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Allardyce recalls ordeal after being sacked as England boss

Allardyce reveals how low he felt in the aftermath of his England sacking

WATFORD CRYSTAL PALACE

Sam Allardyce says he has emerged from one of the "darkest moments" of his career after losing the England manager's job.

Allardyce stood down from his dream role in September, just 67 days after taking up the position, following ill-advised comments while in conversation with undercover reporters in a newspaper sting.

The 62-year-old is now back in management three months later with Crystal Palace, having signed a two-and-a-half-year deal on Friday.

And in an interview with Sky Sports, Allardyce has described just how low he felt in the aftermath of his sensational departure from the England job.

"The first four weeks were something that was one of the darkest moments in my career, certainly the early reaction which was a bit hysterical to say the least, looking back on it," he said.

"I'm talking about me and my wife and my family, we all had to deal with that problem - my children, my grandchildren at school.

"But, eventually, time passes by, you overcome those adversities and you move on. Moving on for me is taking this job."

Allardyce has replaced Alan Pardew at Selhurst Park and been handed the task of keeping Palace in the Premier League.

The former Bolton, Blackburn, Newcastle and West Ham chief took his first training session on Saturday morning, ahead of his first match at Watford on Boxing Day tonight.

The Eagles are currently one point above the relegation zone having won just once in their last 11 matches.

Eventually, time passes by, you overcome those adversities and you move on. Moving on for me is taking this job.Newly appointed Crystal Palace manager Sam Allardyce, on dealing with the aftermath of his sacking as England boss

ESCAPE ARTIST

Yet the situation is nothing new to Allardyce, who has never been relegated from the Premier League.

Allardyce, who has also become the first manager to handle a sixth EPL club, has a reputation of being an escape artist, after helping Bolton, Blackburn Rovers and, most recently, Sunderland survive the drop.

Last October, he took over a Sunderland side lying in 19th place with just three points from their first eight games.

  • Sam Allardyce has become the first manager to handle a sixth EPL club, following stints with Bolton, Blackburn, Newcastle, West Ham and Sunderland. He has not been relegated with any of them.

However, the Black Cats eventually finished two points clear of the relegation zone, placing just above arch-rivals Newcastle United.

And Allardyce insists Palace are in better shape than the Black Cats were last year.

"You've got to do it, it's part of the quick process to try to turn around a difficult situation at the moment," he added.

"It's not as difficult as the position Sunderland were in, I don't think."

Plugging the leaks in Palace's porous defence will be the priority for Allardyce.

"We have a very important job of stopping the goals going in at the other end," he said in a video on Palace's website.

"Attacking players when you are in possession are fantastic this season.

"The strengthening in that area by the club and by Alan has brought a lot of flair to the team and I think that has brought quite a lot more goals.

"But the other side is that, when we are not in possession, we have got to stop conceding and make sure that those goals we score win us games.

"It sounds simple but it's not that easy."

Allardyce is hoping to bolster the squad by signing some players in next month's transfer window. Sunderland's Lamine Kone is one player that has been linked.

"We are certainly trying to make the squad a bit bigger with more strength in depth," he said.

"The players here are good enough but, if we can add to that, let's try and do it." - WIRE SERVICES

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