Speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football Podcast, Sam Allardyce has been discussing some of the near misses in his managerial career and how he almost became the manager of Manchester City.
Before Pep Guardiola, Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure, City were a very modest Premier League club and in the mid-2000s they were at a bit of a dead end after a disappointing period under the management of Stuart Pearce.
Pearce eventually left the club and City were on the hunt for a new gaffer, and at the time, there man was Allardyce.
Big Sam says he had a deal agreed with City to take over from Pearce, but unfortunately for the ex-England manager, the deal fell through at the 11th hour due to the takeover of the club from Thaskin Shinawatra.
Allardyce nearly managed City
The ex-Bolton boss discussed almost getting the City job.
“I think I’ve said this before we got on air. I was the Man City manager when Stuart Pearce left. That was a deal done and dusted it was going to happen. I think they wanted me to come and help them rebuild the club after seeing what I’d done at Bolton and I was ready to go into the job. The day before it was due I got a phone call saying that they were sorry but they’d sold the club to Shinawatra and he wanted Sven-Goran Eriksson,” Allardyce said.
Imagine
We can’t help but wonder where City would’ve ended up under Allardyce.
Yes, he’s seen as a long-ball merchant and a bit of a dinosaur these days, but back then he was a brilliant manager who had consistently had Bolton finishing in the Premier League’s top six.
With a bit of eventual backing from Sheikh Mansour, perhaps Allarydce could’ve been the one to take City into the Champions League for the first time rather than Roberto Mancini.
It’s all ifs and buts, but this is a real sliding doors moment in Premier League history.
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