The relegation battle at the bottom of the Premiership is as tight as it has ever been, with goal difference seperating the bottom 5 clubs, and just six points seperating the bottom 11. From Hull, who appear to be sitting in 9th place, to "lowly" West Brom, who are just two wins away from surpassing Hull's current points tally. Even that doesn't look too far out at the current time, especially off the back of their 3-0 drubbing of Boro on Saturday. But what about the managers who put themselves through it every week?
When Sam Allardyce was appointed Blackburn manager after the sacking of Paul Ince, it was greeted with a certain amount of scepticism from fans and experts alike. Having failed with Newcastle, the press were preparing their oversized knives especially for Big Sam. All I can say is, rubbish. Allardyce has a proven record with Bolton, he won them promotion, kept them in the division and even led them to a 7th place finish. At times he can be accused of what some call "anti-football" but the stats don't lie. And with more creative players like Santa Cruz, Pedersen and Dunn to work with, maybe we will see a different side to one of Sam's teams.
Lets look at the managers for the other clubs around him: Gareth Southgate, Joe Kinnear, Ricky Sbagria, Tony Mowbray, Tony Pulis, Gary Megson, Tony Adams, Harry Redknapp. With the exception of Redknapp, I know for certain who I'd want trying to wangle my team out of a relegation battle, and no, it's not Kinnear.
But for all Allardyce's football know-how, you still wouldn't like to sit next to him in a crowded bus on a very hot day now, would you?
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