Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce says people skills hold key to success
Friday 30 October 2015 15:35, UK
Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce says good man-management will be the key to turning the club's fortunes around.
Allardyce led his side to a 3-0 derby defeat of Newcastle last week in his second game in charge after replacing Dick Advocaat, a result that took them off the bottom of the Premier League table.
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The 61-year-old takes Sunderland to Everton this weekend as part of Sky Sports' Super Sunday bill and says he will call on a wealth of experience gained in 42 years as a player and manager to continue the revival.
"My style is man-management, one of my greatest strengths is having good people skills," he said.
"A private conversation is very important in the early part of a new manager coming into a club, for the player to understand you a little bit more and for you to understand him.
"It's really about how life is here in Sunderland at the moment and if there is anything we can do better, not just at the training ground but away from there as well.
"If you want the feel-good factor and you really want the player to play to his maximum, week in, week out, with the pressures they are under today, he has to be comfortable with his family [life] to produce his best performance."
Allardyce is hoping striker Steve Fletcher will be benefit from this holistic approach and find the goals that will steer Sunderland clear of the relegation zone.
"Steve's like every centre-forward in the end. His hold-up play is very important to you because you can build off that - that in itself allows you to keep hold of possession a lot better - but ultimately in the end, you are judged on the number of goals you score," added Allardyce.
"The more and more goals he scores, the more people will say Steven Fletcher is back to his best. In his position, it is one of the biggest challenges of his career because he is out of contract.
"When a player is out of contract and the club is in this position, I just want to see a player like Steven go out to help us to get where we want to get.
"Then everyone gets what they want - a new contract, we are okay in the Premier League and we try to move forward from there. It should be his target."
