First things first. Sam Allardyce likes to to stick it to other managers.
More specifically he likes to stick it to other foreign managers who are coming over here and denying good honest British men, good honest British men like Sam, their rightful place at the helm of the giants of the Premier League game.
But Big Sam has seen off more foreign managers than he’s had hot dinners (probably not strictly true) and anyone who listened to Monday’s Second Captains will have heard some wonderful extracts from his recently released autobiography about the various ways these foreigners (and young people in general) just don’t understand the British game.
And while Sam sadly didn’t finish any of these anecdotes with the line ‘and that’s why I’ll be voting for UKIP’ he is showing no desire to ease off testing the water with the latest in vogue foreign lads to pitch up in the Premier League.
Like Rafa Benitez before him, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has been the subject of a few barbs from Sam, barbs that have nothing at all to do with the German being approached by West Ham to replace Allardyce at Upton Park last summer.
Sam waited until after Klopp had left the Stadium of Light after Liverpool had beaten his Sunderland side 1-0 last month before labelling the former Borussia Dortmund coach a ‘soft German’ and he was back trolling Klopp this week when he analysed the Anfield club’s current injury problems for TalkSport.
“That is him [Klopp] asking his players to play a high tempo pressing game from the top end,” Allardyce said. “It’s great that the players have been able to carry it out, but I think it has kicked in now.
“I don’t think Jurgen has realised just how ferocious our league is at this period of time. And because he has asked for that extra high energy – that extra 10 yards – these lads are fatiguing now with so many games in such a short period of time and are picking up these muscle strains.”
As Liverpool prepare to play Exeter in the FA Cup third round on Friday night – their third game in six days – Klopp was asked about Big Sam’s comments and delivered an almost perfect reply.
“I’m glad for Sam, that such an experienced manager has time to think about Liverpool’s problems,” Klopp told the media.
Something tells us that this may not be the end of this particular feud.
