[Archived] Sam Allardyce

[Ossydave]

Salgado has been dreadful everytime i've seen him, easily as bad as Simpson.

Not see the Chelsea cup game then? He was superb. Although I do agree he's been a waste of cash and a baffling signing.

[Tom]

I'm starting to think they operated on his brain by mistake. Bringing on Rigters? And MGP with 68 seconds of a half remaining? Truly baffling.

That in itself is shocking, I didn't realise till Claire pointed it out but to bring a sub on a minute before half time then have him spend half time warming up is just bizarre stuff almost amateur

[Silencio]

I'd like to know some of the players opinions on Allardyce.

To me it seems their heads are slowly dropping and it's getting worse, as if they have very little faith in him or his tactics. When they applaud the fans at the end, particularly Robbo, I get the impression they feel sorry for us in a way and believe we deserve better.

Your probably right but Robbo plays to the fans to cover his own hide...

[allanncd]

Damning comments by Megson on the "mess" he inherited at Notlob. Specifically mentioned an agEing squad (lookS familiar - Diouf,Salgado, Chimbonda to name just 3 of the BS additions)and an over-size squad (interesting to see the 2009 accounts show an increase from 70 to 85 in the number of "senior football team and management").

[Mozzer]

i just ask one question to those who want rid of allardyce - who would you replace him with ???

sacking him would be crazy - hes done a good job at rovers - were only half way through the season and not far from top half and we also in semi finals - umm wel sackable that - get a grip, and get REALISTIC !!!!!!!

[jonv]

Chimbonda has actually been great imo, Diouf helped save our asses last season but im not sure he's much help from here on and salgado.. well, who the hell is he????

What do we want and expect from our club this season. Survival we are almost assured under big sam. I really can't see us going down despite the horrid garbage I'm forced to watch on the box, but that there lies the problem.. if we rid of Sam and take a risk (like we did with Ince) then I could very well not be able to watch my beloved Rovers at ALL next season

It's not pretty but we are sitting in 13th, above a pack of clubs that I feel are worse than us. We are also going into a semi final in the cup, something I would have taken for almost anything at the beginning of the season.

It is far too early to be calling for any rash decisions... at the start of the season what was your realistic expectation for this campaign.. and put it in line with where we are now.

(If your thinking Europe.. the league has changed A LOT since a few years back :!: )

[imy9]

Damning comments by Megson on the "mess" he inherited at Notlob. Specifically mentioned an agEing squad (lookS familiar - Diouf,Salgado, Chimbonda to name just 3 of the BS additions)and an over-size squad (interesting to see the 2009 accounts show an increase from 70 to 85 in the number of "senior football team and management").

ha ha! Ask Bolton fans what they thought of the squad- remember that was a squad that was in 5th position in the league when Sam left them.

Chimbonda is 30 years old and Diouf 29, is that ageing? Wow what would you call Chelseas squad or Man Utd!

Have you seen Boltons squad now?

[Blackpool_Rover]

Salgado has been dreadful everytime i've seen him, easily as bad as Simpson.

Van Heerden has played once i think since August and is being offered out to ShefU. That to me makes him a terrible signing

Diouf is a waste of a human being who had 3 good games last season and this season has been a total liability

Are you stupid?

[thenodrog]

too late

Last weekend i went to Wigan which, apart from the derby, was my first live game in the Allardyce era and i couldnt believe it. It was absolutely PAINFUL to watch and he said he was pleased with the performance. Midfield were shocking and we could only create something from set pieces. The fans were flat apart from the odd bit of racist chanting (Was a minority of idiots sat near me in the bottom left). Sorry sorry times

Have you considered that Hull got 4 thumped past em yesterday at Wigan?

Atm my biggest problem is that Allardyce appears to be squandering what little money we have

...............

