BBC Sport

Sam Allardyce: Is modern football adopting Big Sam's play...

Former Bolton and Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce speaks to BBC Sport about whether modern football is adopting the playbook he was enacting more than 20 years ago.

One of the greatest managers in football, Bob Paisley said “ it is not about the long ball or the short ball it’s about the right ball in the moment”

The elements of surprise in football is paramount. Keeping your opponents guessing is one of the best tactics a team can deploy.

An opponent wants a team to be predictable in their style of play because they can plan & set up their team to counteract.

I love the Notts style of play. It has given them great reward over recent years, but going direct occasionally during a match can reap huge rewards.

Employing the long throw can cause mayhem in an oppositions defense & free kicks and corners can also cause lots of trouble for opponents.

We've seen Notts opponents employ these very tactics at Meadow Lane with varying degrees of success. "Playing the right ball in the moment" is key to success on a football field.

Hoofing the ball and keeping it on the ground when needed has been part of football long before Big Sam came along. What he really brought to the modern game is the culture that follows matches, especially the lad behaviour where players who perform well are seen as heroes who can carry on partying without a care.

As managers go, he's not as strict about fitness as someone like Arsène Wenger. He’s not going to worry about his players eating pasta and is more likely to treat them to a full fry-up.

He does have a good eye for building strong squads, which is worth credit. But his style of play is made up of things that were already common in football. He just happened to do very well with it.

Fascinating subject.

Clearly there's a trend away from risk-taking at the back in response to sides improving the press. As always the direction will be shaped by who wins. Any big change will only take off if it proves itself at the highest levels.

Pace, hard running and pace of play seems to be where the top sides can eke out marginal gains that win - Liverpool's title last year? While still demanding high technical ability and quality on the ball to be able to keep it.

@Robbie mentions Paisley and Liverpool. I don't remember those dominant sides being true to those words at all. But I do remember Hansen Lawrenson Souness Dalglish, Lee etc passing the life out of the ball and the opposition. They never hoofed it long. But fast forward 6 or 7 years and they'd evolved into something different. McMahon and co got it forward to Barnes and Beardsley more quickly and they relied more on their forwards' individual brilliance. But even then they still had cultured defenders and the likes of Molby who could dominate the ball. That's a bit like the trick we're trying to pull off in L2 now, injecting more pace and purpose but still trying to keep within the overarching philosophy.

Another point is that Big Sam gets misrepresented. I watched a lot of his Bolton side, they were skilful and entertaining.

A midfield of Campo, Okocha and Nolan, Diouf ahead, Matty Taylor? They had more of a no nonsense approach at the back though, including the RB Hunt who played for us for a few games. But that midfield was absolute class, they were a joy to watch

Edited Friday at 13:421 day by theAnticlough

Jay-jay Okocha was a joy to watch during his spell at Bolton.

Sam Allardyce was a good manager, and I think there is an element of underestimating what he did. He did wonders for Blackburn Rovers and tended to make teams that were "average" play much better. Both his Blackburn and Bolton teams were made up of hard-working players and supplemented by exceptional talent. I know there's a lot of hot air about Big Sam's dealing with Bolton and how he secured some of the players, but Bolton was the underdog team in the Premier League that made it exciting to watch.

It's inaccurate to claim he had a single style; he constantly blended various influences, keeping things fresh and dynamic. He was one of those old-school managers who would make changes reflecting his strengths and how to counter the opposition.

The drinking and laddish culture is true; he wasn't strict with the players, and that's partly how he tended to get the best out of them.

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/24654604.sam-allardyces-top-bolton-wanderers-moments-25-years/

Regardless of what people say about Big Sam, his Management Record speaks for it's self. He'd have probably made a Decent England Manager if the Press and certain F.A Officials hadn't set up the Sting to get Rid of Him. His attitude in training his teams also paid Dividends. Nowadays it's Don't do this, Don't eat that, be in Bed by such and such a Time etc etc. Interestingly during his playing Career former Forest and Leeds Player Duncan McKenzie, is reported to have smoked 40 cigarettes a Day.

Neil Warnock also took a more casual attitude to his Training Routine. The night before a Wembley Playoff Final, instead of packing the Notts Players off to Bed early, he played them a Tape of Roy "Chubby" Brown, it must have done some good because the Magpies won 3-1. This even got back to Chubby who in his version of Glen Campbells hit Wichita Lines Man, he sings I am a Linesman for Notts County.