Well, it looks as though Sam Allardyce will replace Dick Advocaat as Sunderland manager.
As expected the mood throughout Wearside is one of acceptance rather than unbridled joy.
This is understandable, after years of crushing relegation battles and just 14 home wins out of a possible 60, even a stoic would have trouble remaining optimistic.
Sunderland fans are cautious about getting their hopes up, as it usually results in crushing disappointment. As a result apathy has set in among some fans, but the imminent appointment of Allardyce is cause for encouragement.
Firstly, and most importantly “big Sam” has never relegated a team and has a reputation for getting clubs to perform beyond their own expectations. At Bolton, he took a team struggling to get out of the Championship and took them into Europe amassing a record points tally in the process.
At Blackburn, again he inherited a side stuck in the relegation zone under Paul Ince and steered the club to comfortable safety and had the club clear of relegation before being unfairly sacked in December 2011.
At West Ham despite being disliked by vocal sections of their support he got the club out of the Championship at the first time of asking and at one stage last season had them in the top four, before a second half of the season slump saw them finish 12th.
However, it’s not just statistically where Sam Allardyce could improve Sunderland. Despite his reputation in the media as an old school manager, he is one of the pioneers of prozone technology that is now taken for granted in the English game.
His success at Bolton was partly due to tireless statistical analysis, which he utilized to great effect. He used the data as the basis for his style of football, which was centered on the “fantastic four” which can be boiled down to goals conceded, percentage of games won when the first goal was scored, outrunning the opposition and the most effective method of set pieces, favoring out-swingers and opposed to in swingers.
So meticulous was his attention to detail that he devised his “Position of Maximum Opportunity” where he calculated precisely where his players should stand at set pieces in order to maximize their opportunity to score.
However, it is not just reliance of statistic that highlights Allardyce’s pragmatism, after 16th/17th place finishes, he knew he would have to adapt his style to continue to survive at Premier League level.
He started to inject quality, by cleverly utilizing the transfer market. Whereas other managers simply tried to sign the best players out there, spending millions in the process Big Sam took a typically pragmatic approach. He signed a number of high-profile free agents, and players that were perceived to be past their best at other clubs and transformed them into vital components of his squad that achieved a sixth place finish in the top flight. Jay-Jay Okocha, Ivan Campo, Bruno N’Gotty and Gary Speed are all shining examples of this.
Although it is fair to suggest that Allardyce prefers to play a game based on percentages and set pieces as opposed to careful methodical build up play. However, at Bolton when the quality signings came in the standard of football improved with it and during their rise to the UEFA cup places, his side played some attractive attacking football.
Just last year through boardroom pressure Allardyce again changed his style of play radically and at first it achieved stunning results, with West Ham sitting in European places in the run up to Christmas.
This was even more remarkable given that just 12 months previously West Ham sat cut adrift at the bottom of the Premier League and the manager being under severe pressure. But he again repaid the board’s faith in him and achieved comfortable top flight status.
All of the above proves that despite his reputation he does evolve with the ever changing methods within football and in terms of technological advancements will not be left behind.
So what does this mean for Sunderland?
In Allardyce Sunderland will be appointing a manager with high levels of self-confidence, which can only be a benefit to a team low on morale. We also will be getting a manager who will stop at nothing to achieve results in the short term.
Fans will need to be patient, as his style of play when faced with battling relegation, is fine when it yields results, but as with all struggling clubs, a bad run of results is inevitable. When this is combined with an unattractive brand of football it can be hard to not get disheartened. But one thing Allardyce has shown throughout his career is that he can evolve and with time and patience he can give Sunderland the stability they crave.
