Sam Allardyce And Rafa Benitez
Sam Allardyce said he told the board before taking the West Brom job he wouldn’t stay if his rescue mission was a failure. Allardyce – who left at the end of the season after the Baggies dropped into the Championship – told the Soccerex conference on Tuesday that it was a “big decision” to leave at the end of his short-term contract. But he said the club always knew he didn’t want to stay for a crack at lifting the team out of the second tier.
Sam Allardyce said: “It was a big decision. From the start I did say to Luke and Ken, the people who are running West Brom behind-the-scenes, I would not stay if we got relegated. I said that because I didn’t think we’d get relegated from the start. I came with a very positive attitude to try and improve West Brom’s results as quickly as I possibly could but unfortunately for West Brom and myself that didn’t quite happen even though there’s no doubt about the improvement in performances. But the bottom line is when it came to the cutting edge we didn’t quite have it and enough goals and ultimately failed in our bid to try and save the club and keep its Premier League status.”
The Baggies look set to unveil David Wagner as their next boss as the club look to bounce back immediately from relegation.Allardyce, meanwhile, is looking for an opportunity in England after feeling the chance to work abroad has passed him by.
Sam Allardyce said: “The ambition to manage abroad was maybe 10 to 15 years ago. Already in Turkey and Greece I’ve had two opportunities but in my period in life it’s not something I really want to entertain. An opportunity maybe at international level might be appealing but not now, not at this stage. I’ve had a couple of offers from China but in football terms, the Premier League is the elite league in the world. If I was going to manage, I’d like to manage here.”
The former England manager also revealed that he’d recommended Sam Johnstone to the England set-up as he is “world class”.
Sam Allardyce said: “He’s right up there with the best (goalkeepers). I’ve managed Jordan Pickford at Sunderland and Everton and since I left and he broke into the England team. Martyn Margetson is still the England goalkeeper coach and I had to ring him and said ‘If you’re looking for someone who can challenge Jordan, this is the man’. This is a man who might be at a football club that is struggling but the saves he makes, the quality as goalkeeper all round is fantastic. Sometimes what disappoints me with the punters is because we’ve all become so obsessed with how good a goalkeeper is with his feet I wonder what we’re looking for. Are we looking for an outfield player or a goalkeeper? While his passing out is very good there are better goalkeepers than him at that but his goalkeeping as a goalkeeper is absolutely superb. He’s got the lot. He proved that on his debut. What England goalkeeper would be called upon for a world class save like that on his debut? If we had that save in the Euros we’d be talking about it being a world class save and it was.”