Kalinic, Chimbonda and Di Santo are all downgrades on previous players, but they shouldnt get too much criticism. However, both Di Santo and Kalinic are wasting too many chances, both should have at least double what they have now. Chimbonda is talented, but is almost morphing into another Diouf. Was originally a decent signing, but now doesnt seem to have the heart for the fight and is YET ANOTHER on big wages

Givet - cracking signing, well played Sam; but for god's sake stick him at CB, Nelsen has had his day

I think you should be addressing the board not the manager. Playing the Devils advocate here but I'm sure that SA would love to have Brad, Warnock, RSC and Bentley at his disposal. How about Bellamy too? If he had do you think he'd have signed the ones you've named?

Playing Devils advocate further before you address your complaints to the board think Portsmouth and WHU, then think LUFC, Soton, Forest, Charlton etc etc.

[thenodrog]

3 of the truly worst ever players??

You want sh!te - think Mokoena, Ward, Grabbi, Danny Simpson, Kevin Davies etc - all were crap!

You forgot Shefki! Not to mention the likes of Frank Lord, Joe Craig, John Radford, Beamo, John Coddington etc etc to infinity...

[MCMC1875]

You forgot Shefki! Not to mention the likes of Frank Lord, Joe Craig, John Radford, Beamo, John Coddington etc etc to infinity...

John Lowey, Chris Thompson......

[thenodrog]

John Lowey, Chris Thompson......

Andy Kennedy, Per Pederson, De Pedro, Yordi, Ben Arentoft, ....

[S15]

Yordi?

No chance. Good signing for us at the time, a far better player than Kuqi/Nonda.

[Hughesy]

Exactly my point - there are loads worse..Vogel too.

Some by Hughes, some by Ince, some by Kidd or Hodgson too. So far with the money spent Sam hasnt done bad.

I think Summer is our big window - it gives us room to move with the likes of MGP, Reid & Dunn short on deals - aswell as unsettled players like Roberts & McCarthy. Hopefully Sams scouts are working hard and will un-earth 1 or 2 more gems in the summer.

[Tom]

Yordi?

No chance. Good signing for us at the time, a far better player than Kuqi/Nonda.

Take that back

Say what you like I'd love Nonda in our squad right now

[Ninjathunder]

Last night I had a dream that I bought a used Ford Fiesta off Sam Allardyce. It cost me £850 and was advertised in the paper as a bargain. After purchasing it I discovered that the car was registered several years later and it was much older than I thought it was. It also had lots of faults and he hadn't shown me that log book beforehand. I took it back to him and he was really arrogant, dismissive and refused to give me my money back, even though he owned an authorised dealership and I thought I was within my rights to get my money back as he'd defrauded me. This is the most vivid dream I've had in years.

Your thoughts please.

[AggyBlue]

Last night I had a dream that I bought a used Ford Fiesta off Sam Allardyce.  It cost me £850 and was advertised in the paper as a bargain.  After purchasing it I discovered that the car was registered several years later and it was much older than I thought it was.  It also had lots of faults and he hadn't shown me that log book beforehand.  I took it back to him and he was really arrogant, dismissive and refused to give me my money back, even though he owned an authorised dealership and I thought I was within my rights to get my money back as he'd defrauded me.  This is the most vivid dream I've had in years.

Your thoughts please.

It means you're afraid of tomatoes

[PAFELL]

Last night I had a dream that I bought a used Ford Fiesta off Sam Allardyce. It cost me £850 and was advertised in the paper as a bargain. After purchasing it I discovered that the car was registered several years later and it was much older than I thought it was. It also had lots of faults and he hadn't shown me that log book beforehand. I took it back to him and he was really arrogant, dismissive and refused to give me my money back, even though he owned an authorised dealership and I thought I was within my rights to get my money back as he'd defrauded me. This is the most vivid dream I've had in years.

Your thoughts please.

Your fault for not checking everything before you purchased - just be thankful it was only a dream - reality costs a lot more.

[thenodrog]

Yordi?

No chance. Good signing for us at the time, a far better player than Kuqi/Nonda.

Eh? Yordi was bloody crap and couldn't trap a wet sandbag. Kuqi was even worse but much more effective whilst Nonda did have quality but dodgy weak knees.

