Former Blackpool striker reflects on spell working under 'pioneer' Sam Allardyce ahead of West Brom manager's return to Bloomfield Road

Former Blackpool striker Andy Preece is a man that knows all about Sam Allardyce.

‘Big Sam’, as he is now affectionately known, was the manager in charge of Blackpool when he persuaded Preece to make the move to the Fylde Coast in 1995.

The Seasiders had to pay good money for his services - £200,000, no less - to prise him away from Crystal Palace, who played their football in the top flight at the time.

Preece and Allardyce, who is due to make his return to Bloomfield Road in the FA Cup on Saturday with his new club West Brom, only worked together for a year, but the 66-year-old still managed to leave a lasting impression.

“Sam signed me, it was him and Owen who sold me the club and where they wanted to take it,” Preece told The Gazette.

“It was quite a big decision for me at that point in my career because I had only had a year in the Premier League, but I was coming back to the level I had just come from with Stockport County. If I was going to move back down, I wanted it to be with a club that was looking to progress.

“Sam made a huge impression on me when we were talking about his ideas and what the club wanted to do, so I was happy to sign.”

Preece justified his price tag, ending the season as Pool’s joint top scorer alongside Tony Ellis with 14 goals.

“It was quite a big fee at the time, so there was a bit of pressure. I was brought in to score goals and be one of the key players to take the team up,” Preece added.

“There were a few others as well though, because they had also signed Andy Morrison and Tony Ellis who were brought in for significant fees.

“It was a strong squad, but there was that little bit of pressure. I think it took me a few games, maybe five or six, to score my first one but after that I had a good run from there.”

Allardyce, somewhat unfairly, has a reputation for being a traditional, old-fashioned manager - but Preece says that was far from being the case.

“I found him to be really good. He had lots of new ideas, like bringing the drinks in which I had never had before even coming from a Premier League club,” he continued.

“We didn’t have the shakes and getting the right food and nutrients into us after games, that was completely new back then.

“We also had lads come in to train us specifically for the fitness side of it, it wasn’t the manager which again was a new thing.

“Now everyone is doing this, which proves he was a bit of a pioneer in that way and we’ve seen that over the years at Bolton and other clubs.

“I had a spell out of the team, so he could be tough of course. At that point I think I had scored eight in 15 or 16 games, so a goal every two games, but he felt I wasn’t working hard enough so he left me out and you’d have to wait to get back in.

“He’d make tough decisions like that but you always knew where you stood, which was the biggest thing. There were no grey areas and you knew what you had to do to get back in the team.”

Allardyce’s gig at Bloomfield Road was his first full-time managerial role in England, having previously tasted success with Irish side Limerick.

Since leaving Blackpool, the former England boss has gone on to enjoy success with a host of Premier League sides, but Preece - now assistant manager with National League North side Chorley - believes it was too early back in 1995 to see Allardyce’s full potential.

“It’s always hard to say as it was still early days in his career,” the former striker said.

“But with the new ideas he had and how well organised our team was with set pieces and players knowing exactly where they should be, you knew he had something about him.

“We were a well-drilled and organised team, but we also had the freedom to play as well, which sometimes gets lost a little bit with Sam.

“He gets an unfair billing as a long-ball and prehistoric manager, but that’s just because he concentrates on the basics of football which every team needs to get right - your set pieces and organisation - but within that he allowed his teams to play.

“For most of that season we were scoring loads of goals and playing great football with some really good footballers, it was some of the best football I played in my career for definite.

“He was exactly the same at Bolton, where he did whatever it took to win a game. He wasn’t scared of changing it and all the best managers do that because you have to find a way to win a game of football.

“If it’s about getting behind the ball and being ugly, he’ll do it. If it’s about being expansive and passing, then he’s more than adept at doing that as well.

“I had no complaints with him at all, I learned a fair bit although it was only a year.”

Allardyce’s spell at Blackpool only lasted two years, despite the Seasiders sitting in an automatic promotion spot for much of his second season in charge.

But Pool threw it away at the last minute, missing out by a point to Oxford United before going on to crash out of the play-offs at the semi-final stage.

Despite beating Bradford City 2-0 at Valley Parade in the first leg, the Seasiders somehow transpired to lose the second leg on home turf 3-0.

“The lads blamed themselves for the way the season ended rather than Sam, we just didn’t score enough goals towards the end of the season,” Preece concluded.

“Sam might look back on it and reflect on the times when we weren’t scoring, so it was probably about getting a clean sheet and a point because we really were that close. We were looking like we could fall over the line.

“I just think there was a bit of bad luck with Oxford, who won 13, drew one and lost two of their last 16 games only to just pip us. That doesn’t happen very often.

“With how the play-offs went, it wasn’t a great end to his spell but I thought he had done enough in his first year to merit staying on.

“Had he kept the squad together, considering we came so close and being as hurt as we were, I felt we probably would have gone up the next year but the club obviously decided to make a change.”

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