[Archived] Sam Allardyce

[Kelbo]

In fairness Arsenal seem to do alright without throwing mega bucks at transfers, I'm sure Spurs and probably even Sunderland will have spent more than them.

Great reply Wizard, but for me, Wenger has it sorted, wonderful one touch football perfected almost and with young players too, they are a yardstick for any side, a delight to watch, football at its best, yet like the old QPR (ala Bowles andMarsh) West Ham (Moore, Peters, Hurst etc) they havent won anything, yet I would love them to do so for the game of football!!

[Hughesy]

Sam plays mind games and always has, stop moaning. Sam will have his valuation of Stevie n it will be his choice to sell if he goes.

[S15]

Hughesy, if today has confirmed one thing, it's that you're a complete prat.

We are in crisis, and all you're sugar coating and glossing over a turd is achieving nothing.

Mind games with who? Villa? Now they know we have to sell, they're gonna run in and offer £15m, surely? Or maybe he's playing mindgames with the potential new signings? Now they know we are a small town selling club, they're gonna all be ''doing Lescotts'' to join us, right?

Get a grip buddy.

[Parsonblue]

In fairness Arsenal seem to do alright without throwing mega bucks at transfers, I'm sure Spurs and probably even Sunderland will have spent more than them.

True. However, Arsenal have had a manager in place for a number of years who has maintained a policy of spending a great amount of money on young players who are in the Arsenal Academy. They also generate a huge amount of income from their off the field activities and I believe that their cheapest season ticket is about £900 and they have a huge waiting list for season tickets. Indeed, I believe you have to pay something in the region of £15 just to get on the waiting list! If we charged £900 for season tickets for the Blackburn End how many do you think we would sell?

I think Sam is merely pointing out that the Rovers have to sell to generate funds. Apart from Jack's period in control it has always been the case with the Rovers. However, for those who only began supporting the club during the early or mid-1990's this return to our old ways is coming as something of a shock. It is in times like these that a manager like Big Sam, who can wheel and deal, is vital to a club.

[Eddie]

I think it's public knowledge that I've never been a big Allardyce fan, but if he manages to make it through this summer without buying a decent central midfielder (N'Zonzi might develop into something, but he is miles from a finished product) then I think it raises huge question marks over what he is doing. I've actually been pleased with the football we have played in the first two games of the season, but to see us continue to look at defenders when we quite clearly need quality in midfield is shocking.

I'm also not a fan of the messages he is sending out. I know that both Souness and Hughes always used to say that we had no money to spend, but they did so whilst still putting the club in a decent light. Allardyce seems to want to portray himself as a victim whilst making the club out to be this pitiful thing that he is doing his best to help out. To look at the Sky Sports headlines tonight as they showed the clips of Allardyce struggling with the small-town club did the club no good.

[tcj_jones]

Allardyce's comments, broadcast on SSN, left me outraged! I'm so angry. What the hell is he playing at, belittling our club like that. What kind of message is he sending out to any player that might want to join? If he counts Rovers in such low regard, then maybe he should ###### off and take a job in the Championship, because that's where he'd be plying his trade if it weren't for us. Urgh, I liked Allardyce, but this has left a really bitter taste in my mouth.

[67splitscreen]

Just watched the video.

Sam looks as though he has just received a good kick in the gonads, to say he looks unhappy is an understatement. I'm thinking this is a backlash from the internal wrangling of last week.

He may have won the battle for Salgado but it looks like he has lost the war on more fronts than one.

He does sound as though he was saying a small time club and then in mid syllable changes it to end in yne, sort of like a geordie twang tyne.

[ftry]

Terrible attitude from Sam. You don't have to go far to see what a bit of positivity from the manager can do for a smaller club with less resources than us!

[Veevs]

Terrible attitude from Sam. You don't have to go far to see what a bit of positivity from the manager can do for a smaller club with less resources than us!

