You can Adam and Eve me, I tried. I really did whatwith the boring International break, the OS issue simmering along as usual, players about to return from injury and no new signings (or players leaving the club) to talk about I was still determined to avoid the Sam Allardyce issue at all costs. I wanted to be a good boy, let matters lie and not waste a thought, nevermind an article about the man some like to call Big Sam as if they had been drinking with him in the same pub for 30 years.
And indeed our club has moved on and very nicely at that, with a new manager doing and saying all the right things at the right time, some new exciting players to marvel about, much better football and an exciting (while also being somewhat frightening and sad) move into the OS getting ever closer.
Samuel Allardyce has signed a two year deal to manage at Sunderland. After a nice extended holiday on his part filled with some punditry to stay in touch with football.
The move was not a surprise from Sunderland’s point of view. They are staring relegation right into the boat and need all the help they can get as quickly as they can.
With Allardyce though I had the firm belief that he had had enough: Enough of the pressure of the media circus, enough of the pressure arising from (deluded) fans’ expectations, enough of being criticised for his perceived dinosaur tactics on the pitch and finally also enough money earned over the years in order to be able to somewhat relax and forget about keeping teams up for once.
I fully expected him to settle for a career as a TV or radio pundit. The media people all seem to love him to bits, his unique mixture of grumpy-jovial guy from the street kind of demeanour and ready quip.
I also seem to remember Allardyce saying he no longer needed to manage a club just to keep it up as he had done that numerous times and was no longer interested in that.
Listening to him I would have expected him (if at all) to join a big club in Britain or abroad that would play regular Europa League or Champions League football, but the harsh truth here seems to be none of those were really that interested in signing Allardyce. He seems to have been filed by club hierarchies in that drawer of managers who play a certain style of no-nonsense football that keeps clubs safe more often than not, but not much else beyond that.
Now why do I ramble on about Allardyce then I hear you asking ? Well, it is because of some quotes from an interview in the Sun on Sunday I read upon his arrival at Sunderland which got my blood pressure up to a less than healthy level. Here they are:
“When I was at West Ham my wife, Lynne, would constantly read the supporters website to see what new insults were being fired. It upset her but she couldn’t keep away from the screen. Now she’s been reading the Sunderland fans’ site and she tells me the reaction has been very positive, which makes me feel very excited to get going.
Everyone wants to be praised and to feel wanted and I just hope I can give the Sunderland supporters some of the excitement they are looking for.”
My first reaction is: Good on the Sunderland fans. They show their new manager a lot of goodwill and support right from the start, they are desperate for someone to help their club back on track and they are just hoping for some light at the end of the tunnel.
As for Allardyce’s wife I am sorry that she had to read a lot of bad stuff, harsh stuff, undeserved over-the-top bile at times, but you know what the internet is like.
It brings out the best and the very worst in people and should not be confused with real life. On the other hand Allardyce gave the fans loads of reasons to criticise him, on and off the pitch. Criticism should have been expected and for that reason I would agree with Mr.Allardyce that his wife maybe would have been better off NOT reading the West Ham forums.
What I am angry about is this notion that Allardyce (understandably) wants to feel wanted and loved and how he apparently didn’t find that kind of appraisal and love at West Ham. It takes two to tango Mr.Allardyce. In my view the relationship between a football club’s manager and the fans is not like love between two people. In love (or marriage) you are supposed to love someone unconditionally. There is no reason for love. You love someone because you do. You’d throw yourself into the way of a bullet for them, You’d do everything in your power to make them happy without expecting them to love you back or get anything in return (it would be nice of course but it doesn’t always work like that).
As a West Ham fan I do not love any manager like I would a woman. With football it’s more like a business relationship. I want him to treat the club well, pay respect to our fans and traditions, play some decent football and I’ll be happy regardless of league position really. But I want the manager to love the fans back to a degree so to speak.
Which brings me to Allarydce: If he was so desperate for appraisal or wanted to be loved by the West Ham fans why didn’t he show some love himself ?
Why did he have to start his reign by laughing off the West Ham way ?
Why did he never respect our traditions as a club and our way of playing football which always contained a certain creative, a flair element to it even if results didn’t always go our way ?
Allardyce in my view got quite a lot of goodwill and support from West Ham fans when he took us over. It’s what he did in the following months and years that turned the tide against him and rightly so.
In my view a manager will only be truly cherished and loved by the fans if he loves them back, Bilic at Besiktas being a good example, Klopp at Dortmund, Lyall at West Ham.
I don’t remember Allardyce ever investing much into his relationship with the West Ham faithful, so I am not surprised he didn’t get much love back
At Sunderland it’s early doors. Don’t forget he also managed their rivals Newcastle before, so once that honeymoon period at the Stadium of Light is over and results are not going to plan the love affair may turn sour quickly.
At that point Mrs.Allardyce may better want to refrain from reading those Sunderland forums anymore. Love is a curious thing. Allardyce may well do his usual thing again and keep Sunderland up. But he shouldn’t expect much appraisal or love coming his way if he pulls some of the stuff he did at West Ham with the Sunderland fans.
In that respect Allardyce may want to take a leaf or two out of Bilic’s book about how to strike up and maintain fan relationships.