Sam Allardyce: From Relegation Hero to England’s Fall Guy - What It Taught Me

The High Performance Podcast

High Performance

Sports, Self-improvement, Mindset, Growth Mindset, Health & Fitness, Non-negotiables, Education, Life Lessons, High Performance

4.8 • 4.7K Ratings

🗓️ 16 June 2025

⏱️ 84 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Sam Allardyce is one of English football’s most seasoned and straight-talking managers, known as much for his no-nonsense attitude as for his deep understanding of the game. With a career spanning decades, he’s led clubs like Bolton, West Ham, and Everton, and even had a brief but infamous spell as England manager.

In this episode, Big Sam opens up about what it really takes to build a football club from the ground up. From keeping your job long enough to make lasting changes, to scouting better players and improving performance fast, he lays out the reality of trying to grow while constantly under pressure.

He also reflects on his time in charge of England and the regret over how that chapter ended, showing a more reflective and human side to his story. The conversation also dives into Allardyce’s more forward-thinking strategies, like bringing cryotherapy into football before it was cool, and using player data to back up tough decisions.

This episode offers an honest, behind-the-scenes look at what football management is really like, tough, complex, and full of lessons you won’t find in a textbook.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Don't forget next week's episodes are available early, exclusively on the high performance app.
0:05.2	Out now, England International and Newcastle United Defender, Dan Byrne.
0:10.8	If you don't know your strengths and your weaknesses, you're going to struggle.
0:14.6	And don't forget to use your strengths to the maximum and cover your weaknesses.
0:18.8	The press followed us all over for ages, wrote headlines,
0:23.2	completely fabricated headlines, day after day, after day, after day, whenever England play,
0:29.5	there's a nagging in the back of the back of the head. And that's where you always think,
0:36.4	what if? Only 19 people in history have been asked to manage the
0:42.0	England football team and that man Sam aladdin was one of them and 67 days later the job was
0:48.7	no longer his in today's episode you'll hear what it really felt like being asked to lead his country
0:53.9	and he opens up about the depression that followed his departure look this In today's episode, you'll hear what it really felt like being asked to lead his country,
0:57.6	and he opens up about the depression that followed his departure.
1:00.4	Look, this show isn't about the headlines, it isn't about the speculation.
1:05.2	This is the truth from the man who was at the centre of a global story.
1:10.7	And also in this intriguing episode, we talk about the price of being in the public eye, the toll it takes
1:12.0	on your family, and we learn how you keep going when it seems like the whole world has turned
1:16.8	against you. What I found particularly intriguing was Sam taking us behind the curtain to understand
1:22.5	how you deal with the pressure of a relegation scrap. Look, remember that Sam has taken charge of almost
1:28.4	550 Premier League games. He's faced the highs and the lows of football for more than two
1:33.0	decades. And yeah, I know he's earned a reputation as a firefighter for clubs in crisis. Yet,
1:38.1	he is so much more than that. Before we dive in, please hit follow on Apple or Spotify, so you're
1:44.0	never miss an episode and help us bring you more stories like this. Before we dive in, please hit follow on Apple or Spotify, so you're never miss an episode
	...

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