Did you notice in the interview his comments.. "if the board accepts the money for Warnock they need to make sure there is a player there to replace him"...

Do you really think as a manager he would be over the moon if its been indicated to him that Warnock can go and they will accept bids for him.

As a manager I am often hired to change the fortunes of companies IT projects, however I have had my stints being just as miserable for being asked to do the impossible, in my opinion having to sell your useful assets and only have half of that money to re-invest and yet be expected to do better that financial year is a near impossible task.

As for those who keep ranting about us not addressing the midfield.. we do need to replace warnock if he goes and no one doubts that.. Nelson is out and the cover in the center is limited at best.. we have a shed load of midfielders and no one would want to buy a crock so we cant get rid of any. and we simply do not have the funds to get more in.

As for going not far to see a club with less resources, if your referring to Burnley.. they have a negative 6.8m in terms of transfers this pre-season.. meanwhile we have a plus 11m and we are about to sell our best player of last year.

Put in basic terms if your given a transfer budget for a season of minus 10-15m you can't expect to be improving your team.. and we should not slate the manager for it.

Premier league atm:

Man U +59m (Ronaldo)

Arse +33m (ManC raid)

Portsmouth +28m

Wigan +14m (Valancia and Cattemole)

Blackburn +11m (RSC)

And the clubs we expect to be around us at the end of the season?

Burnley -7m

Wolves -16m

Tot -8m

WH -6.5m

Birmingham -19m

Hull -8m

Sunderland -16m

Bolton -7m

Fulham -5m

Villa -6m

Eve 0m

Stoke 0m

[Steve Moss]

Sam is a canny man. He will pull us through.

[imy9]

Hughesy, if today has confirmed one thing, it's that you're a complete prat.

We are in crisis, and all you're sugar coating and glossing over a turd is achieving nothing.

Mind games with who? Villa? Now they know we have to sell, they're gonna run in and offer £15m, surely? Or maybe he's playing mindgames with the potential new signings? Now they know we are a small town selling club, they're gonna all be ''doing Lescotts'' to join us, right?

Get a grip buddy.

Sam has just bought Michel Salgado- that is a fact, if he can persuade someone of his standard to join us then I'm sure others will follow.

Crisis?

I would define a crisis as being 5 points adrift in the league, having just been beaten 3-0 by an average Wigan side.

A crisis would be a Rovers side conceding 2 goals a game after 17 games in the league.

A crisis would be Rovers playing with ONE recognised centre forward in a relegation battle.

A crisis would be Rovers having little to no money when others are spending tens of millions in a relegation battle.

I do not consider what is currently happening a crisis, do you not think that Sam deserves the benefit of the doubt after what he has done for us? I look at what he has done in the transfer window and have been pleased with the emphasis on youth and pace, as well as the signing of a legend in Salgado. All done by selling a crock RSC for £18 million!

So I am with Hughesy, lets wait and see what he does- Big Sam deserves that much.

[Mike Graham]

Did you notice in the interview his comments.. "if the board accepts the money for Warnock they need to make sure there is a player there to replace him"...

What this says to me is that the Board will be selling Warnock over the head of Big Sam and that he has no choice in the matter. Why sell...because they want the money pronto...and will Sam see the cash...NO!

I am getting well and truly sick of our Board. What is their 5 year Business Plan? Does anyone except the Trust, JW and his cronies know?

[CrazyIvan]

There is so much tosh spouted on here based entirely on heresay and opinion. Big Sam says things how they are but I very much doubt he has not had his say regarding Warnock. Warnock wants to go, Sam doesn't want him to but knows he can't hang on to an unhappy player so the board try to get the best price. Sam makes sure they have a player to replace him before he goes and the board have to go and get said player.

I can see Sam is unhappy at the Warnock situation, wouldn't you be? But the board and trustee sniping on here is completely over the top. It is a case of who can we blame for the financial situation we are in...

