Paul Clement is desperate to leave Sam Allardyce empty-handed again on Monday night – for the third time in little more than a year.
The Swansea City manager has already made a habit of denying Big Sam his little heart’s desire.
Now, he can make it a hat-trick of disappointments for the Everton boss by earning priceless points for the Premier League’s bottom club.
It was 18 months ago that Allardyce was left holding nothing after he made a grab for then Bayern Munich assistant Clement to join him with England.
“Sam had asked me to join him as assistant with the England national team,” says Clement.
“We were so close to working with each other, but Bayern said no. So, Sam appointed Craig Shakespeare.
“That lasted one game and now Craig has got back working again with Sam. It just shows how the path of football travels sometimes.
“But I don’t see it as dodging a bullet. It was always only going to be a part-time role. I was not going to leave Bayern.
“I was disappointed, but I understood why Bayern said no. They wanted me to concentrate solely on Bayern and rightly so with a club of that size.
“But I was disappointed because it would have been a great honour to work with the national team.
“At the same time, I was also disappointed for Sam. He made it clear throughout the years that England was a job that he really wanted.
“Then, to only have it for one game and for it to be pulled from underneath him – rightly or wrongly – was hard to see.”
The pair next met in Clement’s first game in charge of the Swans last season just after Allardyce had taken over at Crystal Palace.
The Swans won 2-1 at Selhurst Park, sparking the kind of revival Clement now needs to do all over again to avoid the drop.
But Clement is expecting no favours from in-form Everton and the manager he says is the go-to guy for worried owners in a hurry.
“Sam turns around clubs in real trouble – that’s what chairmen see in him.
“Where he has been at a club for only a short period, he gets them out of really difficult situations – every single time.
“When you’ve been frail and have someone come in like that, with a big and strong personality it helps.
“That’s clearly helping Everton at the moment, as it has helped a lot of sides going through a really difficult time.”
