[Archived] Sam Allardyce

[thenodrog]

We are a club in transition - on and off the field - here's hoping Sam steers us clear and leaves a healthy playing staff for whoever takes over when he retires.

I can't remember the last time we had a manager who stayed until he retired. Iley perhaps?

[Stuart]

I can't remember the last time we had a manager who stayed until he retired. Iley perhaps?

Would you class Dalglish as having retired upstairs, only to come out of retirement to go to Newcastle? Harford?

I think Sam will retire sooner rather than later too.

[47er]

We look twice the team when we have Olssen and Hoilett on the wings. Speed kills.

Definitely right. That's where the excessive caution comes in from Sam. We should have played Hoilett whether it was away from home or not. With the mistakes our defence makes the best way to get a result is by putting pressure on them. When Dunn was proving to be out of sorts he should have been replaced by Di Santo at half-time. Hoilett and Di Santo would at least have given the Spurs defence something to think about.Who knows, Bale might have had to play deeper and do some defending!

That's really the main criticism I have of Sam, he's cautious even when there's nothing to lose.

[tony gale's mic]

Definitely right. That's where the excessive caution comes in from Sam. We should have played Hoilett whether it was away from home or not. With the mistakes our defence makes the best way to get a result is by putting pressure on them. When Dunn was proving to be out of sorts he should have been replaced by Di Santo at half-time. Hoilett and Di Santo would at least have given the Spurs defence something to think about.Who knows, Bale might have had to play deeper and do some defending!

That's really the main criticism I have of Sam, he's cautious even when there's nothing to lose.

Hoillet has only ever been effective for us as a second half sub though. He's not ready to be starting matches yet and hasnt looked good when he has done.

[T4E]

That's really the main criticism I have of Sam, he's cautious even when there's nothing to lose.

Really could not have put it any better. Agree 100%

Incredibly frustrating it is, too. Worst thing is he seems to do it every time I'm just about starting to warm to him again.

[Seedstral]

Regardless what you think of the manager theres no denying hes done a fantastic job since taking over. Most will disagree as they can't stand him but we need to have a reality check and be grateful that he kept us in the premier league and this season has steared us clear of the relegation zone with 10 games to go. Maybe next season we will push on that bit further but what can hyou expect without investment. We are 12th in the league and some fans are still critical. Get real we are not the force we once were of the 90s we are nowadays a run of the mill team who are punching above our weight like it or not that is the reality and i cant think of any other manager who could do better in this day and age!! Feel free to shoot me down but if you do name me any manager who could take us any further!!

[gumboots]

Regardless what you think of the manager theres no denying hes done a fantastic job since taking over. Most will disagree as they can't stand him but we need to have a reality check and be grateful that he kept us in the premier league and this season has steared us clear of the relegation zone with 10 games to go. Maybe next season we will push on that bit further but what can hyou expect without investment. We are 12th in the league and some fans are still critical. Get real we are not the force we once were of the 90s we are nowadays a run of the mill team who are punching above our weight like it or not that is the reality and i cant think of any other manager who could do better in this day and age!! Feel free to shoot me down but if you do name me any manager who could take us any further!!

I don't think anyone even the most blinkered could deny that he's done the job he was hired to do - keep us up last season and then again this. It's what he won't do that annoys a lot of fans. As has been said here, he is cautious when there's no real need for it, when a bit of adventure might dent our goal difference a bit more but could equally cut it and might just garner a few more points. It's that that frustrates people. We almost all know and accept that we don't have money to burn and that our squad is nowadays no better than midtable, but there are different typess of midtable team. There are some that go for games they supposedly can't win and just sometimes they do. We seem to accept draw or defeat too readily against teams we know on paper are better than us.

[47er]

Regardless what you think of the manager theres no denying hes done a fantastic job since taking over. Most will disagree as they can't stand him but we need to have a reality check and be grateful that he kept us in the premier league and this season has steared us clear of the relegation zone with 10 games to go. Maybe next season we will push on that bit further but what can hyou expect without investment. We are 12th in the league and some fans are still critical. Get real we are not the force we once were of the 90s we are nowadays a run of the mill team who are punching above our weight like it or not that is the reality and i cant think of any other manager who could do better in this day and age!! Feel free to shoot me down but if you do name me any manager who could take us any further!!

I agree with you and over the season Sam is doing as good a job as we could reasonably expect. However nobody is perfect and I think there were obvious signs on Saturday that things needed changing around a bit. Dunn was ineffective after a long lay-off and Kalinic was isolated up front so why not change it and bring on Di Santo for the second half? Salgado was having a nightmare and Emerton was poor in the middle so why not put Emerton back and replace Salgado with Doeuf/Hoilett? Again, what did we have to lose?

I emphasise that I like Sam as manager but a little bit of imagination wouldn't hurt.

[G Somerset Rover]

Really could not have put it any better. Agree 100%

Incredibly frustrating it is, too. Worst thing is he seems to do it every time I'm just about starting to warm to him again.

Think you've hit the nail on the head for me there Tugs.

I said in the Spurs match thread that I am warming to Allardyce. Repeating what Gumboots has said but it's just his stubborn and overly cautious attitude which wind me up. Saturday was a perfect example. We go 2-0 down to spurs and chuck on arguably our poorest player who is a midfielder. It wasn't until the 74th minute that Sam put on another striker and by then it was too late.

