'THE APPOINTMENT OF SAM ALLARDYCE HAS MADE ME EVEN MORE WORRIED' | JOHN GILES - Off the Ball 4/5/23
Stephen Kisbey-Green
Leeds United legend John Giles is worried about the
appointment of Sam Allardyce as manager of his former club, and questions his
assertion that he is 'as good as Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp'.
It was announced on Wednesday that Javi Gracia had been replaced
as manager of Leeds by Allardyce, who will be in place for the final four games
of the Premier League season.
The club is struggling for form and is currently sitting at
17th on the Premier League table, tied with Nottingham Forest and one point above
Everton in the relegation zone.
While Allardyce has managed over 500 Premier League games in
a career stretching 29 years, Giles questioned whether he had it in him to keep
Leeds from relegation.
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Speaking on The Football Show, Leeds legend Giles expressed
his concern for his former club.
"I was very worried about them," Giles said.
"I thought a few weeks ago they'd get through it. The last few weeks, I'd
be very worried about my old team.
"The appointment of Sam Allardyce has made me even more
worried. You heard his chat when he came in: 'he's as good as Pep [Guardiola],
he's as good as [Jürgen] Klopp'.
"But when he was in management, he wasn't that good.
When he was at West Ham, the fans hated him. He went to Everton, the fans hated
him there.
"He had a good spell early on at Bolton, but that was
it. He got the England job and he was sacked within two weeks. I think he
lasted one match as England manager and then was sacked.
"I never fancied him as a manager, he was too mouthy
for my liking. I played against him as a player, he was very ordinary; plenty
of mouth, without producing it.
"So, he's coming back to Leeds now, with four matches
to save them from relegation, but immediately he's talking about the best
managers in the game at the moment, that he's as good as them. Well, he must
have improved a lot since he went out of management."
In his first press conference since being appointed manager,
Allardyce insisted that there was no manager in world football that was ahead
of him.
However, Giles feels that he has never been in the same
class as the top managers in the Premier League, and that he must have improved
greatly in the two years since his last managerial role at West Bromwich
Albion.
"I don't think he's ever proven he was as good as
Guardiola and Klopp and the lads of today," Giles said. "He's never
been in that class.
"I don't know if he saved West Ham or Everton. They had
a lot of good players. Maybe he did, I can't remember whether he saved them or
not, but I know the fans were glad to get rid of him.
"If he saved them, they didn't honour him with keeping
him on. But he was always noted for his self-praise. He didn't save West Brom,
they went down. Now as soon as he comes back, he's up there with the best in
the game at the moment?
"I hope he saves Leeds, but I certainly wouldn't be
confident about it, in any way whatsoever."
