Misconceptions surround Sam Allardyce. One is that he has never been relegated. Actually, he has. Allardyce was at the helm when Notts County dropped into what was Division 3 in 1997. It was scarcely Allardyce’s fault; a mid-season appointment, he had stepped aboard a sinking ship.
But in 13 seasons of Premier League management, his teams have never gone down, not even after sacking him. It explains his allure to Sunderland. A club with three points from eight games have tried to purchase a guarantee against a precipitous drop. The question is if Sunderland, with their rotten culture, tradition of bad signings, dire defence and wretched league position, represent the new Notts County.
Allardyce’s record shows a manager who promises to be an immediate upgrade on not just Dick Advocaat, but all of his predecessors.
His win percentage in top-flight games at each of Bolton Wanderers, Newcastle United, Blackburn Rovers and West Ham United was over 30. None of Sunderland’s last nine managers can boast an equivalent record at the Stadium of Light. A club in its ninth successive season in the Premier League has an extraordinary consistency, of somehow securing survival without often fulfilling football’s immediate objective: winning games.
Now Sunderland have chosen one whose initial objective may be different: not to lose. His trademark immodesty – he declared on Tuesday that he was “put on this planet” to manage – ensures he is sometimes denied the credit he merits. But Allardyce is more flexible and more intelligent than the stereotype suggests. His use of a diamond midfield and two strikers at West Ham last season enabled him to record tactical triumphs against more celebrated coaches.
Yet Sunderland’s plight is such that this is not a time to experiment. Rather, the likelihood is that he will go back to an old-fashioned formula, based around a 4-5-1 formation, clean sheets and set-piece expertise.
“There’s obviously one thing that I need to put right as quickly as possible and that’s not concede 18 goals in the next eight games,” he said at his first press conference.
Including the League Cup tie against League Two side Exeter, Sunderland have conceded 18 first-half goals already this season. Allardyce’s task is to restore order where there has been chaos, to construct a solid rearguard – not least because few of his teams are prolific – from limited components.
His past shows he prefers bona-fide stoppers to defenders with footballing pretensions. It is about productivity and playing the percentages. Few go back to basics with more efficiency. He walked into a relegation battle at Blackburn in 2008 and a previously shambolic side promptly kept three clean sheets in four games.
When his injury-hit West Ham side dropped into the bottom three in January 2014, Allardyce reorganised his defence with such success that they did not let in a goal for four games. Jose Mourinho, rather ignoring the reality that games 120 years ago tended to be high-scoring affairs, branded it “19th-century football”.
Allardyce, with his knowledge of sports science and history of making fine signings abroad, may be football’s moderniser-cum-dinosaur.
In any case, Sunderland, who were champions three times in the 1890s, may appreciate some 19th-century football. Their plight is such that they cannot quibble on aesthetic grounds.
Allardyce is considering signing Kevin Nolan, a long-term ally who is a fine finisher but an otherwise undistinguished footballer. Nolan would improve few top-flight teams but Allardyce’s seemingly depressed predecessor Advocaat appeared to conclude their squad was too poor to stay up.
The Dutchman’s negativity was compounded by confused thinking. In contrast, Allardyce has always brought a clarity of thought. It has helped him devise a blueprint for survival.
On Saturday, he debuts against another with a similar thought process. West Bromwich Albion’s Tony Pulis has never been relegated from any division in a 23-year managerial career. He, too, focuses on clean sheets and set pieces. It has all the makings of a 0-0 draw. And that, for Sunderland, would be a welcome improvement.
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