The former Crystal Palace chairman fears Allardyce’s previous club Sunderland could have the last laugh in this season’s Premier League relegation battle.
Former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan has told Talksport he is ‘sufficiently worried’ about his old side being relegated from the Premier League – despite the appointment of Sam Allardyce as manager.
Allardyce, who has famously never been relegated from England’s top division as a boss, is still awaiting his first league win in charge of the Eagles – losing three of his four fixtures so far.
That has left Palace level on points with 18th-place Hull City – and only one ahead of bottom two Sunderland and Swansea City.
Crystal Palace manager Sam Allardyce
And despite initially believing Allarydce’s appointment to be a good one, Jordan has doubted the timing of the former England manager’s return to the game – three months after leaving the national team post following an investigation by the Telegraph newspaper.
“I think they were absolutely right to bring Sam in at that point,” the 48-year-old told Thursday’s Jim White show. “I looked at the difference of the three clubs that were in and around them – Swansea, Hull and Sunderland – and I thought Moyesie (Sunderland manager and Allardyce’s successor at the Stadium of Light, David Moyes) was going to be the difference between Palace being potentially sucked in, because it’s the manager who’s going to be the difference in that area.
“Looking at what I’m seeing now, I see a man who – I think – has come back too early. I don’t see the body language, I don’t see the demeanour, I don’t see the shoulders-back chest-out Sam Allardyce that I saw when he was at Sunderland and other football clubs.
Former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan
“I may be wrong, I hope I’m wrong – for the owners I want them to achieve nothing, for the fans I want them to achieve everything – but to answer your question, I worry for Palace because they are getting sucked in.”
Asked if he was worried about the threat of relegation, Jordan replied: “(I’m) sufficiently worried that it’s a real threat.”
Allardyce is keen to add to his Selhurst Park squad this month, having already signed Jeff Schlupp from Leicester City.
However, a move for Arsenal’s Carl Jenkinson looks to have fallen through while Tottenham Hotspur are unlikely to entertain Palace’s offer for Ben Davies, according to the Sun.
Are Crystal Palace the club that will finally relegate Big Sam?
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