[Archived] Sam Allardyce

[jim mk2]

Allardyce has to the most unpopular manager in most peoples living memory.

Trawling through this thread this statement stands out as one of most ludicrous I have seen for some time.

Allardyce may be unpopular with some pimpled youths on here dreaming of 1995 but most sensible folk see him as a good manager doing a difficult job on meagre resources in difficult circumstances.

For those with short-term memory loss both Ince and Souness were far more unpopular as they each set the club on course for what would have been a disastrous relegation had they not been replaced.

[Tris]

Trawling through this thread this statement stands out as one of most ludicrous I have seen for some time.

Allardyce may be unpopular with some pimpled youths on here dreaming of 1995 but most sensible folk see him as a good manager doing a difficult job on meagre resources in difficult circumstances.

For those with short-term memory loss both Ince and Souness were far more unpopular as they each set the club on course for what would have been a disastrous relegation had they not been replaced.

When Allardyce has got Rovers into Europe both through a cup win and a 6th place in the league, then he can be mentioned in the same breath as Souness.

The only slight similarity is that Souness admitted staying in the league was the priority, and then his team played great football and overachieved massively against that aim - and won a cup as well as regular semi / quarter finals.

Allardyce doesn't admit that staying in the league is the only priority, but picks the 2nd team in all cup games and plays the PL fixtures on the basis that only some are winnable, and the football is diabolical.

[S15]

Tris, the football is the same as under Hughes, only key personnel is different.

[Gav]

Trawling through this thread this statement stands out as one of most ludicrous I have seen for some time.

Allardyce may be unpopular with some pimpled youths on here dreaming of 1995 but most sensible folk see him as a good manager doing a difficult job on meagre resources in difficult circumstances.

For those with short-term memory loss both Ince and Souness were far more unpopular as they each set the club on course for what would have been a disastrous relegation had they not been replaced.

Souness was never hated by many Rovers fans until he left the club, me included to be honest. I thought he was doing a fine job, but it took the defection to Newcastle to open my eyes to the predicament he’d actually got us in.

Ince was wanted by the majority of supporters, Allardyce wasn’t, and that’s the point I’m trying to make.

Allardyce has done a decent job, yet the majority of supporters don’t like the chap??

So if that’s one of the most ludicrous comments you’ve seen for some time, I’m glad I’ve given you something to get yer teeth into

[Eddie]

Tris, the football is the same as under Hughes, only key personnel is different.

The football is the same as it was when Hughes first took charge and when Hughes lost the plot towards the end, but we played better football under Hughes when he was really taking the club forward.

[thenodrog]

.

Ince was wanted by the majority of supporters, Allardyce wasn’t, and that’s the point I’m trying to make.

Those are the know nowt 'pimpled youths' on facebook that the old git is referring to.

........... Sorry those and John Williams of course.

The football is the same as it was when Hughes first took charge and when Hughes lost the plot towards the end, but we played better football under Hughes when he was really taking the club forward.

In your opinion eddie exactly what do you think led to 'Hughes losing the plot'?

[Miker]

The thing about Sam is that when he replaced Ince, most people on here maybe didn't like him, but were willing to give him a chance if it meant avoiding relegation. Sam did that, but instead of being given a chance, he was pounced on before the season even began. People were spouting out nonsense back in pre-season, saying our pre-season performances would be indicative of our failure in the Premier League. It was ludicrous and I've been skeptical of Sam's critics ever since the first game of the season when we were actually playing well against Man City and spencey7 came on here and started calling for Sam's head.

Sam has barely even picked out his best 11 yet, or worked out the most effective formation, but people are already expecting him to be challenging and beating or drawing with the top four. The difference between a team like us and a team like Burnley is that Burnley were promoted from the Championship and despite lower quality players have a sense of togetherness and tactical understanding to really challenge the teams above them. At Blackburn, we don't have that same team chemistry just yet and people have to be patient with Sam while he works it out. People can hardly say he should've done that last season, in only 20 games and with so many disruptions to his playing staff due to injury.

