‘Completely deluded’: Journalist saw Sam Allardyce do something ‘strange’ at Elland Road on Sunday

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The Times’ Alyson Rudd has noted that some of Sam Allardyce’s behaviour at Elland Road on Sunday was very strange.

Speaking on The Game Football Podcast, Rudd spoke about her experience of covering Leeds’ final game of the season at Elland Road, and after praising the fans she touched on how Allardyce behaved during the game.

Watching from the press box, Rudd’s eye was often drawn towards Allardyce, and she stated that the Leeds boss looked like a man who was totally deluded about what was happening and his team’s chances of staying in the Premier League.

Allardyce’s touchline antics

Rudd shared what she saw Allardyce doing.

“It was a very strange day. The fans did their bit, the atmosphere was fantastic. There was electricity in the air, but if you just watched Sam Allardyce on the touchline it was peculiar. He looked like a man who was completely deluded. He looked like he thought he was going to do it. He would exaggerate his dismay at the misses. He would roll around and he over celebrated the goal Leeds did score. He would throw his chewing gum on the floor, it was strange,” Rudd said.

Live in hope

Allardyce may have been a bit over the top with his reactions to the game, but if he didn’t look engaged on the touchline, how would his players have felt?

Yes, Leeds were fighting an uphill battle on Sunday, but the last thing a manager should ever do is resign themselves and their team to defeat.

Allardyce kicked every ball right until the very end, and while he may have looked a bit foolish with his reactions, it was probably just an attempt to get one final push out of his squad.

Sadly, it didn’t work and Allardyce’s time at Leeds will have to be classified as a failure.