At 6ft 3in Sam Allardyce is a towering presence but it quickly became clear at this London Business Forum (LBF) event that it is more than just his size that makes his nickname, “Big Sam”, so fitting. A big personality, a visionary with big ideas, Big Sam wants to change things in an industry reluctant to embrace the new.

Tasked with propelling the recently relegated West Ham United back into the Premier League, Allardyce evidently enjoys a challenge. His aim, he told the LBF, is to “build a football club into something better than it was before.” Relegation, as founder of the LBF and compère Brendan Barns pointed out, is for a football club what a profit warning is for a corporation. How does Allardyce plan to turn West Ham’s fortunes around?

To take the job in the first place he had to feel that he could work with the owners and senior management team at the club, he explained. “You need to manage up,” said Allardyce so if you don’t think you can work with them, “don’t take the job.” He has learnt this with the benefit of hindsight but, he accepted, it is a harder call to make when you’re just starting out and need a job.

Allardyce also surrounds himself with talented and trustworthy backroom staff. “I’ll take one less player in my squad to make sure I’ve got the backroom staff to deliver,” he told the LBF. He has been criticised for his methods in the past but Allardyce’s approach succeeded with Bolton Wanderers who he took from what was then the Championship into the top half of the Premier League table.

At Bolton he was given a 10 year contract which allowed him to set both short, medium and long term goals: “That was a unique opportunity for me to resurrect a football club that was dying on its backside both on the field and financially, to deliver a short term structure as well as a long term one.” Under his management, Bolton made it into the Premier League in 18 months and in less than seven years they qualified for the UEFA Cup for the first time in the club’s history. Allardyce’s time there came to premature end because he felt he has taken the club as far as the owners would allow, “I out dreamed the business,” he told the LBF.

As in any business, Allardyce stressed that in football “recruitment is massive.” When he arrived at West Ham he spoke to the existing talent – the players – and asked them “Do you want to be here?” If the answer is “No,” then it’s probably time they moved on. If they were players that Allardyce wanted to keep in the team, he delayed the decision, met the same player and a month later asked the same question. “I know I’m winning,” said Allardyce, when their answer has changed to “Yes.”

He has also implemented a recruitment policy at West Ham that mixes “old fashioned scouting” with psychological profiling, which he revealed most clubs don’t do. These profiles, he explained, identify the leaders, followers and “what we call the terrorists.” Allardyce is wary of the latter as he believes they recruit followers and can be very destructive. “I’d rather take a lesser player that’s more honest […] and better for the team,” he revealed.

The average manager’s tenure is now about one year and four months. A manager’s job, explained Allardyce is to create a stable internal environment in the face of this volatility. Football management is about more than how you handle the players; the supporters, media and the owners all add extra pressure to what is undoubtedly one of the most stressful jobs going.

Allardyce believes that keeping morale high depends on creating a stable environment within the club. He warned against overreaction, which fuels “knee jerk reactions” and leads to bad decisions. Allardyce stressed that with information leaders and managers make better decisions, he urged the LBF audience to create a culture in which “people feel comfortable in your company to actually exchange ideas and opinions.” Sometimes, he continued, the best insight can come from the people you least expect.

Building close relationships with players can put you in a vulnerable position, Allardyce accepted. However, that’s why he believes that earning their respect is vital to being a successful manager and to do this you have to be sure of your strategy. “Players are very, very quick to find out a manager who doesn’t know what they’re doing,” he told the LBF. “You’ve got to be well educated in the industry to answer those questions,” said Allardyce, but also be able to have the courage to admit your mistakes. Not that he makes many of those, he joked.

To conclude he was asked what three things he thinks make the best football manager:

1. Ambition

2. Job Satisfaction

3. Publicity – he is comfortable in the spotlight

Allardyce dares to dream big in what he called a “dream industry.” “I always think,” he said, “that my ambition is greater than any football club that employs me.”