The less said about Sam Allardyce’s time with Leeds United, the better.
Big Sam came in at the close of the 2022/23 season, with only four games remaining and the daunting challenge of saving Leeds from relegation.
Ultimately, it was too late for Allardyce to make a difference at Elland Road, but, in typical Allardyce manner, he made some significant decisions during that time.
Allardyce made no use of Georginio Rutter during his tenure as Leeds manager, despite the fact that Rutter had only joined the club for £35 million a few weeks earlier.
Leeds fans were understandably perplexed as to why Rutter was not playing, and Allardyce has now revealed why he avoided the Frenchman on the Under the Cosh Podcast.
Why didn’t Sam Allardyce utilize Georginio Rutter?
Simply put, Allardyce did not believe Rutter was good enough when he was at Leeds.
“I’d love to ask about Rutter, why you didn’t play Rutter?” Allardyce was sacked.
“He wasn’t good enough,” Allardyce explained.
“That’s answered, but he’s just moved to Brighton for £40 million,” the presenter responded.
“I couldn’t believe how much they spent for him. Under those conditions, he was too young. Coming in and playing for a struggling Premier League team at such a young age was a lot to ask,” Allardyce said.
Georginio Rutter had a bad start in Leeds.
Georginio Rutter was, of course, one of Leeds’ best players last season, and he has earned a big-money move to Brighton.
However, we must remember how awful Rutter was when he initially arrived at Leeds.
After joining from Hoffenheim, he did not score a single goal that season and appeared entirely out of his depth.
The reality is that with four games to spare, you can’t afford to waste time on a player who is struggling to adjust.
Allardyce may have underestimated Rutter’s overall ability at the time, but you can’t really blame him for leaving him out of those four games.
