West Brom: Sam Allardyce likened to firefighter as he aims to avoid relegation again

New West Brom head coach Sam Allardyce says his friends are calling him 'Red Adair' after the famous firefighter as he embarks on another Premier League salvage mission.

The former England boss has developed a reputation for dragging teams out of relegation trouble in recent years.

He managed it at Sunderland and Crystal Palace after mid-season arrivals.

The 66-year-old also stabilised Everton as their 2017-18 season threatened to spiral out of control.

Now he has succeeded the sacked Slaven Bilic at West Brom, who are second-bottom and have won only one game all season - against bottom club Sheffield United.

"I have already had texts from my mates calling me Red Adair," he said. "I can't get away from that tag."

Paul "Red" Adair, who died in 2004, gained fame for fighting major oil well fires around the world.

It is two and a half years since Allardyce left Everton and he has not managed since.

"I'm hungrier than ever and I've never had such a long break," he said

"I've never been so refreshed and eager. I missed it so much. This break went on so long I had lots of pent-up energy, and I need to expend it.

"I've been addicted to football since I was 15. I thought I had cracked it after two years but I mentioned to my wife that I was feeling an itch and she said she could see for months that I was getting a bit restless.

"That is the stimuli you need. It gives you energy. It makes you feel worthwhile as a person. When you are used to the level of scrutiny I have had as a manager for all those years, it gets embedded into your DNA.

"I have spoken to Sammy Lee on several occasions and said how bored we are."

Lee has joined Allardyce at The Hawthorns, having previously worked with him at Bolton, Sunderland, Palace and during his ill-fated 67-day spell in charge of England.

West Brom technical director Luke Dowling said the club have not taken a gamble by hiring Allardyce, whose appointment was confirmed four hours after Bilic was sacked, a decision many feel was harsh given the players he was having to work with.

"This is Sam's eighth club and he has been successful at every one of them," said Dowling. "We don't anticipate any change to that.

"Does our squad lack Premier League experience? Yes. But Sam will have looked at the squad before he agreed to come. If he felt we needed massive changes I am sure he wouldn't be here.

"I am sure he believes he has something to work with, which gives us confidence as a club. We believe in the players as well."

Allardyce's first match in charge will be a local derby with Aston Villa at The Hawthorns on Sunday.

It means Allardyce, who started his coaching career at West Brom under Brian Talbot in 1989, has three training sessions to work with his players.

"I do remember my first session. It was the reserves and I was still a player. I was a bag of nerves. I had the great challenge of whether I could move from being a player to being a coach," he said.

"I asked Brian the day before how many players I would have. He said 16. That is what I planned for. Then, the following morning, he told me I only had nine because he was taking the rest.

"That was being thrown in right at the deep end. My planned session went right out of the window because I only had nine and most of them were pretty hacked off because they weren't with the first team.

"It was good though. It taught me to think on my feet."