[Archived] Sam Allardyce

[alexanders]

I am actually an admirer of hard work and 100% commitment. I have also liked Andrews from the start and thought he has done a great job - contributing with 4 goals from his midfield position last season.

BUT I can't stop thinking what would've happen if we negotiated and sold andrews for a fair sum to Fulham this summer instead of giving him a bigger paycheck? We would make room for another creative midfielder desperately needed.

I am also thinking that Andrews have been poorer these 2 first games and during pre-season than he was last season. That is not progress and certainly not the way it should go.

On another side; He is always fit and gives it all. HE is a very important squad player, but I keep thinking WHAT IF we got ourselves a creative midfielder instead.

[unluckymorton]

Tris - Im suprised by your post, I really am.

Anyway lets look at Sam so far.

Season 1: Took over the club when we 5 points adrift, got the confidence back in the players & saved us, got us picking up points again and finished clear of the trouble - despite being stuck below West Brom. Signed Givet & Diouf - both of which had big impacts and both of which now are part of our starting 11.

Season 2: Replaced old legs with fresh new faces, mainly younger players and plenty of them too. Has given us options out wide, has gone for a more Defensive style to the defence and has added some real young promise in NZonzi & Kalinic. He also had the sense to finally get shut of Gally. 2 games played in the league - both with alot of promise, 1 tricky cup tie avoided. He seems to of brought MGP back to his old style of playing, and he has kept our main asset (Samba). Also he didnt take no sh!t with RSC and got shut at the earliest opportunity and for big money!

So far - Excellent job, not done anything wrong yet either so lets give him the benefit of the doubt.

People doubted Diouf but he played a big part last season. Tugay had to go one day - Sam had the balls to make that decision and its not something that would of been easy. Gally has been a 'maybe' for 7 years - he was shown the door. And people hated Mokoena - he's gone too! Make no mistake come next summer, if the injured quartet of midfielders dont prove themselves, they too will be shown the door - and there is nothing wrong with that.

We run at 85% of our money because of wages - that isnt sustainable

The trust forced the club to cut the wage bill by £5m.

We have 11 midfielders - Reid, Dunn, Emerton, Grella, Nzonzi, Andrews, Gamst, Van Herden, Diouf, Doran, Hoilett. How do you expect we could afford another 1?

Good speech Hughsey.

It's good to see somebody has some sense. Too many on this message board are sounding more and more like Newcastle fans, demanding signings, demanding instant success. we must trust Sam with his signings, and as you say Hughsey, we have seen two bright and promising league performances so far this season and one decent cup win. As for success, success will be us finishing higher and with more points than we did last season.

How anybody can judge Sam's position at this stage, or 10 games into the season is beyond me. If he was given at least a full season at Newcastle they would still be in the top flight, and we may have been relegated. We must give Sam time to build his own squad and let him play his way. We are in no position to demand top name signings and to demand pretty football every week. Lets get out there and grind out results, the lads have grafted so far and as long as they carry on we will have a good season.

[waggy]

bloody hell i do not believe it,i heard the manager CALL US BLACKBURN ROVERS,he has gone up 100% in my estimation just lower than whale ###### now

[gazsimm]

bloody hell i do not believe it,i heard the manager CALL US BLACKBURN ROVERS,he has gone up 100% in my estimation just lower than whale ###### now

it's a new day and guess what Waggy is speaking about Sam!!

[spencey7]

I don't have time to respond to all the (ludicrous!) points raised by Miker and ebenrocks just now, but rest assured I will later. I have to take immediate issue with the following however:

Fact is this: the sign of a bad team is an easily exposed backline and inability to create chances.

The sign of a bad team is "playing well" and losing. Which most people seem to think is what happened in the first two games.

[Kelbo]

I don't have time to respond to all the (ludicrous!) points raised by Miker and ebenrocks just now, but rest assured I will later. I have to take immediate issue with the following however:

The sign of a bad team is "playing well" and losing. Which most people seem to think is what happened in the first two games.

So if Rovers win on Saturday playing crap, will you be here monday telling us its the sign of a good team, playing poorly and winning??

[Parsonblue]

spencey7 will clearly go in a huge sulk if we win on Saturday Kelbo. He only seems to be happy when we lose. Strange sort of supporter really.

