Sam Allardyce resigns from Bolton

By: Daryl | April 29th, 2007

Wow. Sam Allardyce has quit Bolton Wanderers. Fresh from a solid 2-2 draw with Chelsea on Saturday the club sit in fifth place, and were looking good for UEFA Cup qualification. He handed in a resignation letter to Trotters chairman Phil Gartside, with Gartside reluctantly accepting but not revealing the reasons behind the decision. “He has given his reasons for wanting to leave the club at this time, which are private and we respect that privacy,” said the chairman. “I would like to wish Sam and his family every success in the future.”

Big Sam took over Bolton in 1999 and turned them from a very average Championship team into consistent Premiership performers. Maybe not always the prettiest, but they always got results. There’s been a lot of speculation recently that Allardyce is being courted by Manchester City, which may or may not be true, but even if he was then why do this now and not at the end of the season?

Looking to the future, it’s going to be a very brave or very foolish man that takes that job. Allardyce has raised expectations so high, and so much of their recent success is based on the way he works, that whoever takes over is in for a rough ride. It’s going to be exactly like when Alan Curbishley left Charlton, with Iain Dowie and then Les Reed finding it impossible to replicate Curbishley’s success.

Category: English Premier League, World Football

Tags: Bolton, English Premier League, Manchester City, Premiership, Sam Allardyce, World Football, World Soccer

« Sunday Summary: Hats off to PSV Eindhoven | Home | MLS Week 4 Review: Who needs David Beckham anyway? »

Subscribe   The Offside RSS Feeds

Print

Share

Comments  

• Sam |  April 29th, 2007 at 3:41 pm

  
  
  

  Wow, didn’t see that coming either. That’s a big loss fer sure.
  By the way Daryl, it’s great to have you aboard here, welcome from France and Toronto. How is this going to work, are you going to post on the weekends, or are you also going to post regularly during the week?

  Posted from Canada

  

• Inara |  April 29th, 2007 at 5:19 pm

  
  
  

  Why leave Bolton for Manchester City? He would have pushed Bolton far into the UEFA Cup. Manchester City’s squad isn’t half as good, and it will take him a long time to make that team competitive.

  I don’t buy that he’s looking for a challenge either. What bigger challenge is there in the EPL than breaking into the top four?

  Posted from United States

  

• Peter |  April 29th, 2007 at 8:45 pm

  
  
  

  Big surprise for sure. He is a quality coach. There should be a bunch of teams calling up his agent in the morning.

  Posted from United States

  

• Daryl |  April 29th, 2007 at 9:06 pm

  
  
  

  Thanks for the welcome Sam (Toronto Offside Sam, not ex-Bolton Wanderers Sam). I’ll just be doing weekends, but am really enjoying it so far.

  As for the ex-Bolton Sam, I’m now thinking he hasn’t left for another job, or he would have waited until summer.

  Maybe it’s related to that business involving his son or maybe it’s something genuinely personal and not related to footy at all.

  Posted from United States

  

• Laurie |  April 29th, 2007 at 9:40 pm

  
  
  

  There’s definitely something else going on here, but we may never find out what it is. (Although English tabloids being what they are, I wouldn’t bet on this being kept secret for long.)

  I’ll always appreciate Big Sam for the way he rehabilitated the career of my favorite French bad boy, Nicolas Anelka. If not for Allerdyce and Bolton, I’m pretty sure Anelka would still be in France NT exile.

  Posted from United States

  

Comments are closed