Sam Allardyce’s return to the Premier League has caused quite a stir, having been appointed Leeds United manager until the end of the season.

The former England boss has been out of work since leaving West Bromwich Albion in 2021, but will now try to save the Whites from Premier League relegation with only four games of the campaign remaining.

That includes a visit to Manchester City in Gameweek 35, then home games against Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur as well as a trip to West Ham United.

Over the years, Allardyce has a proven record for avoiding relegation, but what does his appointment mean for Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers?

Our Scout Report takes a closer look.

WHY WAS GRACIA SACKED?

Javi Gracia was sacked by Leeds after only 10 weeks and 12 matches in charge, with his final game a 4-1 defeat at Bournemouth in Gameweek 34.

It was the latest heavy loss under the former Watford manager, following 6-1, 5-1 and 4-1 thrashings by Liverpool, Crystal Palace and Arsenal respectively last month. In fact, the 23 goals they conceded in April is a new Premier League record.

As a result, Leeds are without a win in five and only sit outside the relegation zone on goal difference.

ALLARDYCE: “I’M AS GOOD AS PEP AND KLOPP”

In his first press conference, Allardyce came out fighting, launching a passionate defence of his managerial ability.

“Far too many people think that I’m old and antiquated, which is so far from the truth. I may be 68 and look old but there’s nobody ahead of me in football terms. Not Pep, not Klopp, not Arteta. It’s all there with me, and I shared it with them. They do what they do. I do what I do. But in terms of knowledge, and depth of knowledge, I’m up there with them.

“I’m not saying I’m better than them but certainly as good as they are. I just wish that sometimes you can get the opportunity that you can show it. But that’s never going to happen for me now, apart from [aiming to] keep Leeds up, and if I stayed at Leeds, [hoping] this club was big enough to build a team that was going to challenge those boys eventually, but that’s a long story away.” – Sam Allardyce

A STRONG STARTER?

In the Premier League, Allardyce has previously managed Bolton Wanderers, Newcastle United, Blackburn Rovers, West Ham United, Sunderland, Crystal Palace, Everton and West Brom.

In that time, Allardyce’s teams have played in the Premier League in 17 seasons and only been relegated on one occasion, which was during his most recent stint at the Hawthorns.

Still, it was in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and because of the rules designed to slow the spread of the virus, clubs could not operate as they would normally have been able to.

Allardyce doesn’t have much time to instil his methods at Leeds and has a decidedly mixed opening four-match record at his most recent clubs. Worryingly, he will take just three training sessions before Saturday’s trip to Man City.

Allardyce’s all-time Premier League managerial record currently stands at 537 matches, with a 33%-win percentage and an average of 1.26 points per game.

MANAGERIAL STYLE

Tactics might be largely irrelevant with just four games to go, but Allardyce mainly used a 4-1-4-1 formation at West Brom, with a defensive midfielder (Okay Yokuslu) sitting in behind two number eights (Conor Gallagher and Ainsley Maitland-Niles).

He did, however, flirt with 4-2-3-1 – Leeds’ go-to formation this season – and 5-4-1 systems.

At Leeds, we can expect a focus on defence, with a direct approach, placing emphasis on set pieces and crosses into the box. Indeed, Allardyce has already suggested Leeds are good enough going forward but need tightening up at the back.

“There is not a problem with Leeds in possession, but there is a massive problem off it. If they want to stay up, they have to stop conceding. We have to cope out of possession. We need a pattern, a system and style of play to say: this is how we stop the opposition. You can then get more possession higher up the field and attack them. You get two benefits: stop the goals going in and get more opportunities to score goals.” – Sam Allardyce

“It was about confidence. It was clear to him we weren’t playing with confidence. That was the first thing he wanted to address, and the other thing is tactically being organised, defending, and not conceding as many goals. Those were the first two things he said and we stripped everything back to basics.” – Jack Harrison

THE PROSPECTS

“His natural charisma and characteristics, and of his staff, brings a lot of energy into the training sessions and even in the building. It’s given a little bit of lift to the team and even just having that presence has given us a bit of confidence.” – Jack Harrison

Leeds sit second-bottom of our Season Ticker from Gameweeks 35-38 and have one of the worst runs of fixtures among the sides at the bottom of the table. Three of their remaining opponents sit in the top half, meaning Allardyce has a huge task ahead to make sure they avoid the drop.

He needs to make an immediate impact, too, but Leeds’ underlying defensive numbers since the restart are alarming, which suggests we should continue to target them, rather than actively look to bring their assets in.

The data certainly points towards Erling Haaland (£12.4m) and Alexander Isak (£6.9m)/Callum Wilson (£7.0m) as our next two captains, in Gameweeks 35 and 36 respectively, with a final-day punt on Harry Kane (£11.4m) or Son Heung-min (£11.5m) not out of the question either.

Further forward, Leeds do possess the right profile of player for counter-attacking football, with Wilfried Gnonto’s (£4.7m) pace in wide areas and Patrick Bamford’s (£7.1m) ability to hold the ball up key ingredients.

The latter has started the last two games and has been involved in three goals in his last four outings. Previously, he’s also been the Whites’ main penalty-taker.

It’s also worth noting Allardyce has already picked out both Bamford and Gnonto as key players.

“Well, I want Patrick Bamford to be on top form, because I think he’s a key player in terms of holding the ball up and being able to get up the pitch, and him to score goals. Give him the opportunity to score goals. Hopefully he stays fit and he becomes a key player.” – Sam Allardyce

That suggests Bamford will be the central striker, with Gnonto potentially flanking him – Allardyce recently revealed on his podcast that the Italian should be starting, having fallen out of favour under Javi Gracia.

So, if you need a sub-£5.0m forward for the run-in, he might be one to consider, knowing he’ll have plenty of space to exploit on the counter.

Elsewhere, Jack Harrison (£5.7m) is Leeds’ top points scorer in FPL this season, with 120. However, it’s nigh-on impossible to fit him in, given the appeal of the cheap Brighton midfielders.

Double Gameweek players probably need to be prioritised by FPL managers right now, meaning Allardyce will really have to hit the ground running for Leeds’ assets to be considered during the run-in. That’s unlikely, but not impossible.

“It’s a nice easy one on Saturday. But it has been done. Brentford did it. Brentford won there (last November). Shocks do happen.

“It’s a hard challenge, but somebody had to do it. I’d have liked it to have longer. We need to pull off a surprise win from somewhere.” – Sam Allardyce

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