[Archived] Sam Allardyce

[tony gale's mic]

Gibson would be right to stick with Southgate IMO ; in contrast to Ince he's bright and intelligent and will learn from this season. Expect Boro to bounce straight back if they do go down.

Extraordinary.

Yeah and Ince must have given him a reacharound that same evening.

[tcj_jones]

What has Southgate shown to give anybody the impression and confidence that he will 'learn' and presumably take them back up? He's already had, what, three seasons at the club, and he's taken them backward in that time after spending millions on numerous players.

You could have said the same for Ince.

[Eddie]

He took them forward and then backwards. I think he does a good job of getting their youngsters involved, has made some good signings and is, or at least was, building what looked like a good team. Not many expected this season from them, I actually thought they would finish in the top half (and I wasn't alone in that belief). I think this goes down as just a very serious blip rather than a total failing on the part of the management. I haven't really seen enough of their games to know what exactly is wrong, but whenever I have seen them they've looked reasonably organised at the back and threatening going forward. I don't think they will lose too many of their players if they do go down and with the chairman that they have are good candidates to come straight back up, so it would make sense to keep a young manager who has potential, knows the players and knows the club.

[DE.]

He took them forward and then backwards. I think he does a good job of getting their youngsters involved, has made some good signings and is, or at least was, building what looked like a good team. Not many expected this season from them, I actually thought they would finish in the top half (and I wasn't alone in that belief). I think this goes down as just a very serious blip rather than a total failing on the part of the management. I haven't really seen enough of their games to know what exactly is wrong, but whenever I have seen them they've looked reasonably organised at the back and threatening going forward. I don't think they will lose too many of their players if they do go down and with the chairman that they have are good candidates to come straight back up, so it would make sense to keep a young manager who has potential, knows the players and knows the club.

In the games I've seen from them it's generally been the opposite, the attacking players have looked useless (Alves especially, what a waste of money) and the defence have been suspect on goals they've leaked. Southgate does not seem to know how to turn it around, much like Ince, he's just hoping that they'll strike lucky and start playing. Boro had a false dawn a few weeks back, beating West Ham and Liverpool, but have since reverted to typically insipid form.

I don't think you can call practically an entire season of dire performing a "blip", serious or otherwise.

[Exiled in Toronto]

I'm not sure I understand why a survival battle can only be won with ugly football.

We have been in 6 relegation scraps since the Walker revolution: (wow - I hadn't realised it was that many)

Parkes kept us up from an equally dire position after Harford left by playing good footy

Kidd took us down with a bunch of rubber dinghy men, but the footy was neither hoofball nor Ince triangles (are those the only choices?)

Souness kept us up twice playing our way out of it (and winning a trophy)

Hughes kept us up with 4-5-1 and a midget upfront; not very pretty but certainly not hoofball

Allardyce looks like keeping us up, but boy it has been grim to watch.

The only plausible theory is that the current squad is far worse than any of the others that stayed up, which has some validity

[waggy]

whenever we get a poor result,it's were would we be with ince etc,lets get one thing striaght unless you are a clairvoyant no one knows.happen the players might have got there fingers out,we might have sold rocky,we might have signed 3 decent players and stayed up easily.

lardarse has done nothing special,the premier league is littered with teams saving themselves from relagation.from oldham/foolham/pompey/west brom and many more.his football is dire to watch,our dave says it's 10 pint football.why posters on here think i will return to ewood whilst lardarse is here is beyond me,one thing for sure there will be many more like me next season

[1864roverite]

1864 - You say Boro are a better team? Seriously I dont know how you work that out. I could only name Downing from their midfield, who else plays in there? I honestly cannot say, without looking it up.

Digard

Downing

Arca

Johnson

O'Niell

Shawky

There is pace, creativity and support for the defence/attack. Something Rovers just havent got at the moment with injuries.

As for defence - Hoyte, Taylor, Pogatetz, Wheater, Huth, Riggott, Bates and Mcmahon. Some quality young English players amongst that lot.

Its just a poity they cant play together or so it seems

whenever we get a poor result,it's were would we be with ince etc,lets get one thing striaght unless you are a clairvoyant no one knows.happen the players might have got there fingers out,we might have sold rocky,we might have signed 3 decent players and stayed up easily.

lardarse has done nothing special,the premier league is littered with teams saving themselves from relagation.from oldham/foolham/pompey/west brom and many more.his football is dire to watch,our dave says it's 10 pint football.why posters on here think i will return to ewood whilst lardarse is here is beyond me,one thing for sure there will be many more like me next season

I dont think any post gives a hoot whether you return Waggy, its about the CLUB and not YOU.

