Sam Allardyce exclusive: We’ve unfinished business but it’s great to be back in the big time

 
18 August 2012

That nerve-wracking, ultimately magnificent play-off final day at Wembley back in May seems a long while ago now as we stand on the eve of a new season back in the Premier League.

I’ve often been asked how my summer went and the answer is, as far as player recruitment is concerned, we’ve done okay but we’re still short and the later it gets, the harder it becomes.

I would say about 95 per cent of our enquiries this summer have ended in failure and it’s looking like our bid for Wolves winger Matt Jarvis is going the same way.

It’s frustrating but that seems to be the way it’s going now unless you are one of the real big clubs with resources to match.

They normally reach their transfer targets in the end because they tick all the boxes. They can satisfy all the parties involved — the player, the agent, the club. The rest of us frequently get agreement with maybe one or two out of the three but that’s not enough. In the end you have to say ‘that’s it’ – and move on.

The longer it goes on, the fewer options you’re left with but sometimes events can surprise you. Alou Diarra is a good example. He was never on the radar but then suddenly there seemed to be financial problems for Marseille and the window of opportunity opened for us.

When that happened, the co-chairman David Sullivan moved quickly and got the deal done which was great for us.

We are fortunate that three of our newcomers, Jussi Jaaskelainen, James Collins and Mohamed Diame, all have Premier League know-how while Diarra and Modibo Maiga are inexperienced in English football and could take a little time to settle.

In my experience, some players who come to a different country and culture can integrate quickly but not very many. With the majority, you have to settle them in carefully.

Ideally I’d like to sign another three before the deadline. We need another central defender, a wide player and a striker although if any player in any position becomes available who we think is better than we have already, then we will try to sign him because that adds competition to the squad and that can only be good.

Of the young players we have at the club I can only realistically see Danny Potts challenging for a senior spot. The rest have to continue to learn their trade in the new Under-21 league or go out on loan and pick up first-team experience.

From a manager’s point of view, as you look towards a new season, you have anxieties and fears about how things will go — are your players going to be good enough to deliver on a consistent basis?

Recent history is encouraging, though, because it has demonstrated that clubs who are promoted can survive and even flourish. Last year the three that came up — Norwich, Swansea and QPR, all stayed up.

In reality, though, we’ll only really find out about the strength of our squad after about 10 games.

Regarding the destiny of the Premier League title, it’s the usual suspects with Manchester United really giving notice of their intentions with the signing of Robin van Persie. Last season United threw it away but don’t forget they now have players such as Anderson, Darren Fletcher, Nemanja Vidic and Tom Cleverley, all fit again after missing most, if not all, of last season.

Knowing Sir Alex as I do, the drive and determination to win something will be even greater after missing out. He will impress upon his players the responsibility they have to go out and win a major trophy which is what that great club expect.

For me, though, it will be good to be back at the top level of your chosen industry.

Last season remains a source of great satisfaction for us, considering the huge number of changes in playing personnel. I see we’ve been singled out recently as high payers of agents’ fees last season but the figure of £4.5million didn’t tell the story at all because we had 26 players coming in and around 40 going out.

It was a major re-structuring of the football club and although the agents’ fees were considerable, we saved millions of pounds in salaries and transfer fees for players from the previous year.

In the beginning we didn’t know each other and we weren’t sure where we were going but, at the end of it all, we had a massive promotion party and that’s why I do this job.

The joy of all the people who work hard for the club – the owners, the backroom staff – was the biggest satisfaction for me. They provided great, unforgettable memories for me, particularly because we went up via the play-offs.

The pressure of those three play-off games is unique and the beta-blockers took a hammering, I can tell you. I’ve experienced most things that football has to offer but take it from me, that trio of matches provides the most unique experience in the world of football.

Sam Allardyce’s fee for his column will be donated to the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK. For more information on the fund, go to bobbymoorefund.cancerresearchuk.org

So happy for Joey

AS far as my team are concerned, I’m really glad to see Joey O’Brien has rerturned from duty with the Republic of Ireland squad fit. He was one of the youngest players to appear in the Premier League before a knee injury threatened his career. He has come to us, though, played around 30 matches last season and he’s back in the Ireland squad, which is so important to him. Everyone else is available for tomorrow’s game with Aston Villa, apart from Jack Collison, but it will be nice to get a few more players in before the transfer window shuts.

Make an Olympian effort to get healthy

THE Olympic Games was a triumph for this country — simple as that. Now it has finished, I’ve seen a few people turn on football in much the same way some were prophesying doom and gloom before the Olympics.

A certain section of our society revel in negativity and before the Games they were saying things such as, “it’s costing us too much money” , “the transport won’t cope”, “ the security won’t be up to it” and so on.

Now some of the same people are no doubt saying, “I always told you it was going to be great”.

The truth is the Games was a magnificent piece of organisation, of infrastructuring and ultimate delivery on all fronts, especially the volunteers who, for me, were the glue that held the whole thing together.

The atmosphere in the Olympic Stadium was stupendous, on a par with our big day out at Wembley. In both cases, it drove the players, the athletes, on to deliver.

Now we must continue the legacy. We have to realise that fitness is as important, if not more so, than academic achievement because if you have a healthy, fit young person, the odds are they will be well-rounded academically as well.

I can’t emphasise enough the importance of healthy exercise. Achieving ‘A’ grades are all very well but exercise will fight off depression, which can be a real concern for our young people.

Prevention is always better than cure — and cheaper.

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