[Archived] Sam Allardyce

[thenodrog]

At least Paul Ince was a gamble, albeit one that failed.

Wrong! It wasn't a gamble at all. No chance of him succeeding, he simply is not management material. I predicted that he'd not be in his office long enough to turn the clock back. My estimation was wrong but only cos JW was stubborn, filled with indecision, and seemingly over a financial barrell. Whatever his style of play SA is a manager and a leader.

[BuckyRover]

MK Dons aren't doing too badly at the moment.

Better than us anyway.

Oh well, we will be a better team when Benni leaves and Barton joins.

Great!

[thenodrog]

could've got more from the city game, should've beat sunderland, could've beat west ham. we're playing ok, but if this trend continues towards xmas we could be in real trouble....

That is undeniable.

[spencey7]

"But he never told us to just hit it. We had the players to play and Allardyce wanted us to do that.” Can you share some evidence that contradicts this- remember Milner played for Villa when this was released so he had no reason to back Sam.

It's easy for a player to come out with that having deserted the sinking ship. (And that an interesting quote you highlight in that article. Here's another: "With the exception of Habib Beye, his signings ranged between poor and, in the case of Joey Barton, unmitigated disaster.")

The evidence to the contrary was widely publicised: "But what do you want us to do when we've got the ball?"

Despite having spent a fortune bringing poor players to Newcastle, here he claims that he "never got the money". In this interview just after taking the Newcastle job he makes clear he has no plans to change his style: ""When you have been managing as long as I have, the more success you gain, the more you realise what you're doing is right." Hmm. When you consistently lose games and have someone like Bobby Robson come out and plead for your players to pass a football, I would venture that you're doing something wrong.

Then there's

. If that's football management at the highest level then I don't know what to say.

1. You originally said that Sam had a "less-than-impressive track record" pile of rubbish yes?

The only significant success Allardyce has had came at Bolton, with a rigidly "pragmatic" approach which came at the expense of entertainment and is now clearly ineffective. He didn't exactly go out on a high at Bolton either. There are numerous "one club wonder" managers.

2. Players like Hierro, Campo and co rave about Sam as a manager and his forward thinking approach- do you have anything to counter this?

They don't "rave about him", they just say he's a decent coach. When you're in the twilight of your career and someone hands you a fat contract I suppose you develop a soft spot.

3. You said: "Even Bolton 2005 were better to watch than Stoke 2009, but now we're pushing them close. The reliance on set pieces seems to get greater by the game."- Did you see the first two games, when we had more shots on target and more possession than the other teams and played decent football not "hoodball" as you said, anything to counter this?

We haven't "played decent football" (or attempted to) in any game since Allardyce was appointed in January. This is a subjective matter, and we'll just have to agree to disagree.

I'm glad you're enjoying what's on offer, because I - and a growing number of others - are not.

[tony gale's mic]

MK Dons aren't doing too badly at the moment.

Better than us anyway.

Oh well, we will be a better team when Benni leaves and Barton joins.

Great!

I thought your days of backing Ince were over?

[BuckyRover]

I'm not backing Ince.

I am just putting forward a contrasting view. For example, if Ince had tried to sign Zenden there would have been outrage.

[philipl]

I'm not backing Ince.

I am just putting forward a contrasting view. For example, if Ince had tried to sign Zenden there would have been outrage.

As there would have been if Sam had been in for him which he never was...

Ince was a steaming pile of excrement.

Sam has managerial credentials.

[Exiled in Toronto]

An interesting last week for Allardyce.

Begins by publicly running down the club with his small time/town jibe and sulking like a toddler who can't have a lollipop.

Follows up by taking credit for filling our coffers despite not having signed any of the players sold, JW doing the negotiating on fees and they all wanted to leave anyway!

Plays the most negative I have ever seen a Rovers team set up

We sit in the bottom 3

And finishes off by telling the fans that he knows best.

Marvelous stuff!

[spencey7]

An interesting last week for Allardyce.

Begins by publicly running down the club with his small time/town jibe and sulking like a toddler who can't have a lollipop.

Follows up by taking credit for filling our coffers despite not having signed any of the players sold, JW doing the negotiating on fees and they all wanted to leave anyway!

Plays the most negative I have ever seen a Rovers team set up

We sit in the bottom 3

And finishes off by telling the fans that he knows best.

Marvelous stuff!

[Parsonblue]

I'm glad you're enjoying what's on offer, because I - and a growing number of others - are not.

