West Brom fans will point out that Sam Allardyce is no survival specialist. Mauricio Pochettino has won a relegation battle without ever taking a club down.
In their increasing panic, Leeds have reached for the Big Sam button. Allardyce is expected to be appointed for the club’s last four games of the season, replacing Javi Gracia in the Elland Road hotseat.
The former England manager’s reputation as a Premier League survival expert has been carefully honed over successful parachute spells at Blackburn, Sunderland, Crystal Palace and Everton, each of whom he dragged clear of danger after being brought in mid-season.
But his record is not flawless; there is one blot on the copybook. Allardyce made things considerably worse at West Brom in 2020/21, a firefighter pouring petrol on the flames, before seemingly heading into the podcasting sunset.
With anxious top-flight clubs calling on a whole range of coaches to rescue them – Unai Emery at Aston Villa; Julen Lopetegui at Wolves; Nathan Jones and Ruben Selles at Southampton – it begs the question as to which managers can genuinely say they have navigated a relegation battle without ever losing one?
Roy Hodgson has done phenomenally back at Crystal Palace but he took Watford down in 2022 and played a part in Blackburn’s 1999 demise. Dean Smith could pull Leicester clear but had no answer to Norwich’s troubles. Jamie Carragher reckons Everton might be safe, yet Sean Dyche was involved in two Burnley relegations.
It was once the case that the exact same names were drudged up every time a club found itself starting down at the Championship, desperate to force a new manager bounce. Let’s get Alan Pardew (relegated Charlton and West Brom) in, they thought. Has anyone given Harry Redknapp (relegated QPR) a ring? What are Steve Bruce (relegated Hull), Tony Pulis (relegated West Brom), David Moyes (relegated Sunderland) and Mark Hughes relegated QPR and Stoke) up to?
These, however, are the only bosses to win a mid-season battle against the drop without even a sniff of a Premier League relegation on their C.V.
Jesse Marsch
Club: Leeds
Date: February 28, 2022
Games left: 12
Position upon appointment: 16th, two points clear of relegation
Position at end of season: 17th, three points clear of relegation
Frank Lampard
Club: Everton
Date: January 31, 2022
Games left: 18
Position upon appointment: 16th, four points clear of relegation
Position at end of season: 16th, four points clear of…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Football365…