Chris Lepkowski hits out at criticism aimed at Big Sam over lack of West Brom passion
Chris Lepkowski has shot down criticism of Sam Allardyce that the West Brom boss does not show enough passion on the sidelines.
Allardyce has endured a horrendous start to his Albion reign with just two wins in his first 17 games and the club are on the brink of an instant return to the Championship with Newcastle United 10 points ahead in 17th with nine games remaining.
Former Birmingham Mail journalist Lepkowski noticed a trend emerging that he wholly disagreed with – the notion that Big Sam is not showing the requisite passion for the Albion job based on fleeting television images.
On his personal Twitter profile he said: “Of all the things to justifiably hit Big Sam over the head with, this notion that he (a bloke approaching 70) should show touchline ‘passion’ – based on infrequent TV close-ups – is one of the strangest I’ve heard. It’s 2021, not 1971. Football has moved on.”
A thread ensued with a number of Albion fans voicing their objections to Lepkowski’s defence of Big Sam with one referring to his body language and another complaining of his lack of passion.
Lepkowski responded to the latter by saying: “Who said there is no passion? Based on what, cutaways of 5 seconds? This obsession with passion is so hackneyed.”
Desperate reach
We certainly side with Lepwkoski on this one – does ranting and raving on the sidelines really constitute passion?
How do we know Big Sam is not reserving his anger and emotions for the dressing room?
Unless he feels that an advantage can be gained by touchline theatrics then its purpose is defeated and it becomes pure pontification for television cameras.
Besides, he has Sammy Lee by his side to be the motivator – you only have to turn the volume up to six to hear him bellowing instructions to the players.
There are a lot of things we can hold against Big Sam but this is going too far.
To suggest he does not care is to completely underestimate the man’s character and career.
His record of no Premier League relegations would have been a great source of pride for him and his failure to inspire a survival bid will hurt him.
Take aim at his tactics but don’t level his touchline demeanor against him.
In other West Brom news, 27y/o Albion ace on verge of first international call-up.
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