Comedian Jack Whitehall has revealed that Sam Allardyce performed a dramatic u-turn within the space of a week to take the Leeds United job.
The 68-year-old was confirmed as the new manager of the Yorkshire club this week. He will be hoping to guide them to Premier League safety over the final four matches of the campaign.
The job also signals Allardyce’s first return to Premier League football since an ill-fated spell with West Brom. It appeared that a return was not even on his agenda as recently last week having taken in Manchester City ’s crushing victory over title rivals Arsenal last week alongside Whitehall.
Speaking on talkSPORT, the comedian said: “I was at the Arsenal vs Man City game and I was sat next to Big Sam. Obviously we were talking about how successful Roy Hodgson’s tenure at Crystal Palace has been.
“There was a lot of joshing and jokes at the expense of Big Sam and how he was going to be the next one to come out of retirement. It was all very much in jest and then a week later, I go on my phone and Big Sam’s out of retirement!
“I’m very much for it. I’m a huge admirer of Big Sam and I think for Leeds, why not? I love that the Premier League has turned into the wild geese. We’ve got Roy and Big Sam - who's next?”
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Whitehall did talk over Allardyce’s plans for the immediate future but football was not one of his ambitions. Instead, the new Leeds boss wanted to get Whitehall on his podcast.
The latter added: “He clearly wasn’t thinking about management in a serious way though. Because we were talking about what his plans were next week and I said I’d be up north and he said ‘can you do my podcast?’
“We were talking about doing his podcast and stuff like that. It must have happened very, very quickly. But we exchanged numbers and we were going to arrange me going on his podcast next week and now I’m tempted to text him and ask if I should dust off my boots and man-mark Erling Haaland.”
Allardyce’s start to life at Elland Road could not be any harder with Leeds set to come up against reigning champions and current league leaders Manchester City on Saturday. They then face another testing fixture against Newcastle.
Leeds’ final two fixtures of the campaign see them come up against West Ham and Tottenham, with Allardyce refusing to rule out a longer stay in Yorkshire should he manage to keep the club up.
Speaking in his introductory press conference, he said: “Never say never, it depends what happens after the four matches and what the conversations are about. It depends how I feel, and more importantly, how the wife feels, because I can’t keep making her feel so nervous!”
