Sam Allardyce shattered confidence of numerous West Brom players in short space of time
Sam Allardyce “shattered” the confidence of some West Brom players during his brief spell at The Hawthorns, according to Express & Star journalist Joseph Masi.
Allardyce managed Albion between December 2020 and May 2021, overseeing the Black Country club’s relegation from the Premier League.
While there was some improvement under Big Sam after a woeful start to the campaign by Slaven Bilic, the Dudley-born manager’s decisions at The Hawthorns were felt hard by some of West Brom’s players.
“Sam Allardyce arrived as Bilic’s replacement,” Masi wrote on the Express & Star website.
“One reason the Baggies turned to the Dudley-born chief was because they didn’t want a relegation rival appointing the man who supposedly guaranteed survival.
“But Allardyce couldn’t keep them up. And he then walked away leaving a path of destruction behind him.
“Multiple sources have told the Express & Star, a number of players had their confidence shattered during his six months at the club.
“It’s not rocket science to work out who those players are.”
Weak
It says it all doesn’t it?
A manager walks into West Brom, sees the poor players in the squad for what they are, drops them and then they feel upset about it.
While we’re not saying that these are definitely the players who had their confidence wrecked by Big Sam, some of the players who found themselves cast out of the side by the former Albion manager were Jake Livermore, Romaine Sawyers, Karlan Grant and Grady Diangana.
Livermore’s the big one.
He’s the West Brom captain yet during the debut of two of the last three managers, he’s found himself sent off for stupid and needless tackles.
As soon as he got sent off against Aston Villa in Big Sam’s managerial debut at the Albion last season, it was a wake-up call for the boss.
If you cannot rely on your captain to keep himself on the pitch on your debut in a local derby, what hope is there?
Livermore’s going to be back from his four-match ban on Saturday when the Baggies take on his former club Hull City at the KC Stadium.
It’ll speak volumes if Steve Bruce starts him on Humberside or whether he continues with the majestic midfield trio of Alex Mowatt, Jayson Molumby and Adam Reach.
If there’s one player who looks infinitely better now than he did three games ago, it’s Livermore – and he hasn’t even had to kick a ball.
In other West Brom news, this journalist thinks Ismael performed “miracles” with the Albion as he takes aim at Bruce and the Baggies.
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