[jim mk2]

Souness was never hated by many Rovers fans until he left the club, me included to be honest. I thought he was doing a fine job, but it took the defection to Newcastle to open my eyes to the predicament he'd actually got us in. YOU MUST HAVE HAD YOU EYES CLOSED BECAUSE IT WAS OBVIOUS SIX MONTHS BEFORE HE DEPARTED THAT SOUNESS WAS SLOWLY DESTROYING THE CLUB THROUGH INDIFFERENCE AND POOR DEALINGS IN THE TRANSFER MARKET

Ince was wanted by the majority of supporters, Allardyce wasn't, and that's the point I'm trying to make. HOW DO YOU KNOW THE 'MAJORITY OF SUPPORTERS' WANTED INCE ? I CERTAINLY DON'T KNOW ANY AND THOSE SUPPORTERS OF MY ACQUAINTANCE LIKE MOST SENSIBLE FOLK WERE ALL DUMBFOUNDED WHEN INCE WAS APPOINTED.

Allardyce has done a decent job, yet the majority of supporters don't like the chap?? AGAIN, YOU CLAIM THAT THE "MAJORITY OF SUPPORTERS" DON'T LIKE ALLARDYCE. HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS ? HAVE YOU ASKED EACH OF THE 20,000 PLUS REGULARS AT EWOOD ? AND WHO CARES ANYWAY, AS YOU SAY YOURSELF HE IS DOING A "DECENT JOB" WHICH IS ALL THAT MATTERS.

[ABBEY]

Miker..surely after all but 12 months he should know his best team.

[RovertheHill]

Souness was never hated by many Rovers fans until he left the club, me included to be honest. I thought he was doing a fine job, but it took the defection to Newcastle to open my eyes to the predicament he’d actually got us in. Agree with this. He was a great manager - just maybe stayed too long

Ince was wanted by the majority of supporters, Allardyce wasn’t, and that’s the point I’m trying to make. Whilst you're right about Allardyce (first time around) I don't think you are about Ince. I can't recall many people who had him even near the top of their wanted list. Ambivalence would be the best word. And then second time around I think there were plenty who wanted Allardyce as they realised he was the best man for the job at that time

Allardyce has done a decent job, yet the majority of supporters don’t like the chap?? Probably true

So if that’s one of the most ludicrous comments you’ve seen for some time, I’m glad I’ve given you something to get yer teeth into

[PAFELL]

Well there is one thing Sam could never be accused of/congratulated for- uniting the Rovers fans behind him!

The guy is doing what it says on the tin to use the wooden cliche:

- playing percentage football and getting points

- keeping us up

- bringing in or trying and failing to bring in his old favourites

- signing a pensioner from Real Madrid

- using technology

- ripping up the Hughes inheritance

The five away defeats were against teams where the odds were against us getting something from any of the games:

Sunderland- played well, defended badly ended up losing unluckily

Everton- horrible performance after 35 okish minutes

Arsenal- swine flued yet in it until we got reffed out of the game on 50th minute then joined the likes of Everton in getting by-passed and hammered

Chelsea- never in it and got clobbered like Atletico Madrid did

Man U- held out a long time and had a perfectly OK consolation goal ruled out

We have a great home record in terms of league points but oh so patchy in terms of performance:

Man City- best two halves performance of the season aesthetically but gave away two soft goals

West Ham- abysmal negative tactics at home against possible relegation rivals. Awful stuff.

Wolves- comfortably beat a poor side without looking classy at any stage

Villa- went behind and showed commendable second half grit to pinch the win

Burnley- went behind but exploited their weaknesses too quickly for any fan insurrection to get going and stuffed them with some panache in the first half. Then treated to a West Ham style second half.

Pompey- worst performance in a season of terrible halves countered by a gamble of a double substitution at ht their manager was too dumb to counter leading to a win at a canter.

So by my reckoning, Rovers' fans have endured 12 truly awful halves out of the 22 we have played so far this season in the league. Probably there have been seven halves where the team gelled and played attractively well and ironically four of them came in games we lost (two v City, one v Sunderland, one v Arsenal).

You cannot take the last 8 of the League Cup nor being in 14th after a particularly grim set of away fixtures. But equally those 12 grim halves are doing nobody any favours.

No wonder Sam is dividing the fans!

