Renowned relegation fighter Sam Allardyce admits Huddersfield’s predicament at the bottom of the Premier League is too bleak for even him to tackle.
The 64-year-old has gained a reputation for saving relegation-threatened clubs from the drop, but believes rescuing the Terriers from their perilous position eight points adrift of safety is beyond his powers.
“They are rock bottom of the Premier League and I don’t think I could change that situation, so for me it is not the right match. It is not the job for me,” Allardyce, who was the bookmakers’ favourite, told Sky Sports News.
“Huddersfield haven’t got enough goals to get them out of trouble. That has been the one failing.
“No club has got out of such trouble after so few points after this many games.”
Manager David Wagner left by mutual consent on Monday after the German admitted he needed a break from the rigours of the battle to keep Huddersfield up against the odds.
👏 Thank you for the memories, David.#htafc (AT) pic.twitter.com/SAkD1Ll5tl — Huddersfield Town (@htafcdotcom) January 14, 2019
The German led the club to promotion through the play-offs in 2017, despite them finishing the season with a negative goal difference, and then, with the smallest budget in the top flight, defied expectations to keep them up.
Allardyce believes the club have ridden all their luck now and should be planning for a return to the SkyBet Championship.
“For me, and I know the fans won’t want to hear this, it’s got to be about planning for relegation and then planning to get back into the Premier League,” he added on talkSPORT.
“Huddersfield’s trouble is not their performances, it’s a lack of goals and we all know what it means when you have a goalscorer.
“I’ve watched a lot of their games and they’ve always been very close, they’re never been thrashed really, but because of the lack of quality in front of goal they’ve ended up drawing instead of winning and losing instead of drawing.
“They’ve only scored 13 goals in 22 matches and, while I’ve managed to pull teams out of the bottom end, at Sunderland I had Jermain Defoe scoring 18 and at Crystal Palace I had Christian Benteke who scored 15 goals.”
