Allardyce wants to prove Advocaat wrong

Dick Advocaat claimed Sunderland do not have what it
takes to stay up again but new manager Sam
Allardyce disagrees with the Dutchman.

Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce says he wants to prove
Dick Advocaat wrong by keeping the struggling team in the
Premier League.

Advocaat guided the Black Cats to safety last season but left
the Stadium of Light on October 4 following a winless start to
the new campaign, claiming the squad was not equipped to stay
in the top flight again.

Allardyce was appointed just days later on a two-year deal and
the former Bolton Wanderers, Newcastle, Blackburn and West
Ham boss is determined to disprove his Dutch predecessor's
gloomy prediction.

"I like a challenge," Allardyce told Sky Sports.

"When somebody says you can't do it, I want to do it.

"Dick says we are not going to stay up, I'm going to show him
we can.

"I've got a steely determination - when somebody says you
can't have something, I have to have it."

Allardyce has made it a priority to alter the team's negative
mindset after getting used to life at the wrong end of the table
under Martin O'Neill, Paolo Di Canio, Gus Poyet and then
Advocaat.

"If this is a difficult job it's because the club has been fighting
relegation for four straight years, there is almost a tendency for
people to accept that's the way it is," he said.

"I have to change that mentality. We want to be out of this by
February or March, not waiting until the last six games of the
season, that's not the way forward."

The new manager will be expected to enter the transfer market
in January in search of reinforcements, but Allardyce claimed he
did not seek specific assurances from owner Ellis Short over
signings prior to accepting the role.

"I said we might need some help, but we never talked about
how much or figures," he said.

"It was a case of saying I don't know how much we've got until I
get amongst it. Once I get amongst it maybe we need to find
some better players than we already have.

We can't promise in January that if we are struggling we will
find better players."

Sunderland, having beaten local rivals Newcastle United 3-0 at
home last weekend, are away to Everton in the Premier League
on Sunday.