Ally McCoist has claimed that Leeds United would rather have Sam Allardyce as manager in their battle to avoid relegation over Pep Guardiola or Mikel Arteta.
During his first official press conference as interim head coach, Allardyce told the media that there is no other coach in world football better than him when it comes to his level of knowledge for the game.
"Far too many people think that that I am old and antiquated which is not fair," he said. "So far from the truth. I might be 68 and look old. There’s nobody ahead of me in football terms.
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"Not Pep [Guardiola], not [Jurgen] Klopp, not [Mikel] Arteta. They do what they do, I do what I do. But in terms of depth of knowledge, I am up there with them. I am not saying I am better than them, but I am as good as them.”
The comments raised eyebrows around the footballing world and despite many taking them with a pinch of salt, McCoist believes Allardyce's claim has some substance to it.
“He’s well within his rights to say that,” McCoist told talkSPORT. “And I’ve got to say, I think Guardiola is a genius and I think Arteta is well on the road to building a fantastic side at Arsenal.
“However, I if I was Leeds right now and I was offered one of the three of them [Guardiola, Arteta and Allardyce] to get my team to stay up – it probably would be Sam.”
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