If Sam Allardyce had stayed at England, I’d have been a Three Lion.. he’s the man to grab Leeds players by the balls
I’M more painfully aware than any other footballer that Sam Allardyce lasted only one match as England manager.
That’s because, if Big Sam had been around to name a second England squad, I knew I would have been in it.
Back in 2016, I was in good form for Watford in the Premier League and after Sam’s first match in charge against Slovakia, he’d phoned my club and told them I would be called up to face Malta and Slovenia in World Cup qualifiers.
I can remember it well, we were due to play Burnley and I was told that as long as I didn’t have a stinker, I’d get my first England call-up that week.
But the very next day, Sam quit as England manager after being caught in a newspaper sting.
It was harsh that the FA felt he had to go but, I tell you what, I’d have paid him good money for him to stay in that job for at least another few weeks!
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I’ve had a better career than I ever expected when I started out, so there are no complaints from me — but to have represented my country would have been a crowning glory.
Despite that disappointment, I’ve always felt very grateful that Sam rated me highly enough to play for England — and I’m delighted to see him back in football at Leeds after a two-year absence.
I know a lot of people laughed when, during his first press conference, he claimed he was “up there” with Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp.
I didn’t find it funny. I thought it was brilliant and I was buzzing for him. This is a self-confident man with an excellent CV to back up his words.
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If I was a Leeds player, I’d be thinking, "This bloke believes he can get us out of jail, I’m all in".
My old Watford boss, Javi Gracia, lasted just 70 days in charge at Elland Road.
He is a thoroughly good man who was dealt a bad hand at Leeds.
That is a squad which needs to be grabbed by the balls and there is no one better to do that than Big Sam. I think he can keep them up.
Leeds have four matches to play and the first two are against Manchester City and Newcastle.
But the final two games, at West Ham and at home to Tottenham, are definitely winnable and a couple of victories will probably save them from the drop.
Their midfield is the worst part of Leeds’ team — and there are other bad parts — because they seem to keep signing bang-average American midfielders.
Likewise, striker Georginio Rutter, who joined in a £35million deal and has yet to score a goal.
One of the few exceptions is Willy Gnonto, who should have started more games.
If Leeds go down, the Italian winger is one of the few players who would get a decent Premier League move in the summer.
Big Sam will rely on lads like Adam Forshaw, Luke Ayling and Liam Cooper — if fit — to shore things up.
You can certainly say Sam’s brand of football is very different to Marcelo Bielsa’s high-energy attacking template.
But I disagree with most Leeds fans, who seem to think Bielsa is a great manager. The Argentinian is a short-term boss whose sides lose a lot of exciting matches — but still lose them.
After his first half-season in the Prem, teams started to suss Leeds out and a lot of his players got injured because they were burnt out.
If Sam gets the couple of wins Leeds need, then I think he should stay on next season and make that team difficult to beat.
Most players love managers like Sam because there is no bulls**t.
It’s funny how Premier League clubs keep appointing managers from all over the world and yet, when the chips are down, they turn to tried-and-tested men like Sean Dyche, Roy Hodgson and Sam.
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He has seen it all before and will take the air of panic out of the situation at Elland Road.
And he certainly knows a good player when he sees one — but I would say that, wouldn’t I?