Leeds United’s desperate late trick of bring in former Everton manager Sam Allardyce as a relegation bogeyman to try and send down his former employers for the first time in 72 years proved futile and the Blues are now being linked to a transfer raid on Elland Road after the Yorkshire club dropped into the Championship instead.
Everton owner Farhad Moshiri turned to Allardyce in November 2017 after sacking Ronald Koeman but after watching from the Goodison Park stands as the Blues defeated David Moyes’ West Ham United 4-0 in caretaker boss David Unsworth’s final match in charge, the supposed rescue mission for ‘Fireman Sam’ saw his new team climb to 10th in the table with a 2-0 victory over Huddersfield Town. Everton remained in the top half for the remainder of the season and finished eighth although Allardyce’s attritional style of play proved unpopular with many supporters – the Blues were 20th in the Premier League for shots, shots on target, chances created and chances created from open play during his tenure – and he was sacked three days after the last game of the campaign.
Even though Allardyce had lost his record of never being relegated from the Premier League when his West Bromwich Albion side went down in 2021, Leeds United decided to take a punt on the 68-year-old for the final four matches of 2022/23 but he failed to win any as they suffered the drop while Everton stayed up on the final day despite posting the lowest equivalent points total in their history. With Allardyce gone and the Whites now back in the second tier, a report claims that Sean Dyche is planning on snatching one of their players.