But spencey7, even if we played the best football in the world you wouldn't enjoy it because your hatred of Sam Allardyce is greater than your love of Blackburn Rovers. No doubt you were unhappy that we avoided relegation as this meant that Sam had been successful. Or was Sam a total failure for keeping us in a division that Ince almost got us out of by Christmas?

[imy9]

It's easy for a player to come out with that having deserted the sinking ship. (And that an interesting quote you highlight in that article. Here's another: "With the exception of Habib Beye, his signings ranged between poor and, in the case of Joey Barton, unmitigated disaster.")

YOURS IS NOT A QUOTE IT IS THE OPINION OF A DELUDED GEORDIE WHO THINS THAT KING KEV IS STILL THE MESSIAH (HE ONLY WON 26% OF HIS GAMES AT NEWCASTLE- FACT) FACT REMAINS THERE WAS NO REASON FOR MILNER TO STATE WHAT HE DID, HE DID IT BECAUSE I PRESUME HIS TELLING THE TRUTH?

The evidence to the contrary was widely publicised: "But what do you want us to do when we've got the ball?"

WIDELY PUBLICISED? NAME A PLAYER AND A QUOTE ATTACHED ALL THE REST IS HEARSAY.

Despite having spent a fortune bringing poor players to Newcastle, here he claims that he "never got the money". In this interview just after taking the Newcastle job he makes clear he has no plans to change his style: ""When you have been managing as long as I have, the more success you gain, the more you realise what you're doing is right." Hmm. When you consistently lose games and have someone like Bobby Robson come out and plead for your players to pass a football, I would venture that you're doing something wrong.

UMM HE SPENT £11 MILLION AFTER SALES, IS THAT A LOT OF MONEY FOR A CLUB WANTING TO GET INTO THE TOP 4?

Then there's

. If that's football management at the highest level then I don't know what to say.

The only significant success Allardyce has had came at Bolton, with a rigidly "pragmatic" approach which came at the expense of entertainment and is now clearly ineffective. He didn't exactly go out on a high at Bolton either. There are numerous "one club wonder" managers.

LEFT THEM IN 5TH, WHAT DO YOU DEFINE AS A HIGH THEN!! SIGNIFICANT SUCCESS? CAN YOU NAME ANOTHER MANAGER WHO HAS BEEN AS SUCCESSFUL WITH A SIMILAR BUDGET? I HAVE ASKED THIS QUESTION A NUMBER OF TIMES, THE CLOSEST I CAN THINK OF IS HUGHES AND EVEN HE IS NOT AS SUCCESSFUL

They don't "rave about him", they just say he's a decent coach. When you're in the twilight of your career and someone hands you a fat contract I suppose you develop a soft spot.

http://www.newstin.co.uk/related.a?edition...milarFilter=ALL

VERY GOOD DIFFERS FROM DECENT, YOUR VERSION MAY BE DIFFERENT. AGAIN THESE ARE PLAYERS WHO NO LONGER PLAY FOR SAM, WHY DO THEY PRAISE HIM AFTER AND RECOMMEND HIM TO OTHERS!! SALGADO HAD OFFERS FROM OTHER CLUBS TOO, IM SURE ANELKA AND OTHERS DID TOO- ACCEPT THE FACT THAT SAM IS A PLAYERS MANAGER AND HAS THE PERSUASIVE SKILLS TO ENTICE THE TOP PLAYERS.

We haven't "played decent football" (or attempted to) in any game since Allardyce was appointed in January. This is a subjective matter, and we'll just have to agree to disagree.

A LARGE MAJORITY WHO GO TO GAMES WOULD DISAGREE WITH THAT STATEMENT. HUGHES PLAYED IN A SIMILAR WAY FOR LARGE PORTIONS OF HIS SPELL WOULD YOU NOT AGREE?

I'm glad you're enjoying what's on offer, because I - and a growing number of others - are not.

AT TIMES IM NOT AND WOULD KICK UP A FUSS IF THIS IS ALL I HAD TO SEE BUT I AM GIVING HIM A CHANCE BECAUSE OF WHAT HE DID FOR US LAST SEASON- SOMETHING WHICH AGAIN (SURPRISE SURPRISE) YOU GIVE HIM LITTLE/NO CREDIT FOR.

[cn_barlow]

MK Dons aren't doing too badly at the moment.

Better than us anyway.

Oh well, we will be a better team when Benni leaves and Barton joins.

Great!

Why dont you go and support them then? 2 leagues below doesnt equal 'better than us'.