Why the lack of urgency? I just don't get it.

[Hughesy]

It wasn't until the 74th minute that Sam put on another striker and by then it was too late.

Why the lack of urgency? I just don't get it.

Why was it too late? We scored and made it 2-1, it was sh!te defending that let them hit a 3rd and killed the game.

I think Sam is sometimes cautious because we need to try and protect our goal difference - had we gone 4-4-2 at 2-0 and lost 5-1, im sure there would be more moaning on here, not 'oh well at least we had a go'.

[waggy]

why did the expert play saldago against bale,the poor guy was skinned every time,poor decesion and every rovers fan knows it.we might be safe this season but we ain't going anywere with 40k oaps like saldago,he is just above average,were's jacabsen?

[gumboots]

why did the expert play saldago against bale,the poor guy was skinned every time,poor decesion and every rovers fan knows it.we might be safe this season but we ain't going anywere with 40k oaps like saldago,he is just above average,were's jacabsen?

If you kept up you'd know he's just had a hernia op.

[G Somerset Rover]

Why was it too late? We scored and made it 2-1, it was sh!te defending that let them hit a 3rd and killed the game.

I think Sam is sometimes cautious because we need to try and protect our goal difference - had we gone 4-4-2 at 2-0 and lost 5-1, im sure there would be more moaning on here, not 'oh well at least we had a go'.

I think taking twenty minutes after going two down is far too long to bring on an attacking substitution. I would have been looking to get Di Santo or Roberts on not long after the re-start especially given the fact that Kalinic was isolated for such long periods.

I just wish we would give it more of a go sometimes. I can't see how anyone can defend not bringing on another striker until the 75th minute given the situation we faced on Saturday. I'm not aiming to come across as anti-Sam because as I've said he has impressed me of late and I've been delighted with our home form.

[47er]

If you kept up you'd know he's just had a hernia op.

[T4E]

Why was it too late?

At 2-0 down, why wait?

[Amo]

Hoillet has only ever been effective for us as a second half sub though. He's not ready to be starting matches yet and hasnt looked good when he has done.

Hoilett needs time to develop his game, but his pace is still invaluable - especially away from home on the counter attack. I said before the Spurs game that if he didn't play we'd get pegged back, and we did. Bale had little defensive responsibility because the right hand side offered nothing going forward.

[Hughesy]

At 2-0 down, why wait?

Risk of 4 or 5-0?!

Our goal difference is poor as it is - can see it costing us a place come the end of the season

[tcj_jones]

Risk of 4 or 5-0?!

Our goal difference is poor as it is - can see it costing us a place come the end of the season

That's rubbish. It's not like we're talking about bringing on three strikers and going 4-2-4! Just bring on anotehr striker, push the back four up the pitch and start pressuring them.

At this stage of the season, when we're safe from relegation and have a poor goal difference already, it makes very little difference losing another goal or two anyway.

[cn174]

Risk of 4 or 5-0?!

Our goal difference is poor as it is - can see it costing us a place come the end of the season

So we should settle for a 2-0 defeat? because it is ok on the goal difference?

Our goal difference is not only poor because we've conceeded loads, but because we've not scored enough.

[Hughesy]

So we should settle for a 2-0 defeat? because it is ok on the goal difference?

Our goal difference is not only poor because we've conceeded loads, but because we've not scored enough.

No sh!t sherlock - but bringing on 1 goal Di Santo is unlikely to change that much.

Bringing the striker on when we did made it 2-1, unfortunatly we couldnt defend and it was 3-1 in a blink.

[dazmaz]

No sh!t sherlock - but bringing on 1 goal Di Santo is unlikely to change that much.

Bringing the striker on when we did made it 2-1, unfortunatly we couldnt defend and it was 3-1 in a blink.

But was Samba who scored so that sub might not of made a difference.

[Hughesy]

But was Samba who scored so that sub might not of made a difference.

People forget that it was more like 4-4-1-1 or 4-4-2 from much earlier when Dunn was pushed up!

[gumboots]

No sh!t sherlock - but bringing on 1 goal Di Santo is unlikely to change that much.

Bringing the striker on when we did made it 2-1, unfortunatly we couldnt defend and it was 3-1 in a blink.

Di Santo coming on might not have meant he scored but with 2 players prepared and able to run around up front, one striker could have created more problems for Spurs and given the other space to play and score. We didn't look likely to do much without helping Kalinic out more and Dunn only pushed up near the start of the game, not in the second half. I hate it when we lose by a big score but I'd rather lose 4-3 than 1-0 or whatever. You never know what might happen if we got into a run of scoring. We might carry it on. We had very few shots as far as I could see from the tv coverage and just to see a few more might have meant we got a lucky bounce, deflection or whatever and scored another couple.Clean sheets breed confidence but since we find those so difficult perhaps we ought to go for the other thing that breeds confidence - goals.

[Hughesy]

I'd rather lose 4-3 than 1-0 or whatever.

Blame Howard Webb then....Dunn Penalty & Kalinic goal...+ probably 1 penalty for Bale

[alexanders]

I blame Emerton, Salgado and Chimbonda - not Sam.