Sam Allardyce has fired back at Roy Keane after the outspoken pundit accused the former England boss of having too big an ego to manage in the Championship.
Having been thrown into his now customary 'Fireman Sam' role at Elland Road, Allardyce was given just four games to rescue Leeds from relegation. However, his short spell yielded just a point on charge, and the club were relegated with a whimper last Sunday after being hammered 4-1 at home by Spurs.
The future of the 68-year-old at Leeds now remains in the balance, with a long term deal yet to be finalised. Talks with chairman Andrea Radrizzani and co have reportedly taken place this week, with Allardyce having not managed in England's second tier since taking West Ham up through the play offs in the 2011/12 season.
And after his failure to complete a great escape in Yorkshire, United legend Keane suggested Allardyce considered the Championship beneath him. But speaking to Tim Sherwood and host Natalie Pike on the No Tippy Tappy Football series, the man with more than 1,000 professional games under his belt hit back.
“You mean my ego is bigger than Roy’s? There’s nobody with a bigger ego than Roy. That’s some statement coming from him. He mistakes ego for experience and confidence, and the ability to do the job, which was much better than Roy did [as a manager] wasn’t it?"
The dig refers to the fact that Keane himself managed in the Championship, famously leading Sunderland to the title in his first season in charge in 2006/07. His time with Ipswich in the division was less successful though, and he was sacked after less than two years at the helm with the team battling relegation.
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Allardyce also cited his achievements at Bolton, where he managed for eight seasons and led 'the Trotters' into Europe, to further dispel Keane's words. And he implied he had the credentials to help Leeds bounce back at the first attempt.
“I managed in the Championship at Bolton where we got in the playoffs and got into the Premier League in 2001," he added. "I did what I’ve done at Leeds with West Ham where I was there in the first year where we got relegated and then got back into the Premier League through the playoffs, and that was a lot of work.”
Prior to the 2020/21 season, Allardyce had never tasted Premier League relegation, a statistic ruined by his decision to reverse his retirement in a doomed bid to save West Brom from going down. And after his latest blow, he tore into his Leeds players for committing "professional suicide" on the final day.
