Allardyce has praised Sammy Lee’s influence
Sam Allardyce has praised assistant and former Liverpool player Sammy Lee, highlighting his importance as the pair aim for success.
Allardyce and Lee have worked together at a number of clubs in the past, and the new Everton boss didn’t hesitate to bring his long-term parter with him to Goodison Park in November.
Lee’s appointment initially caused outrage among the Everton fanbase, with the former midfielder being heavily tied to their city rivals Liverpool.
Lee was assistant manager at Liverpool under Roy Hodgson, had a stint as caretaker manager in 2008 and made almost 200 league appearances for the Reds’ between 1976 and 1986.
Despite this, Lee’s vocal and active touchline demeanour has helped ease Evertonians worries, with many having now taken to the 58-year old now.
With Everton now unbeaten in five (four in the league), Allardyce revealed just how much Lee does to help him on a personal level. He said;
He’s (Sammy Lee) passionate every day, he’s never miserable and of course he’s got a huge amount of experience in this position.
He’s a great buffer for me and takes a lot of pressure off my shoulders for me to do my job and everyone else to do theirs to the best of their ability.
We’ve become a good partnership for many years over many different clubs now, this one being the biggest one I’ve had.
Sammy alongside me will use his experience to help this club get better and better as long as we’re together.
Hopefully we can bring success to Everton as quickly as we possibly can.
Everton have moved up to tenth under Allardyce’s stewardship, and will next play bottom of the table Swansea on Monday night.