SAM ALLARDYCE has hit out at Roy Keane after the Manchester United legend made a jibe about his “ego”.
The 68-year-old left Leeds yesterday after failing to keep them in the Premier League.
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When Leeds’ relegation was confirmed, pundit Keane claimed that Allardyce wouldn’t stay with them in the second tier.
He said: “I can’t imagine Big Sam wanting to go back to the Championship. Not with his ego.”
Following Allardyce’s 25-day Elland Road reign, the former England boss went on William Hill’s No Tippy Tappy Football to discuss his short stint with the Yorkshire side.
Addressing Keane’s comments, he said: “You mean my ego is bigger than Roy’s? There’s nobody with a bigger ego than Roy. That’s some statement coming from him.
“He mistakes ego for experience and confidence, and the ability to do the job, which was much better than Roy did [as a manager] wasn’t it?
“I managed in the Championship at Bolton where we got in the play-offs and got into the Premier League in 2001.
“I did what I’ve done at Leeds with West Ham where I was there in the first year where we got relegated and then got back into the Premier League through the play-offs, and that was a lot of work.”
Keane, 51, managed Sunderland to the Championship title in the 2006-07 season, before later going on to manage Ipswich.
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Since leaving Portman Road in 2011, the Irishman has not held a managerial position – although he has been a No2 at Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and the Republic of Ireland.
When he was appointed by Leeds, Allardyce claimed to be “up there with” Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta in “football terms”.
He said: “Far too many people think I am old and antiquated, which is so far from the truth.
“I might be 68 and look old but there’s nobody ahead of me in football terms.
“Not Pep, not Klopp, not Arteta. It’s all there with me. They do what they do, I do what I do.
“But in terms of knowledge and depth of knowledge, I’m up there with them.
“I’m not saying I’m better than them, but certainly as good as they are.”
Leeds failed to win any of Allardyce’s four matches in charge, with his miserable stint culminating in a 4-1 home defeat to a Tottenham side that had not won away from London since before the World Cup.
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