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New West Brom head coach Sam Allardyce says his friends call him ‘Red Adair’ in honor of the famous firefighter as he embarks on another Premier League rescue mission.
The former England manager has built a reputation for getting teams out of relegation trouble in recent years.
He did it at Sunderland and Crystal Palace after midseason arrivals.
The 66-year-old also stabilized Everton as his 2017-18 season threatened to spiral out of control.
He has now succeeded the sacked Slaven Bilic at West Brom, who is second to last and has won just one game all season – against bottom line Sheffield United.
“I have already received text messages from my colleagues calling me Red Adair,” he said. “I can’t get away from that label.”
Paul “Red” Adair, who died in 2004, gained fame for fighting major oil well fires around the world.
Two and a half years have passed since Allardyce left Everton and he has not returned since.
“I’m hungrier than ever and I’ve never had such a long break,” he said.
“I’ve never felt so refreshed and anxious. I missed him so much. This break was so long that I had a lot of pent-up energy, and I need to expend it.
“I’ve been addicted to soccer since I was 15. I thought I’d figured it out after two years, but I mentioned to my wife that I was feeling an itch and she said she could see for months that I was getting a bit restless.
“Those are the stimuli you need. It gives you energy. It makes you feel valuable as a person. When you are used to the level of scrutiny that I have had as a manager for all those years, it is embedded in your DNA.
“I’ve talked to Sammy Lee on several occasions and have told him how bored we are.”
Lee has joined Allardyce at The Hawthorns, having previously worked with him at Bolton, Sunderland, Palace and during his ill-fated 67-day stint in charge of England.
West Brom head coach Luke Dowling said the club has taken no chances by hiring Allardyce, whose appointment was confirmed four hours after Bilic was fired – a decision many feel was harsh given the players he had with. to work.
“This is Sam’s eighth club and he’s been successful in every one of them,” Dowling said. “We do not anticipate any change in that.
“Does our team lack Premier League experience? Yes. But Sam will have looked at the team before agreeing to come. If he thought we needed massive changes, I’m sure he wouldn’t be here.”
“I’m sure he thinks he has something to work with, which gives us confidence as a club. We also believe in the players.”
Allardyce’s first game in charge will be a home derby with Aston Villa at The Hawthorns on Sunday.
It means that Allardyce, who started his coaching career at West Brom with Brian Talbot in 1989, has three training sessions to work with his players.
“I do remember my first session. I was the substitute and I was still a player. I was a bag of nerves. I had the great challenge of whether I could go from being a player to being a coach,” he said.
“I asked Brian the day before how many players he would have. He said 16. That’s what I planned. Then the next morning he told me he only had nine because he was keeping the rest.
“That was being thrown in the background. My planned session went out the window because I was only nine and most of them were pretty cut because they weren’t with the first team.
“However, it was good. It taught me to think on my feet.”
