Why was Sam Allardyce fired? Politics aside, his record merited a “wait-and-see”.

Allardyce’s record

Teams Games Wins Draws Defeats Win % points per game points per season
Newcastle United 21 7 5 9 33% 1.24 47.04
Bolton Wanderers 226 80 66 80 35% 1.35 51.45

Let’s put this into perspective. Allardyce averaged 1.2 points per game with Newcastle – a season average of 47. Since the Premiership was reduced to 20 clubs, no team has been relegated with more than 42 points. The average points gained by the top of the relegation zone is 36.4. So Big Sam was not going down. His points per game was better with Bolton, but it was early days at Newcastle. they hired a mid-table manager. They got a mid-table manager. Firing him is a mystery.

Some good stats on the Telegraph‘s site on this. I’ve just added my own extra stats.