Sam Allardyce should not be judged on whether he saves Leeds United from relegation, according to ex-West Ham skipper Nigel Reo-Coker. Allardyce took over at Elland Road with just four games of the Premier League campaign remaining after former boss Javi Gracia was sacked with the club outside the relegation zone only on goal difference.
But Leeds have picked up just one point from three games under Allardyce, meaning they will go into the final day two points adrift of safety and with their fate out of their hands in their three-way relegation tussle with Leicester City and Everton. Allardyce has for years been the go-to man for clubs fearing relegation, and he has kept Sunderland, Crystal Palace, and Everton in the top flight.
He could not steer West Brom clear of the drop in his last managerial job, however, and with Leeds' 3-1 defeat at West Ham yesterday leaving them staring down the barrel, that has led some to ask whether Allardyce's reputation as a survival specialist in now on the line. But given the fact that he took the Leeds job so close to the end of the season, Reo-Coker says it would be 'harsh' to judge Allardyce on the 'fiasco' at Elland Road, and instead pointed the finger at those in the club's hierarchy who make the decisions after they sacked Jesse Marsch in February and then Gracia after only 12 games.
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Reo-Coker says Allardyce would 'probably' have kept Leeds up had he been appointed earlier. "It's harsh to say Sam Allardyce should be judged on this Leeds fiasco," Reo-Coker told the BBC's Football Daily podcast.
"It's been an absolute mess. Whoever makes the decisions on hiring managers made the wrong decision. If they'd brought Sam in earlier instead of Javi Gracia, I think he probably would have turned them around and kept them up.
"I don't think that in the short time that he has had there, it's a difficult one to judge. I feel the responsibility falls at the feet of whoever was hiring managers at Leeds."
Allardyce is the fourth man to have been in the Leeds dugout this season, with Marsch followed by interim boss Michael Skubala before ex-Watford boss Gracia was appointed.
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