Sam Allardyce, Leeds and football heritage

Sam Allardyce was presumably in the middle of “doing a Ray Winstone”, which, for those uninitiated, involves retiring to Spain with his wife, lying in a deckchair and soaking up the sun. Happily retired and with the karaoke bar just a short taxi ride away, he was enjoying the views from Casa St James’, a fancy villa on the Costa Blanca purchased with the £4m pay-off he received from Newcastle in 2008, when the phone rang. Now, a return to the north of England beckons, with Allardyce charged with “doing a Steve Evans”, which, for those uninitiated, involves swooping in on a short-term deal to save Leeds United from relegation, not – and Football Daily knows what you were thinking – turning up to Elland Road in a sombrero and beach shorts, even if that does feel oddly appropriate for Big Sam.

Javi Gracia looks certain to be the man to make way, with the news of his imminent sacking softened slightly by a probable reappointment at Watford in a few months’ time. The Spaniard will have lasted only slightly longer than Brian Clough at Leeds, despite a points-per-game ratio to rival the great Don Revie, albeit with a slightly smaller sample size. But the point is, strictly in terms of results, Gracia was not that bad. If Leeds accumulated the 1.25 points per game that Gracia achieved in his nine games through the entire season, they would currently sit 11th, a win shy of the top half. But this is the business end of the season, and as anyone who has watched a Sol Campbell slide tackle knows, momentum can be a powerful thing. The manner of the 4-1 defeat by Bournemouth was obviously too much for the Leeds board to take, and sacking a manager is pretty much the only drastic step a suit can do to arrest a slide with four games