Sam Allardyce Steps Down As Manager Of Crystal Palace

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Sam Allardyce Steps Down As Manager Of Crystal Palace 

Post#1 » by RealGM Wiretap » Wed May 24, 2017 3:25 pm

Sam Allardyce has surprisingly stepped down as manager of Crystal Palace.

Allardyce only signed a contract through to 2019 at Selhurst Park just before Christmas.

Allardyce was due a bonus of around £2 million for keeping the club in the Premier League.

“In some ways this has been a very difficult decision to make, but in others it has been a simple one,” he said in a statement released on Tuesday evening. “I will always be grateful to Crystal Palace and Steve Parish for giving me the opportunity to go out with my head held high having helped keep the club in the Premier League. More than that, they gave me a chance of rebuilding my reputation after what happened with England. I felt I needed another shot at being a Premier League manager and Palace gave me the chance of rehabilitation.

“That’s why it’s hard walking away now. I think the club are heading in the right direction with a hugely supportive board of directors, a great squad of players and some of the most passionate fans I’ve ever met. It’s been a privilege to have worked here for the past five months. But there comes a time when you have to take stock of what direction you want your life to take, and that’s been the simple part for me.

“I want to be able to savour life while I’m still relatively young and when I’m still relatively healthy enough to do all the things I want to do, like travel and spend more time with my family and grandchildren without the huge pressure that comes with being a football manager. This is the right time for me. I have no ambitions to take another job. I simply want to be able to enjoy all the things you cannot really enjoy with the 24/7 demands of managing any football club, let alone one in the Premier League.”

Via Dominic Fifield/The Guardian

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