[DE.]

lets get one thing striaght unless you are a clairvoyant no one knows.happen the players might have got there fingers out,we might have sold rocky,we might have signed 3 decent players and stayed up easily.

There was absolutely no indication the players were going to do anything for Ince. Do you not remember the abject surrender at Wigan? The players did not want Ince to be there, and they showed it on the pitch. I cannot see why they would have changed, considering most of them wanted him gone. You can say "might" as much as you want, but the fact is Sam HAS got us to within touching distance of safety, something Ince was not on course to do. It beggars belief you can still believe he was the right choice to lead the club. Where you think these 3 "great players" would have come from is also confusing... Grella, Fowler and Andrews hardly inspired confidence and there's no reason to think Ince would have been any more willing to sell RSC than Allardyce.

lardarse has done nothing special,the premier league is littered with teams saving themselves from relagation.from oldham/foolham/pompey/west brom and many more.

Considering our squad and morale at the time Allardyce took over, it's extraoridnary that he's managed to haul us into such a good position, especially with the new injuries we've acquired since he took over. You're like a broken record, and make no sense whatsoever.

[LeChuck]

We haven't had a central midfield of even Championship quality for the majority of the season, as well as having zero pace down the wings...there's absolutely no way we could play a passing game and hope to stay up.

[Amo]

whenever we get a poor result,it's were would we be with ince etc,lets get one thing striaght unless you are a clairvoyant no one knows.happen the players might have got there fingers out,we might have sold rocky,we might have signed 3 decent players and stayed up easily.

We can only look at the facts, and that is Ince's track record at the club was relegation form.

@Exiled in Toronto - Yeah, but Souness also had the luxury of splashing £8m on Andy Cole, partnering him with Matt Jansen, and having Duff & Dunn in their prime. What real quality do we have, especially in the midfield? Dunn & Grella have been constantly injured. Andrews is a trier and little more. Warnock is a left-back. Tugay has been playing on borrowed time. Pedersen peaked at Rovers a few years back. And so on, and so forth.

[DE.]

Digard

Downing

Arca

Johnson

O'Niell

Shawky

There is pace, creativity and support for the defence/attack. Something Rovers just havent got at the moment with injuries.

As for defence - Hoyte, Taylor, Pogatetz, Wheater, Huth, Riggott, Bates and Mcmahon. Some quality young English players amongst that lot.

Hmm, I wouldn't class Digard, Downing, Hoyte, Pogatetz, Riggott, Bates or McMahon as anything special. If that many of Boro's players were good they would definately not be in the position they were in right now. Some of those players may evolve into premiership players, but I don't think they're there yet. Downing in particular is living off past reputation - ask any Boro fan and see what they have to say about him.

[tony gale's mic]

Why do people still keep replying to waggy? It's pretty obvious there's something missing up there...

[gbax]

lets get one thing striaght unless you are a clairvoyant no one knows...one thing for sure there will be many more like me next season

So your a clairvoyant then? You just said no one knows, so how do you know there will be more like you? You've just undone your own argument!

No one knows how Sam will do given time and his own signings, but it could be worse (it would be if Ince was with us any longer), so lets wait and see! If your right, well done, good call, become a pundit. I hope your not and I hope that deep down you hope your wrong too - or would you rather Rovers suffered, so you could be proved right???

It's a rollover on Friday night. What are the numbers?

[Eddie]

Hmm, I wouldn't class Digard

Digard is a very talented player.

[DE.]

In your opinion, in mine he still has plenty to prove.

[tcj_jones]

We haven't had a central midfield of even Championship quality for the majority of the season, as well as having zero pace down the wings...there's absolutely no way we could play a passing game and hope to stay up.

Exactly. Ince risked it big time in relying on Dunn to stay fit the majority of the season. It was a risk that didn't pay off and was a large contributing factor in his eventual sacking.

[thenodrog]

Extraordinary.

#

Sued? By whom?

whenever we get a poor result,it's were would we be with ince etc,lets get one thing striaght unless you are a clairvoyant no one knows.happen the players might have got there fingers out,we might have sold rocky,we might have signed 3 decent players and stayed up easily.

lardarse has done nothing special,the premier league is littered with teams saving themselves from relagation.from oldham/foolham/pompey/west brom and many more.his football is dire to watch,our dave says it's 10 pint football.why posters on here think i will return to ewood whilst lardarse is here is beyond me,one thing for sure there will be many more like me next season

I'm sure that you will count that as a victory of some sort waggy.

