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You know you’ve arrived when the journos don’t even
bother to use your surname any more. If you read anything about
the Bolton manager, see anything about the Bolton manager, listen
to anything about the Bolton manager, then you’ll only need
to hear the phrase “Big Sam”.
That’s the impact that Sam Allardyce has had on the English
game since he hung up his boots and swapped kicking centre forwards
for inspiring them instead, especially since he arrived at Bolton
Wanderers.
Bolton’s renaissance from their days languishing in the lower
leagues was certainly underway with the likes of Bruce Rioch and
Colin Todd doing sterling work for them, utilising players such
as Jason McAteer, Alan Stubbs, Mixu Paatalainen and super John McGinlay
to bring them Premier League football. But something was missing
for Bolton could never quite make the transition from Football League
aristocracy to Premier League establishment.The arrival of Big Sam
from Notts County changed everything for Wanderers though, for he
provided that little extra vision that they needed to shake off
their unfashionable image and move into a whole new era befitting
the splendour of their comparatively new surroundings at the Reebok
Stadium. That really is a spectacular stadium, one worthy of a fine
team, so Allardyce set about building one, pretty much from scratch.
It’s a task he’s approached with intelligence, with passion
and with a wholehearted commitment to the club for whom he once
played. Starting slowly in Division One, he gradually pieced together
a team that peaked at precisely the right time to win the 2001 play-offs,
though they came within ten minutes of being dumped out of them
by West Brom who were 2-0 up in the first leg of the semi-final
before a late Bolton rally put them in the box seat.
The first season back in the Premier League was fraught with danger,
but Big Sam saw it through and subsequently, he and his board have
been consistently imaginative in their playing of the transfer market,
bringing in some great Bosman transfers, spending shrewdly when
the right player has become available. Ten years ago, the very idea
that greats from the world stage such as Djorkaeff and Okocha would
be Bolton regulars would have seemed like the stuff of fiction but
those are the facts that have put Bolton Wanderers on the map and
taken them out of the pre-season betting when it comes to selecting
the relegation favourites.
Such has been his impact at the Reebok, Sam was granted a ten year
contract by Wanderers as the club tried to nail down a manager who
was clearly their greatest asset, a leader with a sharp tactical
mind, great motivational skills and a determination to play winning,
attractive football. What a wise decision that turned out to be
as clubs have queued up outside Bolton’s door in an effort
to prise him away, Newcastle United the latest to come calling.
We saw last week just what a phenomenal club that really is so to
turn that down and instead choose to stay with Bolton illustrates
the strides they’ve made and just how much a part of the fabric
Big Sam has become. Even now, it seems hard to believe that Allardyce
preferred the Trotters to the Toon, but a glance at the league table
and at the results this season makes a lot more sense of it –
draws with Arsenal and Manchester United and a win over Liverpool
just proves that here is a club definitely on the rise.
Recent tales in the press suggest that Sam is looking at stepping
out of club football in another five years time when his Bolton
contract expires and given the demands that football places on managers
and the ultra-committed way he approaches his work, that might be
a wise decision.
But who knows, another, even more seductive offer might yet come
his way during the course of that contract, for Sven’s stay
in Soho Square might only last another couple of years, four at
most. With the Football Association likely to go for an English
manager next time around, if Allardyce continues to impress at the
current rate, he might yet put his name in the frame. He might look
a bit like Mike Bassett, but don’t let that fool you. Big Sam
might just be the only man big enough for the biggest job in the
game.
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