If all you consider is *what* Sam Allardyce did at Everton, then you can make a case that sacking him is harsh. If you consider *how* he did it, then you really can't. And in that there is quite an important parable for everyone below the top six.
He was brought in to keep them up. He did (though he didn't really need to: THEY WEREN'T GOING TO GET RELEGATED). He got them to 8th. He beat Liverpool on aggregate. He won the 2nd half against City. Boxes ticked, job done.
That's the what, but the how is damning. Not just the football - some people like stultifying football devoid of all invention and belief - but the manner, how he carried himself, how he envisioned what Everton is to the people who are Everton.
He gave the impression he had made no attempt to understand the culture of the club. He dismissed the fans' complaints as ingratitude, as though they were lucky to have him. He made it seem his reputation was what mattered most, not the club's, like an Aldi Mourinho.
They might have drawn twice with Liverpool - and that is creditable - but that isn't enough for Everton when it looks like you're frightened of your biggest rivals. That's surrender, not strategy. That's not what derbies are meant to be about.
The parable is that for the 'other' 14, when you know you won't win anything and probably won't get into Europe, how matters as much as what. If a club isn't going to be successful, it increasingly HAS to be entertaining. It has to have an identity, to stand for something.
It can't just exist to exist: you don't sell season tickets on the promise of stasis. That's especially true of Everton - the 4th most successful club in England - but it's true of others, too. Just hoping to survive is not sustainable long-term. You have to try.