Yordi's done nowt much since and we certainly did not try to sign him permananetly which speaks volumes.

[trs]

Last night I had a dream that I bought a used Ford Fiesta off Sam Allardyce. It cost me £850 and was advertised in the paper as a bargain. After purchasing it I discovered that the car was registered several years later and it was much older than I thought it was. It also had lots of faults and he hadn't shown me that log book beforehand. I took it back to him and he was really arrogant, dismissive and refused to give me my money back, even though he owned an authorised dealership and I thought I was within my rights to get my money back as he'd defrauded me. This is the most vivid dream I've had in years.

Your thoughts please.

Hardly a wet one one was it

[S15]

Eh? Yordi was bloody crap and couldn't trap a wet sandbag. Kuqi was even worse but much more effective whilst Nonda did have quality but dodgy weak knees.

Yordi's done nowt much since and we certainly did not try to sign him permananetly which speaks volumes.

Yordi was an important factor in keeping us up the second half of the season we signed Cole. He scored a couple of goals, and was a last 30 minute man when we needed to stop mix things up a bit/ have a big hold up man up front to take the pressure off us.

[AggyBlue]

Hardly a wet one one was it

Unless the radiator was leaking

[Crank]

Andy Kennedy, Per Pederson, De Pedro, Yordi, Ben Arentoft, ....

You cannot go through a season, without a few crappy players in your squad. With the lack of funds, having to get freebies etc, we bound to find @#/?. Teams like United, Chelsea and Liverpool also have crap. Our problem is, that majority of our squad is poor and we dont have the finances to address the problem

[TimmyJimmy]

I posted this on the 'Poll' thread, forgive the self referencing but it's too long to re-type/paraphrase.

I found a couple of interesting items this weekend which are relevant to this discussion IMO.

The first was an article by Gulliem Balague in which he discussed Liverpool's problems but he could very well have been talking about us. Snippets from the article are ...

"Results are the consequence of a complex set of circumstances behind the scenes, but the majority cannot see beyond the surface and what they wrongly perceive as simple failings at managerial level"

"If Liverpool were not called Liverpool, they’d be receiving praise for punching above their weight"

"The manager has to work with inferior resources to every other club expected to win the title"

"The allure of instant gratification is persuading too many fans that there must be some magical shortcut preferable to the road of steady progress down which Rafa is trying to lead the club"

Ditto for us and Sam I think. He fields the team that has to be drawn from the players/budget he has and on the results of injuries and training outcomes etc., etc, much of which we seem to ignore when we want a whipping boy (me included). If we had not won the EPL and been successful in the Cup and had a run of European qualifications in the 'golden years' then we would be perceived as punching above our weight right now. If Liverpool are perceived to have inferior resources and that the fans should lay off Rafa how much more so for Sam? The last point about instant gratification is also the subject of the second item of interest.

The Sunday Supplement had a very interesting discussion about the plague of booing that is sweeping through the game, even prompting Chelsea fans to boo their team on occasions!?!

The question was asked, why? The conclusion was that the X-Factor generation expect a vote and a voice on everything. The whole era of instant gratification and reality TV is driving some pretty snotty behavior. One journo asked what good the boo boys thought they were doing and how did they think they were helping the team/player concerned. Given that performance is about many things including a sense of belonging, and esprit de corps and confidence how does booing and constant criticism of the manager and the players possibly improve matters.

For me Sam has done all right. I am constantly frustrated by our performances, formations, refs etc etc etc but that's just my inability to cope with failure, however after the heat of the moment and when I calm down I always come back to the realisation that things can get better for us by degrees and that we have to trust Sam and the board to do the right thing for the club. Let the manager manage, let the players play and let the supporters support. Sam's doing a good job.

Over to the "I want my say" boo boys.

Time to leave Sam alone and let him get on with doing his job.

[alexanders]

Wasnt Blackburn Rovers awarded the "most exciting team to watch" last season?

I know from my own point of view that the second half against wigan was cracking fun and very exciting. I sat with some neutrals who also thought it was a very exciting and nervous game.