Sam Allardyce column: Everton fans want to see winning side with real fight for the battle

Sport360 staff 14:30 02/12/2017
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Big Sam's big impact: New Everton manager Sam Allardyce (Getty).

    When the call came in from Everton last weekend while I was taking a holiday in Dubai, this was an opportunity I simply could not turn down.

    Two key things convinced me to join this great club – the ambition, and I mean both the ambition of the club and the ambition of the owner and the board, and the fact it’s Everton and all its fantastic history.

    Three of my best friends in football, Peter Reid, Andy Gray and Paul Bracewell, have always told me what a great club Everton is. But I know it myself. Everton has always stood out in English football.

    The ambition that fired the club to its outstanding successes over the decades still remains, for ambition is important for any manager or coach, owner or director. It’s what you need to have, it drives you every day and, hopefully, we can get this club back up the Premier League. That’s what we’re aiming for.

    Our will to do it all together will be my way forward. On the pitch I’ll try to infuse the requisite spirit and confidence into the squad of players we have and I want to build us into a winning team. That’s what Evertonians want to see – a winning team, energy and purpose in our play, real fight for the battle and a togetherness all round.

    I was at Goodison on Wednesday night for the 4-0 win against West Ham and that provided a window into what we want it to be going forward. We want to get back among the European places and to contesting a Cup final.

    This weekend’s game against Huddersfield will tell me a lot about the squad if we can hit the same performance levels we achieved against West Ham.

    David Wagner’s team have been really competitive in the Premier League and it will be no straightforward start for me. So it’s about what we do in the preparation and out on the pitch, it’s about building the confidence that comes from us as a management staff and making life simpler for the players, trying to relax them so they can play to their potential as individuals and as a team.

    The commitment of the players, that expectation of them giving their all, will be there because it has to be. That’s the basis of everything.

    Recommended