Sam Allardyce has garnered something of a reputation of being a no-nonsense manager over the years, but the West Brom boss did something rather surprising after his team were beaten 5-0 by Manchester City this week.
Indeed, The Athletic have shared what the gaffer did in the dressing room Baggies were battered by Pep Guardiola’s side, and it may not be what you’d expect.
Big Sam has often been labelled as an old-school manager, and one may expect him to go in and give his team the hairdryer treatment after being embarrassed by City, but he did the exact opposite.
Rather than lamenting his players for such a poor performance, Allardyce reportedly sat everyone down and outlined his plans for the next few weeks as the Baggies head into what is arguably the most important run of the season.
Usually, this sort of analysis would be done on the training ground, but The Athletic claim that Allardyce did this straight after the game so that the players could have time to understand what he was saying before starting afresh in training the next day.
Whether or not this hour-long discussion will have a positive effect on the West Brom squad remains to be seen, but with Allardyce’s impeccable relegation record at this level, we have to assume that he knows what he’s doing.
Fingers crossed this sparks something of a revival for West Brom this season.
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