Sam Allardyce had a playing career that spanned 19 years before he embarked on management. He spent 10 years - starting with a player/coach job at West Brom in 1989 - moving around various lower league teams. His first great success came when he won promotion to the Second Division with Notts County in 1998. After this he joined Bolton and in his first 6 months at the club he took them from the bottom half of the Championship to the play-off semi final. In his second year the club secured promotion to the Premier League. After two difficult seasons in the top division Bolton finished 8th in the third and lost in the final of the Carling Cup. He then led the club to UEFA cup places in the next two seasons. He joined Newcastle in 2007 but only for a short spell and then moved on to Blackburn in 2008 leading the club to a 15th place finish.
Sam Allardyce is hoping that the testimony of Olympic gold medallist Mark Hunter will help inspire his players to turn promotion dreams into reality... more
New owners the Venky's Group announced they had dispensed with the former Bolton boss' services despite Rovers sitting relatively comfortably the Premier League... more
Blackburn chairman John Williams has warned rival clubs they will strongly resist all attempts to lure manager Sam Allardyce away from Ewood Park... more
Sam Allardyce is hoping Yildiray Basturk can do for Blackburn what many of his other transfer bargains did for Bolton during his time at the Reebok Stadium... more
Sam Allardyce is confident Blackburn will avoid being involved in a relegation battle if they maintain the form they showed against Aston Villa in the Carling Cup semi-final... more
Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce has resigned himself to losing defender Stephen Warnock but he insists the player will only be allowed to leave for the right price... more
Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce immediately turned his attention back to the Premier League after avoiding an FA Cup third-round shock at Blyth last night... more
Sam Allardyce is renowned for his use of psychologists and scientific techniques in training to get the best out of his players, a technique he reportedly learned when playing in Florida with the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Sam is also known by the nickname ‘Big Sam.’
His Bolton Wanderers side became infamous for their physical approach to the game, which became so crucial to their success.
Sound check: German industrial metal band Rammstein literally play with fire in their live performances - and now they are about to unleash their singeing spectacle on London. Watch out for your eyebrows
Tonight:
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