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West Ham manager Sam Allardyce says "there is no coach more sophisticated" than him in the Premier League.
Allardyce, 60, has guided the Hammers to eighth place in the top flight before Wednesday's trip to Southampton.

"I don't think there is any coach more sophisticated than me any more," said Allardyce. "That's not trying to criticise any other coaches.
"But there is only Arsene Wenger who has done it longer than me. I'm just as good as everybody at this stage."

Arsenal boss Wenger has been in charge since September 1996, with Allardyce first managing in the Premier League with Bolton in 2001.
Allardyce was under heavy pressure at Upton Park a year ago after a run of bad results and criticism of his style of play, but has turned their fortunes around.

His criticism of Manchester United's "long-ball" tactics in the 1-1 draw at the weekend led to United boss Louis van Gaal defending his style of play with documents in his news conference on Tuesday.

West Ham face another Dutchman on Wednesday in the form of Saints boss Ronald Koeman and Allardyce, who has managed Bolton, Newcastle, Blackburn and West Ham in the Premier League, believes he deserves respect for his record.

He said: "They may well have gained more experience by managing abroad, like Louis van Gaal, Ronald Koeman and people like that, but in this country, with the experience they've got, I don't think there is any coach that would be in that position [of being more sophisticated than me].

"That comes from the amount of time you do in the job, how much experience you gain in the job and how much knowledge you strive for on a regular basis to keep the cutting edge. "The cutting edge is what's new in football, what's the next level, where is it going to be, how can you find it, how can you implement it into your club? "I've always been that way inclined. I've never stood still and it's probably why I am still here managing in the Premier League for the last 13-14 years."

In 2010, while manager of Blackburn, Allardyce said he would be able to take charge of the biggest clubs in Europe.
"I would be more suited to Inter Milan or Real Madrid," he said.
"It wouldn't be a problem for me to manage those clubs because I would win the double or the league every time.
"Give me Manchester United or Chelsea and I would do the same, it wouldn't be a problem."

Wonderwall wrote:I see Big Fat Sam has decided to believe his own hype and the smoke being blown up his arse by the media after getting a point against the rags

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce says "there is no coach more sophisticated" than him in the Premier League.
Allardyce, 60, has guided the Hammers to eighth place in the top flight before Wednesday's trip to Southampton.

"I don't think there is any coach more sophisticated than me any more," said Allardyce. "That's not trying to criticise any other coaches.
"But there is only Arsene Wenger who has done it longer than me. I'm just as good as everybody at this stage."

Arsenal boss Wenger has been in charge since September 1996, with Allardyce first managing in the Premier League with Bolton in 2001.
Allardyce was under heavy pressure at Upton Park a year ago after a run of bad results and criticism of his style of play, but has turned their fortunes around.

His criticism of Manchester United's "long-ball" tactics in the 1-1 draw at the weekend led to United boss Louis van Gaal defending his style of play with documents in his news conference on Tuesday.

West Ham face another Dutchman on Wednesday in the form of Saints boss Ronald Koeman and Allardyce, who has managed Bolton, Newcastle, Blackburn and West Ham in the Premier League, believes he deserves respect for his record.

He said: "They may well have gained more experience by managing abroad, like Louis van Gaal, Ronald Koeman and people like that, but in this country, with the experience they've got, I don't think there is any coach that would be in that position [of being more sophisticated than me].

"That comes from the amount of time you do in the job, how much experience you gain in the job and how much knowledge you strive for on a regular basis to keep the cutting edge. "The cutting edge is what's new in football, what's the next level, where is it going to be, how can you find it, how can you implement it into your club? "I've always been that way inclined. I've never stood still and it's probably why I am still here managing in the Premier League for the last 13-14 years."

In 2010, while manager of Blackburn, Allardyce said he would be able to take charge of the biggest clubs in Europe.
"I would be more suited to Inter Milan or Real Madrid," he said.
"It wouldn't be a problem for me to manage those clubs because I would win the double or the league every time.
"Give me Manchester United or Chelsea and I would do the same, it wouldn't be a problem."

What a knob

Sideshow Bob wrote:after winding up long ball van gaal, BFS gets a pass from me.

Herb wrote:

Sideshow Bob wrote:after winding up long ball van gaal, BFS gets a pass from me.

My enemy's enemy is my friend eh? I'll go for that. Fat Sam's a ballbag but Van 'hoof&run' Gimp deserves to be called out for having the most expensive line-up in the prem playing long-ball like the stoke of old.

Allardyce, who by this time was manager of Bolton Wanderers, would become Prozone's earliest and most devoted customers. For Big Sam in particular, the new software was addictive: he hired a team of young sports-science graduates and used the video analysis to mould Bolton's style of play. They calculated that any team that ran further and faster than their opponents would win or draw 80% of their matches. Their players relentlessly practised throw-ins, corners and free-kicks – targeting "pomos" or positions of maximum opportunity – and scored around half their goals, far above the league average, from these set-pieces. Allardyce stitched together a team of misfits, old-timers and foreign mercenaries, led by Gary Speed. When he arrived on a free transfer in 2004, Speed was 35, but his stats – 12km a game, a pass-completion average of above 80% – suggested he could still be useful. He became a talisman for Bolton for the next four seasons.

Big Sam's Bolton defied logic: they finished in the top eight of the Premier League every season between 2003 and 2007, and twice qualified for the Uefa Cup. But "pomos" did not enter the lexicon of the data revolution and many of his ideas now seem outdated.

Allardyce remains committed to metrics, but his greatest contribution to the movement might just be the people he inspired. Bolton alumni now head the analytics departments of the most ambitious clubs in world football: Ed Sulley is head of performance analysis at Manchester City, while Gavin Fleig is City's head of technical scouting; Dave Fallows is head of recruitment at Liverpool.

carl_feedthegoat wrote:

Herb wrote:

Sideshow Bob wrote:after winding up long ball van gaal, BFS gets a pass from me.

My enemy's enemy is my friend eh? I'll go for that. Fat Sam's a ballbag but Van 'hoof&run' Gimp deserves to be called out for having the most expensive line-up in the prem playing long-ball like the stoke of old.

Ill go with that too......Big sams a very good mate of my next door neighbor over here in PC , funnily enough , !! and after the stories hes told me about him I have decided hes a dude id like to have a beer and meat pie with.

Sideshow Bob wrote:after winding up long ball van gaal, BFS gets a pass from me.

Pretty Boy Lee wrote:Can't help but like him. Entertains me on the regular.

Slim wrote:Bolton - relegated
Newcastle - relegated
Blackburn - relegated
West ham - Were a Championship side, so....

I've never stood still and it's probably why I am still here managing in the Premier League for the last 13-14 years.

Well the short answer is, you haven't.

Piccsnumberoneblue wrote:I will go against popular opinion here and say BFS has always looked for ways to get an advantage. Remember when they changed the offside law and he planted two attackers on the opposition goal line?
I find him hard to dislike.