Cant believe he has to 'turn it around' after three games. If he had gone all out for the win on sat and lost then you lot would still be moaning so its no win for him.

For what its worth i think he's done pretty well in the window, and i think Barton would do pretty well for us. Granted i wouldn't want to be light on forwards to get him.

If we didnt have big Sam in charge we wouldn't be in this league. end of story.

[tashor]

I give up. I just cant anymore. For the love of all sweet women, help this member.

We can't - euthanasia is against the law here. how about South Africa ?

If any of you are anti-abortion then surely you will now re-consider.........................

[LDRover]

An interesting last week for Allardyce.

Follows up by taking credit for filling our coffers despite not having signed any of the players sold, JW doing the negotiating on fees and they all wanted to leave anyway!

Marvelous stuff!

Great point EiT.

I'm just glad he's got such a massive head, with the size of his ego he'd not fit it anywhere else.

[chris]

Blackburn is the titantic and one year soon well go down and not be seen of for a long time until they release a movie staring Kate Winslet

but Sam has an almost impossible job I think, supporting Blackburn gets less exciting every year, but hell someones got toofo it

[Sandiway Blue]

Imy,just join the rest of us and put him on ignore you`ll be surprised how much easier it is to read the board......

[RevidgeBlue]

I thought it was a very good post from AESF a few pages back.

Since Sam took over on December 16th/17th last year I have frequently found myself worrying what he is actually doing at Blackburn Rovers. Around the time he was appointed he made it pretty clear in the National press that he would have crawled on hands and knees over broken glass to get the Sunderland job which was also vacant at the time. It would appear that post was never actually offered to him and a couple of days later he pitched up at Ewood in it has to be said a lot more ebulliant and bullish mood than he has displayed recently.

At the time, as a recent interviewee for the England post, I would have thought his stock was still relatively high and I wondered what attraction (other than the 40,000 obvious ones p.w.) a relegation scrap with no financial support from the qwners/Board held.

We played well immediately after Sam arrived and quickly hauled ourselves towithin touching distance of safety without ever quite kicking on. Thereafter imo we deteriorated the longer the season went on and I frequently found myself wondering if Sam was indeed the man for a short term firefight against relegation but maybe not the man to take us forward in the long term. Nothing last season or this has necessarily convinced me of the latter but obviously he deserves at least 10 -15 games with his own players before any real judgements can start to be made.

Some random thoughts:

I do worry that in the past Sam's success has been based around having an extremely scientific and methodical approach involving an army of back room staff numbering 25 or 30. Financial conditions here have dictated that he is having to make do without that advantage if indeed it is an advantage and I wonder if he has lost that particular edge.

His record in the past with Bolton has been exceptional and would tend to indicate that he has a good chance of getting things right here but as they say in the share prospectuses "Past performance is no guarantee of future success." Again I worry slightly that his style of management requires substantial funding for the addition of genuinely marquis players like Anelka to go alongside the grafters - something he doesn't have here.

I can only think he was told when he took over he would be required to conduct a firesale of any saleable assets this summer and wouldn't be given the funds otherwise if he wasn't I presume he would have walked, or at the very least would have been a lot less happy with the situation than he appears - he seems relatively content, if a little downcast seemingly realising the gig is going to be somewhat harder than he originally anticipated.

Whilst he deserves time I think it's ridiculous to suggest the approach or performance against WHU can't be criticised.

I have to agree and disagree with ParsonBlue I agree we definitely can't afford to be relegated, I disagree that if god forbid we were in the same position in mid December as we were under Ince he should necessarily be kept on. There may be extenuating circumstances at the time but prima facie he'd have to be judged similarly to anyone else. AS I said before, just because he was extremely successful at Bolton in almost another Premiership era under very different constraints, it doesn't necessarily follow he'll replicate that success here.

Now come on Sam, let's put a run of results together and make all this discussion and hand wringing redundant.

[iamarover]

Imy,just join the rest of us and put him on ignore you`ll be surprised how much easier it is to read the board......

AAH. I was about to say that.... you should... Take a bread knife and slot it into your Jap's Eye. Only two (maybe three) sawing movements will make reading Spence the Dense a relatively pleasurable experience. Now,with blood cascading on my keyboard, the hamster boiled in the cat's intestine juices..... I find that you CAN PRESS IGNORE! MOTHER OF GOD! Why don't the moderators tell you that Inward Retribution is not necessary even in the face of the most intense provocation from dull witted dildoes? GAHH! Pressing IGNORE could have saved my self harmed wrist from gouging my eyeball out with a 1970 Carlisle United (home) programme. FECK.

