Sam Allardyce says his side ‘shot themselves in the foot’ in Newcastle draw and ‘should have won’

Smiling has been one of Big Sam’s big things since arriving at Leeds. 

He beamed at Pep Guardiola in defeat at Manchester City, grinned for the BT Sport cameras before Saturday’s home debut with Newcastle whilst skipper Luke Ayling resembled a Cheshire Cat when he led his players out at a noisy Elland Road.

Insiders say the mood at the training ground hasn’t been lighter for years. Whatever Marcelo Bielsa’s strengths, stand-up comedy wasn’t one of them.

It would be easy to sniff at Allardyce’s style of man-management in the modern era and a points collection so far of one in six leaves the Yorkshire club in big relegation trouble.

But the supporters have grasped the nettle. They cheered their players off at full-time against Newcastle despite missing out on the win that would have taken them out of the relegation zone.

Sam Allardyce believes his Leeds side ‘should have won against Newcastle’ on Saturday 

Leeds came back to rescue a 2-2 draw in the 79th minute of the match at Elland Road

Rasmus Kristensen’s deflected goal could prove vital in Leeds’ hopes of staying up this season 

The players found solace in fighting back from 2-1 down to salvage a point and their remaining two fixtures are against West Ham and Spurs, teams who haven’t set the Premier League alight this season. 

Allardyce was fuming again about individual defensive lapses – a story of Leeds’ season – but for the most part is still working on the basis of half glass-full.

‘It should have been a victory for us with the spirit and commitment we showed,’ he said after a topsy-turvy game that saw them lead 1-0, miss a penalty, trail 2-1 and then level through Rasmus Kristensen before holding on with 10 men following Junior Firpo’s red card.

‘If we’d gone 2-0 up and not given away two silly penalties we would have won. But the way we stayed in the game was very good.

‘We have shot ourselves in the foot quite often but also we showed enough to say if we cut out the mistakes we can get three points in our next games.

‘We were playing third in the League and should have won it. Our fault but we defended exceptionally well at the end and made sure we got a draw, because we could easily have lost the game then.’

Even Allardyce’s friends call him Red Adair after successful relegation campaigns with Crystal Palace, Everton and Sunderland.

Allardyce lauded his team but criticised individual mistakes claiming ‘we have shot ourselves in the foot’

Callum Wilson (right) scored twice from the penalty spot to give Newcastle the lead twice

Some of the gloss was removed when he failed last time with West Brom but the 68-year-old still has an ego that makes him desperately want to keep Leeds up.

His tactical innovation against Newcastle, using Robin Koch as a holding midfielder to protect the back-four, largely worked well.

‘It is my job to do that,’ he said. ‘Robin has the defensive nous to stop the opposition, and ability to make play happen so he was a terrific asset.’

Also spot on, was the decision to bring on Adam Forshaw at half-time to add midfield composure. 

‘It allowed us to push Weston McKennie further forward.

‘We’re finding out these things all the time. I have to do it as quick as I can because time is running out but 2-2 in the end is satisfying.

‘I hope it goes to the wire and we can play Tottenham on the last day with something in it for us. We have to keep our fingers crossed Everton don’t win tomorrow, or Leicester on Thursday.

‘We are near that position of “let’s hope they slip up.” All we can do is what we did today and do it better.

Allardyce also lauded his striker Patrick Bamford (right) who missed a penalty in the match 

Allardyce also lauded his goalkeeper Joel Robles (pictured) calling his performance ‘excellent’

Allardyce, who joked he need Valium after all the thrills and spills, wanted to leave on a positive note, even for Patrick Bamford who has scored only four league goals all season and missed the key penalty against Nick Pope.

‘What the lads did for me and rest of the backroom staff and the fans and themselves gave me some hope going forward,’ he enthused.

‘They tried their very best and I can’t ask any more than that. The crowd were wonderful. I’ve been coming here as a player and manager for many years so I knew that. We needed them and they stuck with us. I have to point out my goalie too [Joel Robles] who was excellent.

‘I thought we had 11 leaders today. Patrick was good. He was holding the ball up. He got the cross in for the goal. Hopefully, like everyone, he will get better next week and better again.’