Leeds United’s newly-appointed interim manager Sam Allardyce claims he is the equal of any of the Premier League’s top coaches as he begins a salvage job at the Yorkshire club.
The 68-year-old was parachuted in on Wednesday in a desperate attempt to avert relegation after the club sacked Javi Gracia following a run of poor results.
Allardyce, who has history when it comes to Premier League relegation battles, has never been short of self-confidence and says Leeds has got itself a top operator.
“I’m 68 but there’s nobody ahead of me in football terms. Not Pep (Guardiola), not (Jurgen) Klopp, not (Mikel) Arteta,” Allardyce told reporters.
“The football club chooses which way it wants to go and far too many people think I am old and antiquated which is so far from the truth. It’s all there with me.
“They do what they do, I do what I do. In terms of knowledge and depth of knowledge, I’m up there with them. I’m not saying I’m better than them, but certainly as good as they are.”
Until being relegated with West Bromwich Albion in his last job in the top flight, Allardyce had a proud record of never taking a club down. He was also considered qualified enough for the England job in 2016 although he was dismissed after only 67 days after being caught up in a newspaper sting.
Saving Leeds will be some feat. It is fourth from bottom but only out of the relegation zone on goal difference and faces Manchester City, Newcastle United, West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur in its last four games.
“We start with an easy one on Saturday,” said Allardyce. “It can’t get any easier than Manchester City away, can it? It’s probably my biggest challenge because of the shortness of games that are left and the difficulty of those fixtures.”
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