Sam Allardyce informed Crystal Palace owner Steve Parish on Tuesday that he wants to leave the club. It is quite possible the former England manager is about to quit football altogether.
According to Sky Sports, Allardyce said he wants a change of direction in his life. He wishes to turn to traveling and spending more time with his family without the pressures of being a football manager. He feels he owes his family that.
Allardyce strongly stresses that his decision had nothing to do with the way the club is being run, and that he believes Palace are heading in the right direction. He praises the support of the board of directors; the quality of the squad he’s been working with; and the passion of the fans. He adds that those things make it hard for him to walk out. Allardyce also said it had nothing to do with transfer targets or club finances either.
Sam Allardyce Quits Crystal Palace
The talks with Parish passed in a civilized manner, without a fall-out, although Allardyce admits his piece of news came as a shock to his boss.
He said he has no ambitions to take another job, feeling in his heart that the time for retirement has come, as he is starting to “feel all his 62 years”.
This may be considered a fairly surprising development, considering that he had signed a two-and-a-half year contract with Palace in December 2016, having left the England national team under extremely controversial circumstances by a mutual consent after just 67 days and one game in charge. He had been out of work for three months when he succeeded Allan Pardew at Selhurst Park.
Allardyce says he is grateful to the club for giving him a chance to regain his reputation after the England job, and prove that he was still capable of success in managing in the Premier League.
Aside from England, “Big Sam” has lead the teams of 10 different clubs during his 26-year managerial career. He has been named Premier League Manager of the Month six times.
He lead Crystal Palace in 24 games, winning 9, drawing 3 and losing 12. The longest period he spent at one club was 1999 – 2007 at Bolton Wanderers.
He will be remembered as a manager whose teams played mostly strong defensive football, relying on quick counterattacking players to provide a goal or two, and as a manager whose specialty was to help clubs avoid relegation.
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