[Archived] Sam Allardyce

[philipl]

The passing game was not the problem with Ince.

Everything else was- the boozing, the best mates "management" culture, the utter naivety/ignorace of football in the 21st century, the use of old school dog coaches, total lack of discipline, inability to speak and convey a clear message at the same time etc etc etc etc....

[Sparky Marky]

They are not elite footballers, they are in the main solid pros earning a living. The likes of Messi and Ronaldo are elite players.

Your second sentence shows a complete lack of understanding of professional football and the psychology of the people who work in it in which results on the pitch affect their lives to an extent that is not understandable to the man in the street and wet-behind-the-ears students in particular.

You talk rubbish....to even be in the Premier League as a player means you are an Elite player...no doubt....You don't seem to have a grasp of what it actually takes to become a normal professional, never mind one performing in the most successful league in the world...of course they are elite....MESSI AND RONALDO are superstars.

[MarkBRFC71]

taking results aside, does anybody enjoy sam allardyce's style of football?

genuine question. i understand why it is employed and i accept it is needed at the moment.

Slightly more than removing my own liver. With a rusty breadknife. But it's close ....

[Mattyblue]

taking results aside, does anybody enjoy sam allardyce's style of football?

genuine question. i understand why it is employed and i accept it is needed at the moment.

If it is successful, then yes I do.

I go to Ewood to see my team win, nothing more, nothing less.

Plus, in the last couple of months of the season, there were some excellent perfomances, alas Sam's reputation goes before him.

I suggest you read Parsonblue's post and then read it again.

[den]

I think some of us are falling into the media trap here. We played Arsenal off the park last game of the season didn't we [i wasn't there]. We played some good football in the second half of the season in other games as well. Admittedly the first part of the season was dire to watch, but it did improve quite a lot IMO.

[Amo]

I don't object to Sam's tactics, but there is often an overemphasis on launching it down-field when we really need someone to put their foot on the ball. These are highly-paid professional footballers, they should be able to keep the ball down for five minutes.

[MarkBRFC71]

If it is successful, then yes I do.

I go to Ewood to see my team win, nothing more, nothing less.

Plus, in the last couple of months of the season, there were some excellent perfomances, alas Sam's reputation goes before him.

I suggest you read Parsonblue's post and then read it again.

The result isn't the be all and end all for me - I go to be entertained, and there was very little entertainment on offer last season. Our matches consist of 85 mins of dullness interspersed with 5 mins of free-kicks, long throws, corners and hoofs from which the ball might drop in our favour and we might score.

Question for everyone - would you rather see last season's hoofball and finish 10th, or see us play more football and finish slightly lower?

Definitely the latter for me ....

[jim mk2]

The result isn't the be all and end all for me - I go to be entertained, and there was very little entertainment on offer last season. Our matches consist of 85 mins of dullness interspersed with 5 mins of free-kicks, long throws, corners and hoofs from which the ball might drop in our favour and we might score.

Question for everyone - would you rather see last season's hoofball and finish 10th, or see us play more football and finish slightly lower?

Definitely the latter for me ....

I have been attending matches at Ewood for 50 years plus and not once have I left home wishing to be "entertained". I go to see my team win, and if they play well that is a bonus. If you want entertainment go to the circus.

[LeChuck]

The result isn't the be all and end all for me - I go to be entertained, and there was very little entertainment on offer last season. Our matches consist of 85 mins of dullness interspersed with 5 mins of free-kicks, long throws, corners and hoofs from which the ball might drop in our favour and we might score.

Question for everyone - would you rather see last season's hoofball and finish 10th, or see us play more football and finish slightly lower?

Definitely the latter for me ....

Would you genuinely get more pleasure out of playing more attractive football and drawing/losing a game, than you would watching us beat a team using our current style?

[den]

Question for everyone - would you rather see last season's hoofball and finish 10th, or see us play more football and finish slightly lower?

Definitely the latter for me ....

Losing, isn't ever entertaining Mark.

[Gav]

Would you rather watch Arsenal or Chelsea is what we're saying here basically.

I for one would rather watch Arsenal - don't win anything but play better football.

[LeChuck]

Would you rather watch Arsenal or Chelsea is what we're saying here basically.

I for one would rather watch Arsenal - don't win anything but play better football.

Sort of.

Apart from the difference of a few league places impacts our transfer budget massively.

In fact it spreads further than that; if we'd finished where Wigan finished (a team with a squad about as strong as ours who play a passing game) then we'd be having to sell players this summer to balance the books.

Samba or Jones are probably the most valuable. Would you sacrifice one of those two to see more passes in the midfield?

To be honest a lot of PL teams play with the same financial fear we do, which is why most teams adopt a 'safety first' approach. It's yet another nasty side effect of the money influx, one which we have to live with.

[MarkBRFC71]

Would you genuinely get more pleasure out of playing more attractive football and drawing/losing a game, than you would watching us beat a team using our current style?

Would I rather see a 3-3 thriller than a boring 1-0 win? Provided we aren't in danger, when of course the 3 points would be best, then I think so, yes.

At the moment we're playing witnessing boring football, played by players who don't give two hoots about Rovers and have nothing in common with the fans, in the most over-hyped, soulless, commercialised league in the world. The Premier League and it's culture of money and greed is killing football at the 'top' level, and any increase in attendances is purely down to the incessant Sky/Murdoch marketing and not the quality of football.

What's not to love?

To be honest a lot of PL teams play with the same financial fear we do, which is why most teams adopt a 'safety first' approach. It's yet another nasty side effect of the money influx, one which we have to live with.

Nail on head. Until the financial side is equalised then we're stuck with the negativity.

If you want entertainment go to the circus.

Or watch the Labour party scrabbling around for a leader capable of putting up more than a token fight.