I think we also forget that Rovers have not had a settled side yet ths season - especially in defence. International games have also not helped, especially with team training etc. We also should bear in mind that a lot of the players are new signings and need time to gell in the team. Hopefully, it appears, that Sam has at last realised that Andrews is not a good player - substitute at best ( I am being polite)

Many will be divided over Sam, bearing in mind the various mentioned handicaps that have accured so far this season, 14th in the league, last 8 of Carling Cup, better than normal home record, these are all positives.

But the negatives are plain to see also. Starting with the bad away record, bad goal difference but after having played 3 of the top 4 away from home where Rovers conceeded 14 goals in 3 games - but this was because Rovers did not try to win or compete in the games - Arsenal maybe the exception, but Arsenal were sheer class that day and sometimes we have to take our Rovers tinted glasses off and admit things like that. Chelsea may be down to swine flu or a very convienient excuse - against Man U, yes bad penalty shout, but lets be honest Rovers deserved what they got that game due to not trying or taking the game to man U. It should have been a penalty, but the way Rovers played that day, they didn't deserve it. I also think at times a teams effort or lack of, can also influence a referee.

If Rovers can take their home form into away games - west Ham aside - then Rovers will be in the top 10 at least. I still believe we have much to be positive about this season.

[Silencio]

The football is the same as it was when Hughes first took charge and when Hughes lost the plot towards the end, but we played better football under Hughes when he was really taking the club forward.

[/quo

When we were at our best under Hughes it was because we had Bellamy. We never played it around in midfield as well as we did under Souness but Bellamy could turn a poor pass into a great one such was his pace and touch.

Hughes was a very good manager for us but was working under much better conditions than Allardyce is now, and we all thought he should have been backed more then. This summer and last summer the board have sold our best players and Allardyce has had very little to spend. He has made a couple of dubious signings in Salgado, Van Heerden and Diouf but I think Kalinic will come good in time.

If it's true that we are after Elm and Ibric and the board can back Sam in getting them then I would expect a big improvement in the way we play. I'm not holding my breath on him getting the money to buy even one of them though.

[S15]

Miker..surely after all but 12 months he should know his best team.

Abbey you've been ridiculous in your assessments ever since he made the tongue in cheek 'I'm the expert' comment, which was made due to the moronic response Sam received prior to, and the abuse he's received whilst being our manager. Worst of all it's all come from our own supporters, and if I was Sam, I wouldn't feel to warm towards our 'support.'

Where should we be in the league Abbey? Is Allardyce doing a bad job?

I find most Rovers fans absolutely embarrassing hounding out a manager, who to anyone other than a hatred filled moronic Blackburn fan can see is DOING A GOOD JOB, AS GOOD AS CAN BE DONE WITH ABSOLUTELY NO RESOURCES!

[John]

Exactly, with some of the complete nonsense being written on here, Sam is most certainly the expert!

[Hughesy]

Miker..surely after all but 12 months he should know his best team.

Its more to do with the personnel, as to 'knowing his best team'.

Its still work in progress.....what is so difficult to understand about that?

[sparkspakespoke]

The comparisons between Hughes and Sam in the transfer market are harsh in my opinion. Transfer fees have gone mad in the last couple of years driven up by City and Real Madrids spending spree, what you get for your money is very different now.

Hughes knew how tough it was going to be to continue any kind of progression hence he jumped ship to City. If you compare their time when Hughes was here and Sam was at Bolton when they had a similar budget there is very little difference beween them in terms of success in the transfer market and league positions.

Big Sam may not always be the easiest to like but Hughes could also be a dour git as well. Sam is what this club needs at this time, he's ensuring that we continue to punch above our weight and peform stay in a league that financially speaking we have no right to be in.

[Hughesy]

The comparisons between Hughes and Sam in the transfer market are harsh in my opinion. Transfer fees have gone mad in the last couple of years driven up by City and Real Madrids spending spree, what you get for your money is very different now.

Hughes knew how tough it was going to be to continue any kind of progression hence he jumped ship to City. If you compare their time when Hughes was here and Sam was at Bolton when they had a similar budget there is very little difference beween them in terms of success in the transfer market and league positions.

