When Sam Allardyce first walked through the door at Elland Road following the sacking of Javi Gracia, few would have downplayed the task at hand to keep Leeds United in the Premier League.
Five miserable games had passed since the Whites’ 2-1 win against Nottingham Forest, with 18 goals shipped in that time. It’s no surprise, then, that the club turned to the tactically-astute Allardyce to help stop the flood.
At the time, some 69% agreed with the club’s decision to turn to the former England boss, despite the fact that he’d been out of work for two years and his last job ended in relegation with West Brom, the first of his career.
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And it seems his appointment has sparked fresh hope of survival. When asked by Leeds Live whether expectations had changed since Big Sam came in, 31% of supporters revealed they thought the appointment would save the club, whereas 11% felt it would doom them to relegation.
The rest of the respondents didn’t change their views either way following Allardyce’s arrival, with half of the fanbase still expecting relegation to the Championship regardless. It means that in total 39% of fans are optimistic about beating the drop, compared with 61% that are braced for the second tier.
Perhaps the most interesting figure is that many fans see Allardyce as more than a short-term fix. We asked fans whether they’d be open to a longer term deal, with two thirds (67%) saying they would keep Allardyce as manager permanently beyond this season.
Of those responses, 41% would offer him a new deal regardless of whether he achieves the goal of keeping Leeds up, while the remaining 26% are evenly split between whether they’d want Allardyce in the Premier League or the Championship next season.
Are you confident that Sam Allardyce will keep Leeds United up? Would you give him a contract beyond the end of the season? Let us know in the comments below…
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