Sunderland put themselves in safe hands under Sam Allardyce

Sunderland fans left the Stadium of Light on Sunday afternoon exuding a confidence rarely seen in recent memory. New manager Sam Allardyce beamed as he gave his post-match interviews and players hailed the difference in atmosphere since the managerial change.

It was a fantastic result but it is easy to get carried away, as Sunderland fans know all too well. The last three managers have lost their first game in charge and then won the Wear-Tyne derby. The performance itself was not convincing; the home side could just as easily have lost the game if Newcastle had been able to take the chances gifted them in the first half. On top of that, Sunderland also have fresh injury concerns; Younes Kaboul, John O’Shea and Ola Toivenen all picked up knocks at the weekend and join Fabio Borini and Jack Rodwell in a bid to find fitness before the trip to Everton on Sunday.

Allardyce is aware of the challenges and he has come to the rescue before in his career. Bolton were in the bottom half of the old First Division when Big Sam took over and he led them into the Premier League and into the Uefa Cup. He took the Blackburn job with Rovers bottom of the Premier League and managed to keep them up but was sacked early into the next season with Blackburn mid-table. At West Ham, Allardyce led the team to promotion from the Championship and consistently achieved safety in his three Premier League seasons there. It is interesting to mention that, West Ham aside, all of Allardyce’s former sides have been relegated since his tenure.

The fixtures have been kind to Allardyce as he begins his latest rescue mission. Trips to Everton and Crystal Palace are interspersed with home matches against Southampton and Stoke, before a tough December which includes Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool. However he will be hoping that by that point, the table makes for kinder reading.

His tactics have come under fire numerous times in the past and, at their worst, Allardyce teams can be both boring and frustrating to watch. However at their best, and with the right players, Allardyce has shown he can play fast attacking football. He did it with Bolton many years ago, and in spells with West Ham. The ‘long ball’ tag is one that is slightly unfair; his brand of football varies from game to game, and by no means always entertaining. But Allardyce believes the buck stops with results.

He wants to play attacking football where he can, but without the adequate players at his disposal, or coming up against a superior footballing team, it is a straight choice between losing with style and winning without. That is an easy decision for Allardyce.

At last, Sunderland have landed a manager that can offer some stability. The club have employed eight managers in the last seven years, and have only finished in the top 10 once since they returned to the Premier League in 2008, under Steve Bruce in 2010-11.

Most pertinently, Allardyce has never left a club in a lower position than when he started. Chairman Ellis Short said it was ‘the obvious best choice’. Big Sam now has the best part of season to turn the fortunes around at the Stadium of Light, and Short couldn’t have found a safer choice for the job.