Whilst Sunderland fans no doubt responded to the news that Sam Allardyce was to take over their beloved club with a quiet nod knowing the right decision had been made, truth is the former Bolton manager will always be revered as an unfashionable choice by the upper hierarchies of all the Premier League’s biggest clubs.
Whilst many beat the man with a belief that his approach to the game comes from a ‘Redknapp-ian’ old school approach, Allardyce has been shouting from the rooftops year on year that he is anything but.
Take for instance this short extract from the man’s soon to be released autobiography, ‘Big Sam – My Autobiography’, as serialised by the Sun newspaper.
With 2006’s England side reeling from the departure of Sven Goran Eriksson (or perhaps celebrating), a 50 year old Allardyce saw his opportunity to become the next England manager.
He goes on:
“I was sure the FA would go out and get another foreigner.
“But it became apparent they were positively encouraging English candidates to throw their hats into the ring.
” The longer I thought about it, the more I felt I should get it,”
Armed with his wits and a Powerpoint presentation to that would charm the socks of Steve Jobs, the current Sunderland man suddenly hit a debilitating bump in the road;
“I wanted to do a real knock-your-socks-off interview for the FA, so I put together a PowerPoint which looked at every single detail.
“There was nothing missing. Nobody but nobody was going to beat it.
“But then Brian Barwick, the chief executive, told me there were no PowerPoint facilities at the interview venue, so I had to print off hard copies for the panel.
Before signing off with the gloriously Partridge-esque;
“So much for the progressive FA.”
Of course the FA truly had the last laugh when instead bringing in a certain Steve McLaren who proceeded to…er *cough*.