5 things you need to know about England's new manager Sam Allardyce
Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce has been named as the new England manager after Roy Hodgson resigned following England’s shock exit from UEFA Euro 2016. Big Sam impressed the FA panel with his plans for the England national team which included psychologically revamping the dressing room with a sense of pride and commitment.
Allardyce has immense experience as a manager who has worked with clubs like Newcastle United and West Ham United previously. He dramatically kept Sunderland up in the Premier League last season after they looked all done and dusted and looked destined to be relegated.
The 61-year-old had previously interviewed for the post of England manager, 10 years ago where he was snubbed in favour of Steve McClaren who eventually became one of the worst appointments as England manager in recent times. Big Sam spent nine years as Bolton Wanderers manager where he had also previously played as a central defender.
The appointment of Allardyce has been backed by managers like Jose Mourinho and Sven-Goran Eriksson and the FA will hope that he brings the needful change in the England national team who have had disappointing international tournaments in the recent past.
#1 He once made his players race whilst sitting on toilets
Sam Allardyce is known for his innovative training methods to build team spirit in the dressing room. While in charge of Bolton Wanderers, Big Sam often took his players to day trips for several activities. He once made his players race against each other whilst sitting on toilet seats to see who could run around the field the quickest. At other times, he took them to the horse races. These fun activities often had a great impact in developing a collective bond in the team.
In order to boost team spirit, Allardyce used to take bets from his players. He told his players that if they could manage to win by three or more goals, the staff would lose and would have to do a dare, otherwise, the players would have to. When Bolton registered a 5-0 win over Leicester City in their first Premier League game in the 2001-2002 season, the staff had to go out and have meals of sheep testicles and hot curry and other foul foods.