Sam Allardyce is back, but is this a positive appointment for the Premier League?

(courtesy of Wikipedia)

The return of Sam Allardyce (pictured above) to the Premiership after almost a year’s absence was hardly a shocking one. Rather it carried a sinking feeling of inevitability.

Allardyce was a dismal manager at Newcastle United. Securing just two points out of a possible six from bottom of the table Wigan and Derby, spelt the end of the Toon Army’s patience.

He’d been unable to produce the attacking football they crave. Managing Bolton Wanderers is far different to managing a club with lofty ambitions and an expectation that they should get there fast.

He failed, but then so many others have done before him and the media and the Premier League were unlikely to judge their ‘Big Sam’ too harshly for too long.

No, sure enough, a year on, another club has called upon his robust approach to combat the early signs of a relegation bound season.

Blackburn Rovers will now stay up

And it is highly likely that Blackburn Rovers will now stay up. Allardyce was drafted in by the Blackburn Rovers chairman John Williams because of his experience of keeping Bolton Wanderers up in two successive tough seasons in the early years of the millennium.

That bottom of the table dog-fight, is where Big Sam excels. Digging in, and digging deep. Certainly admirable in one way, and definitely necessary to some teams that will never have the resources to be high flyers.

But should Sam Allardyce’s style be a blue print for the English game?

Gary Speed, Kevin Davies and Kevin Nolan were all integral players to Sam Allardyce’s outfit at Bolton. Their physical, determined and sometimes undeniably thuggish approach made the Reebok Stadium an unwelcoming place for any visiting team.

Many pundits and journalists often saw Arsenal’s inability to play their football there – quick, flowing and nimble, a sign that they lacked that physical edge to win an English title.

By all means be physical, a team like Bolton is never going to beat Arsenal at their own game. But be lawful, stick to the rules, do not kick, elbow, fowl to get a result.

There was no doubt that Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish set his pack out with a definite mentality to stop Arsenal when they played them in February this year.

That game was shrouded by an infamous tackle from a Birmingham player Martin Taylor on Arsenal striker Eduardo. His leg was broken and he has been recovering ever since.

Clearly Alex McLeish never intended for his players to go in that hard. But the tackle exemplifies the mentality of a team that was sure to be fighting relegation come May, and was desperate to take points off the then Premier League leaders.

But then looking at the newcomers to the Premier League now, the more robust teams like Stoke and Hull, are faring considerably better than the well-intended but ultimately light-weight West Bromwich Albion.

Get points in any way we can

On his appointment, Sam Allardyce reflected that it was important to get points in any way that they can. Understandably a team’s survival in the league is paramount to their fans and club.

But if this means the end to inteligient, nimble, daring football in the Premiership, as the world’s most talented look to leagues where they’ll be better protected, then the quality of the English game will surely suffer.