[Tris]

Since Sam took over on December 16th/17th last year I have frequently found myself worrying what he is actually doing at Blackburn Rovers. Around the time he was appointed he made it pretty clear in the National press that he would have crawled on hands and knees over broken glass to get the Sunderland job which was also vacant at the time. It would appear that post was never actually offered to him and a couple of days later he pitched up at Ewood in it has to be said a lot more ebulliant and bullish mood than he has displayed recently.

Location, location, location.

He must have thought Christmas had arrived 10 days early. The prospect of having to commute from Edgworth to Sunderland and/or uproot to a new pied-a-terre ...

And suddenly John Williams turns up with a job 10 miles over the hills, with a salary package which would make some of the Champions League contenders blush.

It's no wonder he can stand in front of the TV cameras and tell us lot he's the expert.

[Miker]

Does anyone actually think we played better football under Hughes or Ince? I'm confused. I don't think many people were complaining when we were getting the 3-0 wins when Sam first took over.

I just don't understand people's perceptions of this season so far. I thought last season we were god awful and I cringed almost every game. In comparison, the last 3 games I've seen have been full of good quality football and clear signs of a more organised unit. So I am quite happy with the progress.

I would be interested to have one of the Sam-haters to tell me what sort of football they would like to see. Give me the name of a team as an example. I constantly see spencey insist he doesn't want our team to be like Barcelona or Arsenal, but what sort of team do you want to see then?

[mark1875]

You only need to check your timeline for this one - Hoilett wasn't "brought in" (he's been with Rovers for around 8 years) and Kalinic was already when Ellington came on trial. Do your research and get back to me.

think your making yourself look stupid telling other people to do their research when you clearly havent done yours

Nathan Ellington's trial had finished let alone started before Kalinic became a rover

do your research mate

[Paul]

Once upon a time.................................

I dreamt of being champions of whichever league we found ourselves in.

Sometimes I'd dream of winning the FA Cup or League Cup

Then we dreamt of a Champions League spot

A little later "qualifying for Europe" would be a real achievement

If we don't get any more bookings we have a 50/50 chance of getting to Europe in the Fair Play League

For a club of our size a top ten finish is realistic

Perhaps we could make the semis of League Cup

Today I worry about finishing 17th. No wonder the tickets are given away, like Brian Clough said one day they fans will be let in for free.

[Miker]

Once upon a time.................................

I dreamt of being champions of whichever league we found ourselves in.

Sometimes I'd dream of winning the FA Cup or League Cup

Then we dreamt of a Champions League spot

A little later "qualifying for Europe" would be a real achievement

If we don't get any more bookings we have a 50/50 chance of getting to Europe in the Fair Play League

For a club of our size a top ten finish is realistic

Perhaps we could make the semis of League Cup

Today I worry about finishing 17th. No wonder the tickets are given away, like Brian Clough said one day they fans will be let in for free.

It's a good point. The club no longer has those big ambitions, but to look at it realistically and fairly to Sam, this is going to be largely a transitional year. I think Sam has said that himself when he first took charge here. He's wringing the changes at the club and it's going to take a bit of time for the team to settle. I expect us to challenge teams this season and we've done that, but I'd be happy with a mid-table finish this season and then look forwards from there.

Unfortunately this year we're looking at about 10 teams that have been strengthening their squads and have money to spend, so breaking into the top 10 is a much tougher task than it was last year or the year before.

[thenodrog]

Quote spency

"Then there's this video. If that's football management at the highest level then I don't know what to say."

No wonder you don't know what to say spencey. That is a video of football coaching not management. So now that you find that so worthy of comment then please inform us all what is he doing wrong and how would you go about coaching a squad of footballers.

Off you go.

[singe]

...and the reason we're letting them in for free? Allardyce is on a mission to get football done away with. I know this is nothing new, but he continues to use tactics from the John Beck school of nonsense. For 'pressure', read 'get it in the box and hack at it for a while, it might just go in off someone's backside'.

As for signings, All we need to complement Diouf, Chimbonda, Grella, Nzonzi etc. is a couple of serial killers and our reputation will be secure. We just about manage to convince people that our 'hard men' reputation was unjustified, then we turn into Wasps and look to play the game in their 22.

I never thought I'd turn my eyes to t'Turf with envious eyes at the style of football being played -the beloved shirt is hovering over the BBQ as we speak...........