Sam Allardyce has been pleasantly surprised by the discipline he has seen from his Leeds United players so far. The head coach is coming to the end of his first week at Thorp Arch after being officially appointed on Wednesday morning and he is still getting to grips with his squad and the individuals within it.
He will have found it hard not to arrive in West Yorkshire without preconceived ideas of players and the club having seen them drastically underperform in the Premier League over the last few weeks. Displays have simply not been up to scratch under previous regimes and as a result, United have found themselves slipping towards the Championship without any real traction.
Allardyce, then, may have expected to walk into a divided dressing room with discipline and attitude issues but that simply has not been the case. Instead the former England boss has been greeted by a team that arrive promptly and seem willing to learn and work in order to avoid the dreaded drop over the remaining four games of the Premier League season.
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“Not particularly because they're disciplined,” Allardyce said in his pre-match press conference on Friday when asked whether there’s been a need to change any policy or rules. “I haven't caught anyone late yet and that's unusual.
“I see everybody turning up on time doing what they're doing but I have a different approach. So I communicate with the players where often other managers wouldn’t, I don't just talk about football I talk about all sorts and if I find an opportunity to crack a joke, sometimes they look at me a bit funny saying does hereally mean that or not, but when I start laughing, hopefully they see the funny side of it.
“If they feel comfortable with me they can express from something of what they might think or might help us to overcome this difficult situation. Because they're the only ones who can be responsible for the success of Leeds. I can guide as much as I can, but they are the only ones who can get us out of trouble.”
There’s plenty of work to be done for Allardyce at the Leeds United training base, he’s under no illusions there. But, he won’t be expecting to see his side more than three or four hours a day, it seems and despite the situation Leeds find themselves in, days off here and there are an absolute necessity.
“All the rubbish that spouts out from everywhere else other than the training ground to say you keep them in for six hours a day is the biggest load of poppycock, I’ve ever heard in my life,” Allardyce added. “Brain space. Shut it down and the players will shut off and they won't be able to perform.
“Then you'll say ‘well, they didn't look like he’s fit, he doesn’t look like he cares’, but he can’t run around because mentally he’s absolutely shot. So spending some time with family and resting up. I mean if they’re not fit now they’re never going to be fit. There's only four games to go.”
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