[waggy]

spencey7 will clearly go in a huge sulk if we win on Saturday Kelbo. He only seems to be happy when we lose. Strange sort of supporter really.

if you don't like lardarse your not a supporter,you want rovers to lose,well if we do tomorrow god help us

[Parsonblue]

if you don't like lardarse your not a supporter,you want rovers to lose,well if we do tomorrow god help us

The point I was making Waggy is that no matter what Sam does there are some people who will only look at the negatives. At the end of the day we support the club not an individual. I just find it strange that some people - and I am not including you in this - sit at the computer typing snide comments about the manager and players while matches are actually going on. I just find that kind of support difficult to understand.

[The1mattjansen]

if you don't like lardarse your not a supporter,you want rovers to lose,well if we do tomorrow god help us

You've said you don't like the manager and we've appointed him. You need to get that chip off your shoulder and grow up.

[waggy]

You've said you don't like the manager and we've appointed him. You need to get that chip off your shoulder and grow up.

but what would i eat

[The1mattjansen]

Humble pie, if you ever wise up.

[waggy]

Humble pie, if you ever wise up.

i think you will see i'm the wiser than most on here

[sambo]

i think you will see i'm the wiser than most on here

Waggy, irrespective of your views on Sam, surely the club you profess to "love" should come first?

You should support the club, not the manager.

[Exiled in Toronto]

Tugay could have played this season as he did last - important contributions when needed, 45 or 60 mins when needed, a platform to do his badges at the club he adores. We all assumed he would be replaced during the summer, but as he hasn't been, we have to ask why he was ousted by BFS with such haste.

For me, this signing of Salgado will make or break Allardyce at our club.

Agree on the Tugay thing although that's only because we haven't signed anyone any better than a pensioner. Why people think Emerton is a bang on central midfielder is beyond me. He's played there about 3 times in his career, has no vision and can't shoot for toffee.

Not sure I see Salgado being Allardyce's retreat from Moscow though. Even if he is crap, he's free and I'm sure the Paul Agnew spin machine will be feeding us stuff about him being a good influence etc. Kalanic is who I see as the make or break signing. He's what, our 4th most expensive signing ever and looks like Beamo on a bad day so far. If he doesn't come good, we just don't have the goals elsewhere in the team.

[Miker]

I don't have time to respond to all the (ludicrous!) points raised by Miker and ebenrocks just now, but rest assured I will later. I have to take immediate issue with the following however:

The sign of a bad team is "playing well" and losing. Which most people seem to think is what happened in the first two games.

Have you ever played for a club? You can't possibly make that statement seriously if you've ever actually PLAYED football seriously for a local club at the least.

I would guess not though, considering you run to the mods each time obscenities or threats are thrown your way, I would guess you're not really the physical type.

[joey_big_nose]

Not sure I see Salgado being Allardyce's retreat from Moscow though. Even if he is crap, he's free and I'm sure the Paul Agnew spin machine will be feeding us stuff about him being a good influence etc. Kalanic is who I see as the make or break signing. He's what, our 4th most expensive signing ever and looks like Beamo on a bad day so far. If he doesn't come good, we just don't have the goals elsewhere in the team.

Spot on. Virtually everything rides on Kalanic and, to a lesser extent, Di Santo. Between them they probably need to find 25 goals. That's quite a lot for two unproven guys.

I say this because, at best, Roberts will only get five or six. McCarthy will get seven or eight. Dunn will get a 3-4 if he is fit, Diouf the same, maybe as will Peds if he sorts himself out. Samba will get a couple. Andrews has shown he can score 3-4.

That's it. Unless Hoilett shows himself to be something special.

Eggs in a couple of young baskets. If they pull it off Sam is a genius. If we don't Sam gets the sack... Not his fault really, that the money we had to spend, not many bargains out there. But you live by your choices.

[philipl]

I won't comment on Allardyce's overall performance until at least 10 games in - I would expect everyone else to give any other manager a reasonable chance, and (despite my horror at some of the tactics at the end of last season) I will do as I say.

Specifically on transfer policy though, there are two points to be made just now. Tugay was desperate to stay at Rovers for one more season. Without question, so were the fans. It was the same behind the scenes - he was massively popular in the dressing room, and with all the staff at Ewood and Brockhall. Only one person wanted this popular bloke out of the way, and reluctantly, John Williams backed his new manager and Tugay went.

