In this latest episode, Sam Allardyce shared insights from his extensive career managing clubs like Bolton, West Ham, and Everton, and time in charge of the Three Lions.

He discusses the challenges of building a football club, including the need to scout better players, improve performance under pressure, and implement lasting changes.

Allardyce also reflected candidly on his controversial exit from the England job, revealing a more introspective side.

Then highlighted his innovative approaches, such as introducing cryotherapy and using player data to inform decisions.

: I want to start with what I think is probably one of the greatest moments of your life. You know, I was looking at these stats today. Only 19 people have ever had a phone call or a meeting where they’re offered a job as the England manager. Please take us into how that moment felt.

: It was an unexpected moment. it was phone call for an interview via me agent and not that we’d expected it, but we threw our name into the hat because they needed a British coach or an English coach, which they still do. No disrespect to Mr. Tuchel but still think they should and and that and after the interview which is the second time round because the first time was quite a few years before that when I was at Bolton and did a quick presentation and and they said yes which was quite a surprise

: In the interview they said yes

: No few days later um there was other interviews going on at the time and and And I think that um when when we finally cracked it, it was the ultimate feeling of joy, excitement, nervous and what you had to do was try and go and and get the job done as quick as you can. The change in influence at St. George’s Park was a bit of breath of fresh air what they told me cuz everybody had to move there. Everybody had to work from there. And I thought, “Wow, at last they’re getting a grip of it. This is the national training centre. And instead of being what looked like a part-time training centre, they wanted it to become come full-time at all ages, and obviously my job in particular was to be as good as I possibly could to get the team to try and win the Euro Leagues or the World Cup. And I think that internally St. George’s Park was not a place the players liked. So me and me and Sammy Lee had quite a few days to change it which obviously they they were too pleased to do like you mean because the first problem was and we couldn’t change that was that people still stayed in the hotel and I went you can’t have anybody here when, the England squads here, you can’t have any any punters in the hotel any kids cuz you the players couldn’t get out the top floor, you had you had this claustrophobic effect that they talked about, you know. Anyway, we moved on very quickly and achieved the first squad, achieved the result we wanted, which was a 1-0. Totally battered them really, you know, but luckily for me they scored in the last minute and listen to the press conference after the press conference on the negativity around it at the time particularly around Wayne, you know. So I was going to sort of get the stats out there and and just say look this was our total domination of that of that team. But thoroughly thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity and then bam bam. Thank you Sam. It was over and done within 67 days, which is legally challenging for me on how much I talk about it, but I sometimes think and look back now. It’s a long time ago, but well, difficulty to deal with it was an understatement. But why is something I never got to grips with because it’s in my opinion and lots of other people’s opinion and my lawyers opinion shouldn’t have really happened. But I think that was that was panic from them, panic from their point of view and and uh the journey was over.

: Would you mind taking us when you say very very briefly there like it was painful? I think so often when someone’s in the public eye, we revel in a downfall. We’re joyful. You know, we love the fact that someone’s been, you know, caught out by the papers or whatever we want to call it. And we forget about the human being and we forget about the human being’s partner and the human being’s kids. Would you take us into your your head at that point and those people around you that loved you

: Well, I was more concerned about them.

: What was the impact on them?

: Well, the press. I mean, I slipped away, but they still found me in Spain. Followed us all over for ages, took pictures, wrote headlines, completely fabricated headlines day after day after day after day. to a point where you where you you look around and say, “Is it all worth it?”. Regarding of the evidence, it doesn’t really matter, does it? you know, so I think it went round about gosh knows nearly every country in the world had did a bit of research with somebody who offered to help on the press side of it, you know, but but I think that that in the end you have got to try to not look at it.

: What was it doing for you if you did look at it?

Well, it was the false stories, the false narratives, the fact that it was all about something that wasn’t really or hadn’t really happened, you know, and I think that like everything else, the newspapers need big stories, don’t they? And this was a big story. It was a great phone call from Steve Parish because that was the turning point because he had no qualms about employing me and said what a load of rubbish that was.

: And how did that feel?

: Great. Cuz I’m back in the Premier League now.

: Can I ask you something? What was the fabricated headline that stung most?

: The fabricated headlines were the change the change of the actual recording according to my lawyer. The ch the change the twist to make the story bigger and better than than it actually was. So there was no rule breaking. There was no law breaking. That was said in the House of Commons by the FA about two months later when they got called up to say what’s going on here and to say that I’m breaking these rules and they wrote a slavery headline. This is slavery, you know, and and I mean the fact of the matter is that those rules were never broken. those third party ownership rules. I never suggested they’d be breaking in the conversation I’d had, but which took a which obviously took an awful long time to find out to, I mean I had the best lawyer I’ve ever experienced in my life on the job he did…

: I’m interested in, you said when the press were handing you in Spain you asked yourself is it worth it? What was that reflection period like for you?

: I think that it’s probably the most depressing time I’ve ever, apart from, you know, your parents dying or, you know, [partner’s] parents passing away or some close friend passing away. Probably the worst experience. Of course you then there’s your grandkids at school, you know, they’re going to get a lot of stick, you know what I mean? And then obviously you’ve got your own kids and all that that was, you know, there’s one or two wisecracker and they’re not all the time like I mean just tell them not whatever you do don’t thump them. You know what I mean? So because it’s not worth it like you mean just just walk away.

: Do you think you were depressed?

: Oh, there’s no doubt about that. Like I said, Steve got me out of it and I’ve been ever grateful for that part that particular timeline. I mean, I had a great I had a great journey on achieving what we wanted to achieve when I went into I think it was in mid December into Palace like you mean and finished the season brilliantly.