[beerwins]

To me it feels like a lot of people really havent accepted big sam is our manager, the once facebook signers still lurk out there and are ready to turn at the slightest of comments.

You can just sense a bit of hostility towards him even in the stands something just didnt feel right, whether its just me i dont know, but the fact that central midfield isnt being looked at suggests that the same kind of football is going to be on show at ewood, which im sure plenty didnt want too see.

Sam needs some good results and fast because if we are still playing badly before we have to play bumley and the unthinkable happens im sure there are going to be a hell of a lot more people change their minds about him and the last thing we need is more negativity.

[CrazyIvan]

To me it feels like a lot of people really havent accepted big sam is our manager, the once facebook signers still lurk out there and are ready to turn at the slightest of comments.

You can just sense a bit of hostility towards him even in the stands something just didnt feel right, whether its just me i dont know, but the fact that central midfield isnt being looked at suggests that the same kind of football is going to be on show at ewood, which im sure plenty didnt want too see.

Sam needs some good results and fast because if we are still playing badly before we have to play bumley and the unthinkable happens im sure there are going to be a hell of a lot more people change their minds about him and the last thing we need is more negativity.

I think we are somewhat over-endowed in the midfield department. The only trouble is that most of them are injured! That's the biggest problem because you can't get extra midfielders in while you have a surplus of them but you can't sell or get rid of the ones you have because they are injured. Sam stuck in a bit of a hole. We need cover defensively more than we need to get extra in midfield especially if we get a few back and they remain injury free (fingers crossed).

[alexanders]

We are proud of our club, and for Sam to "portraying" it as a little unimportant club.

I think Sam and his players are supposed to say that they can beat everyone - and I really think Sam should put a game face on and stop whining.

After all, effort and battling are 50% of the game.

[Atty]

Exactly what is the clubs 5 year business plan. To sell all our best players and replace them with freebies with a hope we can sell them in 2 year time for a profit.

Is nobody else worried about whats happening at the club at the moment, we have sold all our best players apart from samba for big money and have not re-invested in the playing staff. We are fast approaching the time when we don't have any players left that can bring in big money.

What happens to the club if we cant find the players cheap and sell big?

Everyone says we have to sell to survive then I agree with that if they can explain where the money we make from transfers is going.

I really like sams honesty about the situation instead of the usual bullshit that comes from the club. He is telling like it is the board are selling the best players and not giving him any money to replace them with. You cant blame him for being ###### off. There not giving him the tools to do his job.

I don't expect the club to go out and spend millions on players but i do expect the club to re-invest in the playing staff. Thats why I think there is something seriously wrong at rovers at the moment and all fans of this club should at least be a little concerned and asking questions as to whats going on. FFS SAM struggled to sign a free right back from Real Madrid who wanted to come to us.

I cant wait to here John Williams positive spin on all this I bet he is going to come out and say that we don't have to sell our best players.

It is pathetic on here you ask questions about board and the trustees on here and then your called a depressive or vinjay. personally i am not willing just to stick my head in the sand and pretend everything OK

[Parsonblue]

I would have thought that the club's business plan was fairly simple - the same as it was in the days before Jack invested in the club.

We developed players and sold them for profit or we bought cheap and sold them on for profit. In the past 50 years the former group have included the likes of Pickering, England, Newton, Hird, Bailey, Barker, Dunn, Duff etc, while the latter group have included the likes of Ferguson, Hole, Knighton, Hunter, Field, Jones, Oates, Arnold, Shearer, Batty, Le Saux, Berg, Henchoz, Bellamy, Bentley, Santa Cruz etc.

It's a strategy that has kept the club going in tough times before and will do again in the future.

The key to making it work is retaining Premier League status. That is going to be the difficult bit and is the reason why you need an experienced manager. Another key appointment for us is going to be the new Academy Manager. It is going to become more important than ever for the Academy to produce players who can either make the first team or at least be sold to Championship sides for a profit.