Tugay could have played this season as he did last - important contributions when needed, 45 or 60 mins when needed, a platform to do his badges at the club he adores. We all assumed he would be replaced during the summer, but as he hasn't been, we have to ask why he was ousted by BFS with such haste.

I hoped that was a one off, but now it isn't. Warnock - fans player of the year, club player of the year, admired and respected in the dressing room, and he loved our club for giving him a new chance after his injuries at Liverpool. Why has he gone too? According to Allardyce the dealing was over last week, now he's done this.

Maybe it was Salgado for Warnock, maybe it was Warnock for Chimbonda, maybe Jacobsen was an honest mistake too early in the transfer window. This chairman has never overruled a manager regarding on-field and football decisions, so what's gone on this summer is entirely on BFS's watch.

Which almost means that the new big name Salgado has to be as good as Stephen Warnock. It's a big ask for a guy who has played 10 seasons for a protected team in a pussy's league, and hasn't clocked up too many games recently. How soon will HE get the Andrews treatment?!

For me, this signing of Salgado will make or break Allardyce at our club.

Tris has said it but I cannot factually argue with anything in that post.

Sam has made decisions (on Tugay after Tugay had his say about the Stoke game) and he has to deliver the goods.

I am very confident he will and will do so in a style that won't upset the purists. The big challenge is to get top quality PL performances out of four from the dozen or so players who have genuine hopes of playing midfield this season for Rovers.

[Stuart]

Spot on. Virtually everything rides on Kalanic and, to a lesser extent, Di Santo. Between them they probably need to find 25 goals. That's quite a lot for two unproven guys.

I say this because, at best, Roberts will only get five or six. McCarthy will get seven or eight. Dunn will get a 3-4 if he is fit, Diouf the same, maybe as will Peds if he sorts himself out. Samba will get a couple. Andrews has shown he can score 3-4.

That's it. Unless Hoilett shows himself to be something special.

Eggs in a couple of young baskets. If they pull it off Sam is a genius. If we don't Sam gets the sack... Not his fault really, that the money we had to spend, not many bargains out there. But you live by your choices.

Unless he does something to justify gross misconduct proceedings, like directly slag off the board or trustees in public, I don't think Sam is getting sacked any time soon. He will walk first.

If Di Santo gets 12 goals before January that would be quite a feat indeed. In any case, he'd then more than likely be off back to Chelsea.

Maybe one of the reasons for not spending all of the Warnock money is to see how the land lies in January - particularly in the striker department. If Di Santo can be negotiated until the end of the season then we might see a new midfielder. We can hope!

[Sandiway Blue]

So if Rovers win on Saturday playing crap, will you be here monday telling us its the sign of a good team, playing poorly and winning??

As most of us have Spencey on ignore,we would appreciate it if you wouldn`t quote him!

For all our sakes !

[spencey7]

Have you ever played for a club? You can't possibly make that statement seriously if you've ever actually PLAYED football seriously for a local club at the least.

I would guess not though, considering you run to the mods each time obscenities or threats are thrown your way, I would guess you're not really the physical type.

At Premier League level, teams "performing well" (*) but still picking up no points is cause for concern indeed. Anyone with even a passing interest in football should know that.

And yes I do play football, at amateur level. Centre-midfield. You know, someone who passes the ball and creates chances? We used to have them at Ewood.

(*) I would disagree that we've been "playing well", but that seems to be the general concensus on the forum.

[tashor]

[jonv]

Waggy, irrespective of your views on Sam, surely the club you profess to "love" should come first?

You should support the club, not the manager.

and so she goes quiet

most ridiculous fan if i ever met one.. hopefully her lovelife isn't as shameful as her support of rovers is!!

[Hasta]

and so she goes quiet

most ridiculous fan if i ever met one.. hopefully her lovelife isn't as shameful as her support of rovers is!!

I know he's lost his marbles since Allardyce arrived but has Waggy changed gender as well ??

[The Prof.]

Just to shut this rubbish up could someone name me just one tried realistic alternative with a top half of the Prem pedigree who would come to manage Rovers. Steve BRUCE is the top rated English manager by many - BRUCE, whose Wigan side got trampled on to keep us up last year, BRUCE who never won a thing and whose teams have never played in Europe! And he wouldn't trade the Mackens for Ewood right now!