Losing, isn't ever entertaining Mark.

So you didn't enjoy our Semi defeat to Villa more than our 0-0 at Pompey?

[den]

So you didn't enjoy our Semi defeat to Villa more than our 0-0 at Pompey?

No. I thought we played some excellent stuff, but the bottom line was it was a game we should have won and we lost. I didn't enjoy that. I would have loved to have won it by a couple of goals though, even if it had been a poor display.

I know what you say Mark, but give me, the manager, the players, the directors a win any day.

[jim mk2]

At the moment we're playing witnessing boring football, played by players who don't give two hoots about Rovers and have nothing in common with the fans,

That has always been the case since the abolition of the maximum wage in the 1960s and the best players left their home-town clubs for the big city wealthier clubs. The PL at present is a purely commercial enterprise but the footballing idyll you seek has not existed for 50 years and is never going to return. If you want Rovers to be contunue feasting athe top table, it means being pragmatic about the type of player the club can afford and type of football the team can play.

[thenodrog]

The result isn't the be all and end all for me - I go to be entertained, and there was very little entertainment on offer last season. Our matches consist of 85 mins of dullness interspersed with 5 mins of free-kicks, long throws, corners and hoofs from which the ball might drop in our favour and we might score.

Question for everyone - would you rather see last season's hoofball and finish 10th, or see us play more football and finish slightly lower?

Definitely the latter for me ....

Really? Well as soon as we play attractive football somebody else will cast avaricious eyes at our manager and players and after 40 odd years I'm pig sick of that happening. Never mind Hughes and City... that was bad enough even though it couldn't be helped due to the vast wealth that he thought he was getting to spend, but just ask Burnley fans what it was like losing their manager to another small town club. Play this way with Sam and the chances of keeping and strengthening our squad improve.

Unfortunately we are in a situation where we are beggered if we do and beggared if we dont.

[OscarRaven]

I have been attending matches at Ewood for 50 years plus and not once have I left home wishing to be "entertained". I go to see my team win, and if they play well that is a bonus. If you want entertainment go to the circus.

Take your point on entertainment but Rovers do not play to win under Sam, the ethos is not 'to win' but more 'do not lose'.

Its our away following I feel sorry for we quite clearly have gone to games away with no intention of attacking.

[snatchymcsnatch]

I have been attending matches at Ewood for 50 years plus and not once have I left home wishing to be "entertained". I go to see my team win, and if they play well that is a bonus. If you want entertainment go to the circus.

Too right. Although winning and playing well does not have to be mutually exclusive - there are times when we will win ugly and times where we will win and look the part. The win is the most important and if we do it in a manner that looks pretty - then that's an added bonus in my book. Some of the boring games I saw on telly last year where between the "big four".

[alexanders]

I think Den is very spot on about us (the fans) should stay away from the Media picture of Rovers and Sam Allardyce. There are so many other teams employing exactly the same tactics as us, but they arent close to being as harassed about it as we do.

Carragher playing beatiful long balls to Torres? Im laughing. Its hoofball.

[Amo]

Carragher playing beatiful long balls to Torres? Im laughing. Its hoofball.

No one said the top teams don't play long ball, but they mix it about as well. They won't look to hoof it at every available opportunity, when it would be sensible to keep hold of it.

[den]

No one said the top teams don't play long ball, but they mix it about as well. They won't look to hoof it at every available opportunity, when it would be sensible to keep hold of it.

Nor do we.

[MarkBRFC71]

That has always been the case since the abolition of the maximum wage in the 1960s and the best players left their home-town clubs for the big city wealthier clubs. The PL at present is a purely commercial enterprise but the footballing idyll you seek has not existed for 50 years and is never going to return. If you want Rovers to be contunue feasting athe top table, it means being pragmatic about the type of player the club can afford and type of football the team can play.

I disagree in part - as recently as the late 1980's the players had much more in common with the fans as the wages hadn't spiralled out of all reality then. I remember seeing players arrive at the ground in cars not much grander than my Dad's, and living on the same estate. Granted we were in Div 2 but honestly, I much preferred those days to now. Yes, the ground was poor, the players average, the gates lower - but at least we tried to play football and there just seemed to be much more soul about Rovers then, and football in general.

We are a Championship club punching above our weight - let's not kid ourselves - we might very well end up there without investment. It would not be the end of the world as some on here predict, in fact it might make for more interest in that we would likely be up around the top of the Championship. Perhaps that's what's bneeded to clear out some of the overpaid, overrated deadwood we seem to have accumulated and are unable to shake off?

Going down would be a blow but I'd still be there every week - that much wouldn't change whatever division we're in.

Some of the boring games I saw on telly last year where between the "big four".

True. And that is entirely symptomatic of the 'money above all else ethos' of the Prem. Every league place might equal 0.1p on the shareholder dividend and that's what football has come to unfortunately.

[alexanders]

Nor do we.

seconded.

[JAL]

taking results aside, does anybody enjoy sam allardyce's style of football?

genuine question. i understand why it is employed and i accept it is needed at the moment.

I've definitely grown into it and totally buy into it, its the players silkiness that would make it more appealling but other than that thouroughly enjoyed the latter part of the season.

Last season was like one big evolution, were it started with nothing special, then moved onto to some utter dross, to coming out through that dross when serious were being raised about the managers ability to one of almost completness looding a couple of youngsters along he way.

Sadly so far Rovers and Sam they havent so fart been able to add to the squad, but if they do, with just two quality additions, then Rovers will able to punch some holes intosome of the vulnerable big teams in the prem.

Wih Keith Andrews and Vince Grella in your midfield you aint EVER going to get entertaining football are you ?

[Amo]

Nor do we.

I watched enough of us last season to stand by my point.