talkSPORT pundit Dean Saunders is convinced Sam Allardyce is \u201cnear on a genius\u201d as a manager despite failing to prevent Leeds United being relegated from the Premier League.<\/p>\n
Allardyce only managed to pick up one point from his four league outings with a 2-2 draw against Newcastle after filling in the gap left by Javi Gracia in the Elland Road dugout earlier in May.<\/p>\n
The latest report, dated 30 May, alleges that Leeds are already considering new managers after the club\u2019s Championship status was confirmed although crunch talks are expected this week regarding the Englishman\u2019s future at the club.<\/p>\n
Saunders heaped the compliments on Allardyce\u2019s coaching career while speaking live on talkSPORT Breakfast<\/em> on 30 May but was guarded enough to add a word of caution that the former England boss should not be compared in the same manner with the tactical genius of Pep Guardiola.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he [Allardyce] is near on a genius in what he does,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve seen how he works, and if you give him a bad set of tools, he can make something out of it normally and he\u2019s done it all of his career.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not talking like your tactical genius such as Pep Guardiola, I think for people like Roy Hodgson and Sam Allardyce, who have had over 1000 games as managers, if you survive more than six months, you\u2019re doing something right, so I think he\u2019s a really good manager.\u201d<\/p>\n Allardyce has no doubt managed to compile a glittering managerial CV, one which boasts his fair share of Houdini-like Premier League escapes. Unfortunately this last attempt with Leeds was just one challenge too far as being given just four games to salvage the situation after the first team\u2019s abysmal form under Javi Gracia required nothing less than an almighty miracle, especially considering that three of these matches were against the prime of European competition hopefuls, which nonetheless made the challenge that much tougher.<\/p>\n The odds were heavily stacked against Big Sam and he just couldn\u2019t deliver what had been expected of him against all odds.<\/p>\n This was one time his stereotypical pragmatic approach with Leeds fell flat as they looked directionless in attack for major portions of matches, with the most damning fact being that they still conceded four goals against Spurs when fielding six defenders.<\/p>\n Big Sam will invariably move on from Elland Road this summer albeit with his reputation hardly tarnished as he remains one of the Premier League survival specialists.<\/p>\n This time around the Leeds United relegation battle proved one challenge too mighty for the big man.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"