[T4E]

Yeah and Ince must have given him a reacharound that same evening.

This quote has me extremely intrigued as to what Jim posted............

[Eddie]

In your opinion, in mine he still has plenty to prove.

How many times have you seen him? I've been watching him since he was a youngster with Le Havre (one of the best clubs for developing young talent in France) and then when he went to PSG. Boro getting him was regarded as something of a coup. Whether or not he will develop into the midfielder many expected two or three seasons ago is one thing, but there can be no disputing the fact that he is a good prospect and is talented.

[leftfooter]

That's not a plus - it's the whole problem with this prehistoric gum-chewing slug currently inhabiting the home dugout.

We are going to lose the only slim remnants of technical ability left in the squad. And where a more up to date manager might try and replace like with like, we will end up with cloggers looking for a final hoof before they cash in their pensions.

It's a disaster waiting to happen - and this style of "football" (it's not really football) will alienate more Rovers fans than anything else that's happened in the last 50 years.

Tugay's show of dissent on Saturday is the final straw for me, the best player to grace the shirt in the last decade is being pushed out of the door by a manager who wouldn't recognise a cultured, well directed pass if it smacked him straight in the jowls.

I'll still have my season ticket next year, but I can see a Blues Bar membership being added for escape purposes. I'm not wasting my time in the BBE through the winter watching Jurassic Park 19 times over when there's a nice warm bar 30 feet below.

Tris I respect your right to criticise Sam's, err style of football, but you offer nothing constructive in your post. So you don't like Sam Allardyce. We already knew that.

The difficulty is, presuming we stay up now, is that replacing him will bring no obvious benefit.

The reason?

Well judging by the ineptness of the whole excrutiating interview process in the summer and the subsequent debacle of the Ince tenure, I have neither trust nor confidence in John Williams or the Rovers board to find a better replacement than what we have got.

I'm sure there are better managers out there, I simply don't have faith in them to go out and not only find the right man, but also to adequately BACK him in the transfer market.

Who do you suggest we replace Allardyce with?

[DE.]

How many times have you seen him? I've been watching him since he was a youngster with Le Havre (one of the best clubs for developing young talent in France) and then when he went to PSG. Boro getting him was regarded as something of a coup. Whether or not he will develop into the midfielder many expected two or three seasons ago is one thing, but there can be no disputing the fact that he is a good prospect and is talented.

I've only seen him for Boro. If you'd read my post you will have noted I said these players could evolve into premiership footballers, I just don't think they are quite there yet. Digard is included in that.

[Eddie]

In your opinion, in mine he still has plenty to prove.

That one?

Sometimes people may know more about players than you do and trust me, Digard is a player who could do a very good job for us. He's only 22, so he is still learning, but he has talent and has a game suited to this league. If we signed him we could quite happily play him next season. He'll probably stay at Boro and may even benefit from a season down in the championship if they start him every day, but he'd be a very smart signing.

[DE.]

That one?

Sometimes people may know more about players than you do and trust me, Digard is a player who could do a very good job for us. He's only 22, so he is still learning, but he has talent and has a game suited to this league. If we signed him we could quite happily play him next season. He'll probably stay at Boro and may even benefit from a season down in the championship if they start him every day, but he'd be a very smart signing.

No Eddie, previous post. And yes, I do think he still does have plenty to prove at premiership level. I accept your opinion on him is perhaps more informed than mine, but that doesn't automatically mean that the player will be a success just because you say so. What I've seen from him at Boro suggests he still has a way to go yet. I'm not doubting his potential ability at all, just his current ability.

[LeChuck]

Of course Digard has a lot to prove, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't be a good signing. Players with things to prove are exactly the type of players we buy; Bentley, Samba, Nelsen, Santa Cruz, Warnock etc. All had something to prove at Premiership level for one reason or another and we gave them a platform to do that. I'm not sure where this idea of buying proven Premiership players has come from, it hasn't been our attitude for the last few years.

[Blue n White Rover]

Of course Digard has a lot to prove, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't be a good signing. Players with things to prove are exactly the type of players we buy; Bentley, Samba, Nelsen, Santa Cruz, Warnock etc. All had something to prove at Premiership level for one reason or another and we gave them a platform to do that. I'm not sure where this idea of buying proven Premiership players has come from, it hasn't been our attitude for the last few years.

But isn't that what we have lacked in our midfield recently? The lack of proven premiership quality?