Sam Allardyce has surely not retired – an international return could be perfect
Allardyce has left Crystal Palace to spend more time with his family but he will be in demand among struggling clubs next winter and if more downtime really is key, Scotland and Wales should try to tempt him
Considering Sam Allardyce did not actually win a great deal, he unquestionably overachieved in his managerial career, taking his knowhow into a number of difficult situations and always coming out on the credit side of the ledger.
English football will be a quieter and less colourful place without him, though precisely because Allardyce projected his personality on the game so forcefully – he even managed to be too large and unshushable for the England job – few will readily believe the professional game has seen the last of him.
This is not to suggest he cannot do without football, or that he will forever be unable to resist one more challenge or pension boost in the manner of Harry Redknapp or Neil Warnock. Those two are operating at a lower level, which is fair enough, but though Birmingham City and Cardiff City have been glad of their services there is more than a suspicion that neither could quite cut it in the Premier League any more. Allardyce still can, he has proved it in each of the last two seasons, and it is unusual to see a manager step down when he still has viable employment options at the highest level.
So while the retiring Crystal Palace manager has probably thought this through carefully, and no doubt intends to take stock of his life, enjoy a bit of travelling and spend more time with his grandchildren, the real test of his resolve will not arrive this summer but most likely in about six or seven months, when some club desperate not to drop out of the Premier League sack their manager and look around for a short-term but sure solution. The money on offer would be more than tempting, and after his results at Sunderland and Palace in the past couple of years, not to mention the endorsements from grateful Selhurst Park staff still ringing in his ears at the moment, Allardyce is the firefighter to whom most would turn first.
So much so, in fact, that Fireman Sam could easily make a new career out of stepping in after Christmas and rescuing clubs from sinking into the Championship. Given that three or four usually know they are in trouble by that stage of the season there could even be an annual race for his services. Sky Sports could incorporate an extra window or breaking news ticker into its coverage of the January transfer business to indicate which club has made the first panic phone call to the Allardyce household.
After spending a few months out of the game, aware that too long a break can leave even the best managers out of touch and rusty, Allardyce would have to make an even bigger decision than the one he has just made once the phone begins to ring. It is one thing to say you need a rest, quite another to resist the blandishments of a Premier League club offering the earth in return for a few months’ work.
Allardyce may be re-energised by cutting his workload to three or four months a year through turning up at a different club each season. He would then be off the 24/7 managerial treadmill for most of the year and free to enjoy the best of both worlds, except there are usually reasons why clubs find themselves in trouble near the bottom of the table, and after his experiences with owners at Newcastle United, Blackburn Rovers and Sunderland (all of whom suffered relegation after he left them) Allardyce may view a succession of ill-run and ailing clubs as an unpromising scenario.
In which case, but of course, he could try that other three-months-a-year option – managing a national side. Whichever way you look at it this makes sense. Allardyce was all for it less than a year ago. He has probably burned his boats with England, but as manager of Scotland or Wales he could still see a lot of the grandkids and never have to worry about owners or relegation again. This may not be as far-fetched as it sounds. Allardyce’s parents were Scottish, and if David Moyes is being touted as a possible Scotland manager, based on what he has achieved over the last two or three seasons, why would the Scottish FA not consider an available candidate with a significantly better record?
Wales is not as daft as it sounds either, given that Chris Coleman is at short odds to succeed Allardyce at Palace. Allardyce is from Dudley, the Wales captain, Ashley Williams, is from Wolverhampton, so what’s the difference? Allardyce could just swap jobs with Coleman and everyone would be happy, though if he fancies a complete break from Premier League football he could always look further afield. Australia may be a good fit, or there is usually a team from Africa that need knocking into shape before a World Cup, though with all the travelling Allardyce may find the family time being compromised again.
China should probably be ruled out for the same reason, whatever the financial incentives, yet were Allardyce to get an offer from the country paying Carlos Tevez a couple of million a month he would find it hard not to at least listen. It all depends on whether he is fed up with football, or just Premier League football. If he can still bear to take in a match or two a week a full-time career in punditry presents itself. Based on his hostile reaction to the idea of a diving panel last week he could plough a Fred Trueman/Geoffrey Boycott-style furrow as a no-nonsense northern type fundamentally opposed to innovation or anything considered fleeting or flash.
Allardyce is not really a northerner, despite his affinity for Bolton, and neither is he actually opposed to innovation. Quite the opposite, in fact. He was one of the first coaches to see the usefulness of technology and statistical analysis. Though easily caricatured as gruff and unsophisticated, he is actually quite good with words too. He says he has no ambitions to take another job. That may be true, but it also leaves the door open. He has probably not stopped being ambitious. Saying no to what turns up next will be the difficult part.
Guardian
