-hearted; he is very equipped to bringing everything together in a very short space of time.”
“He has an aura, he is a leader,” says Morten Gamst Pedersen, who played under Allardyce at Blackburn. “You feel it when he steps into a room; he is confident. He is ‘Big Sam’, the big boss. He gets the respect of people straight away.
“He can be very loud. Like Sir Alex Ferguson, he can give you the ‘hairdryer’. But he is a loving person; he cares about you. He asks you about your life, your family; he is good with people. Humble, like a grandad.”
Allardyce previously railed against the notion that he is a ‘long-ball’ manager, and was among the first coaches to incorporate the use of sports science.
“He embraces the perception because it takes pressure off the players,” Brown asserts. “At Bolton we had [Ivan] Campo, [Fernando] Hierro, [Youri] Djorkaeff, [Jay-Jay] Okocha.
“Sam is a great salesman; he sold his ideas so well to some wonderful players.”
“When I signed for him I went off perception,” admits Downing. “I was doing what others do; he was the total opposite [to my assumption].
“He is massive on the sports science side, data and stats. He was one of the first managers I worked with that did that. Once you work with him you realise he is not just an old-school manager that kicks it long. He goes with the times; he hasn’t stood still.”
‘People feel secure with him in charge’
Those details are going to be crucial if Allardyce is to save Leeds, who face West Ham away and Tottenham at home after Newcastle.
“He will have found out in his first couple of days who is pulling their weight and who is ducking for cover,” Brown says.
“Leeds will be a little bit more efficient each game they play. At Man City, they went 4-5-1 with [Patrick] Bamford up front. His hold-up play has to be above 75% success rate; with that, you are taking the opposition into their own half and into the final third.
“Sam has to get those percentages more in his favour.”
Pedersen recalls the depth of his tactical approach at Blackburn: “He plays on percentages. He always used to talk about the ‘Pomo’ – the position of maximum opportunity.
“He has to be strong. It is unbelievable what he achieves when he gets people to believe and feel good about themselves and their game.”
“He’s been coaching for 30 years,” Downing adds. “People feel secure with him as manager because they know they are going to get results. He’s been there before; just by looking his face when he arrived, he looked comfortable.”
Perhaps this is Allardyce’s toughest test yet, but he is ready to go at it all over again.