Big Sam may not always be the easiest to like but Hughes could also be a dour git as well. Sam is what this club needs at this time, he's ensuring that we continue to punch above our weight and peform stay in a league that financially speaking we have no right to be in.

Spot on....also I think he will ensure we keep progressing, despite being amongst much richer opposition.

Sam seems to be building a much younger side, that given time to build will look much better and also have a much greater re-sale value. 21 year old Elm now being heavily linked....21 year old Kalinic signed, 20 year old NZonzi, Trying to convince 19 year old Junior, 17 year old Jones......

[mellison24]

I find most Rovers fans absolutely embarrassing hounding out a manager, who to anyone other than a hatred filled moronic Blackburn fan can see is DOING A GOOD JOB, AS GOOD AS CAN BE DONE WITH ABSOLUTELY NO RESOURCES!

What the hell are you doing on this messageboard? You souldn't be allowed. You actually have a brain.....You are saying exactly what my many mates say (about half of whom are neutral supporters and even a couple of dingles)!

[riverside returns]

I am with Shillito and Mellison on this, Allardyce is doing a good job on little resources and the future is starting to look much better. We are not playing on a level field and never will be so we cannot expect to be in the top six or eight anymore, one good season and a jaunt into europe is about all we can ask. Enjoy the ride.

[thenodrog]

http://www.brfcs.co.uk/mb/index.php/topic/20232-sam-allardyce/page__view__findpost__p__840517

3.45am Jim!!

Just yesterday you criticised me for posting at least a couple of hours sooner. Wet the bed did you?

[ABBEY]

Abbey you've been ridiculous in your assessments ever since he made the tongue in cheek 'I'm the expert' comment, which was made due to the moronic response Sam received prior to, and the abuse he's received whilst being our manager. Worst of all it's all come from our own supporters, and if I was Sam, I wouldn't feel to warm towards our 'support.'

Where should we be in the league Abbey? Is Allardyce doing a bad job?

I find most Rovers fans absolutely embarrassing hounding out a manager, who to anyone other than a hatred filled moronic Blackburn fan can see is DOING A GOOD JOB, AS GOOD AS CAN BE DONE WITH ABSOLUTELY NO RESOURCES!

and this has what exactly to do with knowing his best team....the expert comment was not tongue in cheek...

[S15]

Abbey, I bet if you were being constantly abused by your own manager/directors/staff you would react wouldn't you. So why is Allardyce such a bad person for responding to ridiculous supporter jibes?

And it's hard to know your best team when you have players who have been injured for a large portion of your reign returning to full fitness isn't it?

I'd wager over half the Premiership managers don't know their strongest teams.

[Blue blood]

Well there is one thing Sam could never be accused of/congratulated for- uniting the Rovers fans behind him!

So by my reckoning, Rovers' fans have endured 12 truly awful halves out of the 22 we have played so far this season in the league. Probably there have been seven halves where the team gelled and played attractively well and ironically four of them came in games we lost (two v City, one v Sunderland, one v Arsenal).

You cannot take the last 8 of the League Cup nor being in 14th after a particularly grim set of away fixtures. But equally those 12 grim halves are doing nobody any favours.

No wonder Sam is dividing the fans!

Philipl I've said very much the same thing previously that it is our inconsistency which is dividing fans about Sam. Hughes for the most part did well pretty much all of the time, we all were optimistic under him. Ince on the other hand, well halfway through his reign pretty much everyone had given up expecting anything other than a defeat. The problem with Sam is that we are seeing the best and worst of rovers - often in the same game, certainly within the space of a couple of weeks.

Because we've seen some excellent stuff under Sam by rovers - the dingles first half was awsome stuff, as was our comeback vs Villa, it makes the bad football we've played all the more frustrating, because we know that the team is capable of playing and performing well. I think this knowledge of our potential under Sam, which we've seen at times this seasons, makes the negatives all the harder to take.

[sparkspakespoke]

Miker..surely after all but 12 months he should know his best team.

I would argue he does know his best team, but this team is not totally his yet. On a budget like ours it takes a long time to build a team of your own.

[FourLaneBlue]

Allardyce has done a decent job, yet the majority of supporters don’t like the chap??

Think it is a vocal minority rather than a majority however that line does pretty much sum the situation up.