Sam Allardyce And Rafa Benitez
Longevity in the game has become a real trait of Sam Allardyce’s, as the biggest question of his Hawthorns tenure looms large.
Sam Allardyce said “I think the apprenticeship for me. I think when you start off in the game, you think you can do it but when you get the opportunity, when you realise you are the man in charge, you have to quickly work out how you can progress your career and bring success to whatever club you are managing. You learn from your mistakes very quickly because in the early days you don’t get many opportunities to stay in the game. First, you have to survive as a manager and then build on that.”
Allardyce, like another ex-Albion boss in Roy Hodgson, has shown that you need to be open minded and willing to adapt to the times. It’s earned him a shot at managing his country, and continuous opportunities in the Premier League – as recently as December last year, when Albion picked up the phone.
Sam Allardyce said “When you succeed at building a reputation, you can move on and start looking at ways to progress the game. My biggest adventure in the world of football was how can we advance the game, what can we do differently, how can we improve, can we do something that’s not been thought of. That’s why I have a huge amount of respect for the staff I have worked with behind the scenes because they have always done everything they can to give the players the best possible opportunity to succeed. Pragmatic is my approach in terms of what is the team capable of, what are the individuals capable of. How can we best structure that team to give each individual the chance to show their strengths? I think that has always been my approach and it has stood me in good stead. Having managed in every division and having played in every division, there has been an experience behind what I’ve wanted to do.”
The West Brom boss, now 66, is now into his 13th managerial job, and it’s been quite a journey since he first left Albion more than 30 years ago in rather embarrassing circumstances. He backs himself to continue getting top tier jobs beyond his time with the Baggies, too.