The bottom line is that it is time many supporters took a reality check. The days of challenging for a top six spot are clearly over at the moment. Today's challenge is all about survival, about finishing no lower than fourth from bottom. I appreciate that for those fans who began supporting the club during Jack's days that might seem totally underwhelming but for those of us who remember life at the bottom of the old Third Division it is no mean achievement to remain a Premier League club.

[S15]

Sam has just bought Michel Salgado- that is a fact, if he can persuade someone of his standard to join us then I'm sure others will follow.

Crisis?

I would define a crisis as being 5 points adrift in the league, having just been beaten 3-0 by an average Wigan side.

A crisis would be a Rovers side conceding 2 goals a game after 17 games in the league.

A crisis would be Rovers playing with ONE recognised centre forward in a relegation battle.

A crisis would be Rovers having little to no money when others are spending tens of millions in a relegation battle.

I do not consider what is currently happening a crisis, do you not think that Sam deserves the benefit of the doubt after what he has done for us? I look at what he has done in the transfer window and have been pleased with the emphasis on youth and pace, as well as the signing of a legend in Salgado. All done by selling a crock RSC for £18 million!

So I am with Hughesy, lets wait and see what he does- Big Sam deserves that much.

Before I respond, I am an Allardyce fan.

But, crisis? I define it as us having to sell any salable asset, and then only get half the money to replace the player, slowly weakening the team, the squad, and leading us to an inevitable relegation. This scenario will lead to the club going down the route of Leicester, Southampton, Charlton and Norwich.

And to respond directly to your points...

1/Lost two out of two.

2/Condeded 5 goals in two games, or 2.5 a game.

3/How many of our forward line are good enough for this level? There is a big question mark over EVERY ONE OF THEM.

4/We're skint, and I don't see any other club, bar Pompey selling every good player AND NOT REPLACING THEM.

I still think we'll be okay this season, but we are slowly sinking, and if i had to bet, I'd say the ship will have sunk in three years time max at this rate.

[CrazyIvan]

Before I respond, I am an Allardyce fan.

But, crisis? I define it as us having to sell any salable asset, and then only get half the money to replace the player, slowly weakening the team, the squad, and leading us to an inevitable relegation. This scenario will lead to the club going down the route of Leicester, Southampton, Charlton and Norwich.

And to respond directly to your points...

1/Lost two out of two.

2/Condeded 5 goals in two games, or 2.5 a game.

3/How many of our forward line are good enough for this level? There is a big question mark over EVERY ONE OF THEM.

4/We're skint, and I don't see any other club, bar Pompey selling every good player AND NOT REPLACING THEM.

I still think we'll be okay this season, but we are slowly sinking, and if i had to bet, I'd say the ship will have sunk in three years time max at this rate.

Very quick point, we haven't conceded 5 goals at all...

[Atty]

Before I respond, I am an Allardyce fan.

But, crisis? I define it as us having to sell any salable asset, and then only get half the money to replace the player, slowly weakening the team, the squad, and leading us to an inevitable relegation. This scenario will lead to the club going down the route of Leicester, Southampton, Charlton and Norwich.

And to respond directly to your points...

1/Lost two out of two.

2/Condeded 5 goals in two games, or 2.5 a game.

3/How many of our forward line are good enough for this level? There is a big question mark over EVERY ONE OF THEM.

4/We're skint, and I don't see any other club, bar Pompey selling every good player AND NOT REPLACING THEM.

I still think we'll be okay this season, but we are slowly sinking, and if i had to bet, I'd say the ship will have sunk in three years time max at this rate.

Totally agree

Sam's going have to perform miracles in the next two years to keep us in this division.

The strategy to buy small and sell big only works if you can buy small in the first place at the moment we cant even do that. We are fighting with clubs around us for the same players and if we dont pay the going rate then we don't get the players in and left looking at freebies.

It might have been the clubs strategy in the past but its getting more and more difficult to achieve this.