: And do you think the depression or the sadness, the darkness that you had, was it all those years of building a career to the pinnacle that every football manager dreams of being taken away? Was it your brain thinking I could have really done something with that squad?

: I have no doubt about that. Oh, no. There’s no doubt about my the the people call it arrogance or ego but I’ve nothing but confidence in my own ability cuz because of the time and length I have taken every challenge on board and succeeded with it. Not to the length of I’ve got a load of these great trophies and medals, but you know, you know, apart from I would probably say West Brom, which unfortunately was, you know, too difficult for me to save them because two things. We tried our very hardest with the loan players in January. It’s all we could afford. We changed the results around, but not good enough. But COVID was the killer. If you’ve got a squad in or around the bottom of the league and you’re restricted with your training time, you’re restricted how many people have a room in your training ground to and you’re running out of time. When I look back on that now, it’s and some players coming back from COVID couldn’t run. They were that bad.

: So, do you think if you’d have remained in the England job, you would have won a trophy?

: Oh well, I got to think that. I mean, what I can’t take the job without thinking I’m going to win. I also think the team for it. Still do. Still think got the squad for it.

: How do you think that period when you were being hounded and you lost the job? How do you feel that’s changed you as a person and as a manager since?

: I try to be less, I got to think of the right word now, I try to be a little calmer. I can be a bit dominating. So the Mrs tells me. And once I get on the subject you can’t shut me up, and she says shut up cuz you don’t know everything. So, I have to reign in on that that scenario. I have a bit of an opinion on what I believe is right and I try I’ve always tried to say it as it is. Not bullshit. You know what I mean? You know, if we’re poor, we’re poor. If we’re okay, we’re okay. And if we’re great, we’re great. Like, you know, there’s many managers come on the TV and says, “Well, we just got defeated again, but we were good. We played the right way. We did we did a lot of things right, didn’t we? Did a lot.” No, you didn’t. Like, cuz you didn’t win.

: And why did that period teach you to be more like that? I think because because you if you put yourself out there too much, they’ll bring you down. As many people as has support you, I think you’re great. The other side are the the dislikers, the disapprovers and those are the ones that you know you don’t as you get upset by in your early parts of your careers but you really try and avoid them and avoid it when you get you get older and get a bit wiser like you mean. So you know you build your own standards and you build your own career by what you believe in. And and that’s where you stay strong and where you stay and stay strong in your beliefs. How ever many people try to change it and how many people give you an opinion. And if it’s somebody’s opinion you respect, you think about it and you may well use it. But if it’s somebody’s opinion you don’t respect, you just just really move on.

: What did that period that period around England teach you about people? Did you did you stop trusting people?

: I’ve stopped trusted many people a long time before that. Like you mean there there’s not there’s not, there’s a small social gathering of yours that you trust and you have a bigger gathering because of who you who you are and the people that you know and you great to be out with them and and so on. But in terms of confidence, confidential and being confidential as a small group, you need to rely on you. I mean, it’s like going into a football club you don’t know how you can trust. Cuz somewhere along the line there’ll be somebody who feeds something back to the board, the owner or the chief executive like you mean. So, you know, is he an ally or is he an enemy? And that’s one of the things you face in a football club when you go when you go in, who is who is that person and if they are feeding back is it negative feedback or is it positive feedback but they do most owners or football clubs will have one there isn’t one there isn’t a club for where they haven’t had one

: And I want to talk about your clubs in a second just a two more questions on this the first one is when you get that phone call from the FA saying look or the meeting saying look it’s do you fight it? Do you kind of go, “Look, come on. Try and see my side of the story” or do you just accept that that’s the decision the FA have made?

: Like I said that it was a panic situation from them. I mean, you got to bear in mind that I was golfing on the golf course for the FA at Stokes Park on a Sunday.

: What, when you lost your job?

: No, I was just on on when I got the call that was and you you’ve got to drive all the way back and I was on the way back home and I got to drive all the way back down and uh and and uh uh couldn’t have any representation. This was the problem. If I’d have had me time all over again, I probably wouldn’t have accepted it. I’d have probably said let’s go to court or something like or at least let me have the right way and obviously the right way was going through HR.

: So they rang you on the well you were on the golf course playing for

: Come back down tomorrow on be way back home. Come back down tomorrow.

: And did you know what was coming then?

: No cuz I thought there be maybe a wrap on the knuckles. Don’t if there’s anything like that again don’t you know don’t be let us know don’t let us think about it like you mean

: What did they say then

: Just said this is like I said going into that too much is a bit more, you just tell the story told the story what had happened but the problem was at the time I was, I’d lost me head space by then and that’s why I needed a a time period or a representation from my side of it, my lawyer or wouldn’t even let me agent in. And then we talked about HR. We’ll have to have an HR meeting over this and and then about 3 hours later you’re gone. So they actually didn’t. If I’d ever known what I know now and said no, they’d have had to do two things. Give me the right way. I mean this is a big executive biggest football organisation in the country. The FA runs all the football and it has certain certain actions you’re supposed to take because you’re really classed as an executive of the business, aren’t you? So the protocol is serve the notice, give you opportunity to defend yourself and then they make a decision that never happened. So if I’d have been, me agent tried to talk me out of just getting at getting doing that being big like that but he wasn’t in the meeting in the first and only and was only in the meeting at the end when they just come in and said that’s enough

: And all these years later how much pain is there still for you?

: There’s a period of whenever England play there’s a nagging in the back of the back of the head and that’s where you always think what if and you know what I mean what if but you know like I say when I pop around wherever I go, I do have a 100% record

Continue watching more by clicking play below…

He talks about his mentality, help from Sir Alex Ferguson, dwelling on how his time with England ended, the 100% record, his time at Sunderland, Bolton, West Ham, how he views football today and answered ome quick fire questions…