[S15]

Sorry you're right, it's only four goals. Or just two a game.

Forget my post, seems I was wrong, we're as solid as a rock.

[tcj_jones]

We are in crisis.

Crisis? Mate, we've got Salgado! But yeah, I wouldn't go as far as saying we're in a crisis, but we could well be soon if we don't get some points on the board.

I really like sams honesty about the situation instead of the usual bullshit that comes from the club. He is telling like it is the board are selling the best players and not giving him any money to replace them with. You cant blame him for being ###### off. There not giving him the tools to do his job.

I can see Sam is unhappy at the Warnock situation, wouldn't you be?

I would be. However, having taken the job knowing full well its financial position, he shouldn't feel so aggreived. He knew why he was brought in, because of his excellent record at Bolton with limited funds. Regardless, it doesn't give him the right to start belittling our club to the media, it's a disgrace for our manager to be talking so negatively and I hope the powers that be have a stern word in his ear about it.

As for honesty? I don't want honesty when if that's being told that we're nothing but a 'small-time club'. How are we supposed to get bums on seats when even our own manager thinks we're a piece of ######. Souness would talk about avoiding relegation being the primary target - and that was depressing enough - but if we've got to listen to this for however long, then I cannot envisage the enthusiasm of the supporters being too high. Christ, we're hearing this and we're only two games into the season!

We are proud of our club, and for Sam to "portraying" it as a little unimportant club.

I think Sam and his players are supposed to say that they can beat everyone - and I really think Sam should put a game face on and stop whining.

After all, effort and battling are 50% of the game.

Well said!

leading us to an inevitable relegation.

IMO the only reason we haven't already been relegated is Mark Hughes.

[imy9]

Before I respond, I am an Allardyce fan.

But, crisis? I define it as us having to sell any salable asset, and then only get half the money to replace the player, slowly weakening the team, the squad, and leading us to an inevitable relegation. This scenario will lead to the club going down the route of Leicester, Southampton, Charlton and Norwich.

And to respond directly to your points...

1/Lost two out of two.

2/Condeded 5 goals in two games, or 2.5 a game.

3/How many of our forward line are good enough for this level? There is a big question mark over EVERY ONE OF THEM.

4/We're skint, and I don't see any other club, bar Pompey selling every good player AND NOT REPLACING THEM.

I still think we'll be okay this season, but we are slowly sinking, and if i had to bet, I'd say the ship will have sunk in three years time max at this rate.

I am an Allardyce fan too and I would add that surely we need to give the new signings 6 months before we judge their impact? We have invested in youth and if this works then it will lead to those players being sold in the future for a profit and then for us to purchase more youthful players and do the same- depressing? Yes, is it going to change any time soon? No.

Responding to your direct points:

1. Lost two out of two, if after ten games (which is when the league begins to take shape) we are losing at a rapid rate then yes we are in crisis.

2. 4 goals in 2 games- again if this continues for 17 games, we need to be worried, should Everton sell their entire back four, they have conceded 7 in 2?!

3. Benni M is a proven PL striker, Roberts is not a world beater but will score goals, the new lads I agree are unproven but we have shown that we can play Samba up front and he can do a job!

4. We are skint but we are still investing in the team- it is just not on the level that we want. We cannot sustain spending over 85% of our turnover on wages- this is what is crippling us, this needs to be addressed for our long term future. But I agree this is worrying.

[Big Fat Sam]

4. We are skint but we are still investing in the team- it is just not on the level that we want. We cannot sustain spending over 85% of our turnover on wages- this is what is crippling us, this needs to be addressed for our long term future. But I agree this is worrying.

But why do we have to do it all in one window???

Once stevie's gone we'll be what 20M in the black just off fees according to posts on here. So we make a 20M profit, cut back 5M a year on wages and expect to be competitive and steer clear of the bottom 3 and he has to improve the team.

Talk about making a hard job harder.