[Archived] Sam Allardyce

[philipl]

Stop you there philipl if I may, he took a defensive midfielder off for an attacking one inside twelve minutes of the second half against Arsenal. Ok it didnt do much good but for me that wasnt being too slow.

I stand to be corrected but in both the Arsenal and Fulham games we had conceded a goal to the tactical switches made by Wenger and Hughes before anything happened.

We also conceded at Brum and City pretty quickly after Half Time so make that four failed HT team talks in succession.

[BuckyRover]

I stand to be corrected but in both the Arsenal and Fulham games we had conceded a goal to the tactical switches made by Wenger and Hughes before anything happened.

We also conceded at Brum and City pretty quickly after Half Time so make that four failed HT team talks in succession.

Maybe he has been doing his teamtalks in Spanish. In readiness for his next job.

[dunc]

I stand to be corrected but in both the Arsenal and Fulham games we had conceded a goal to the tactical switches made by Wenger and Hughes before anything happened.

We also conceded at Brum and City pretty quickly after Half Time so make that four failed HT team talks in succession.

We took the lead in the 2nd half at Birmingham. Perhaps City's equaliser had something to do with them having about £120,000,000 of players on the pitch at the time?

[Parsonblue]

Excellent 10 days. But hey, he kept us up so he can do what he likes. Maybe if and when he p!sses on the club crest before kick-off his fan club might wake up to how we are losing our soul as a club to this man.

So turning the club around after the complete mess that Paul Ince got us into was nothing in your view. Do you believe that the club would have survived with Ince still in charge?

The problem that Sam faces is that a vocal minority didn't want him here in the first place. The facebook group set up by the keyboard warriors was a good indication that a group of our fans were not prepared to tolerate Sam and everything that goes with him. All of which is fair enough. Supporters pay their money and are entitled to an opinion, whether it be about a player, a manager or how the club is run etc.

Initially, the club opted to select Ince to follow Mark Hughes but, once that appointment didn't work, they opted for the experience of Sam. Ultimately, he saved the club from relegation and last season took us to a tenth place finish in the League and a Cup semi-final.

Suddenly, we are now losing our soul to Big Sam while El-Hadji Diouf, who most people would admit to being one of our better and more skilful performers this season, is vilified for practising the "dark arts" of professionalism. Believe me Exiled, during the past 50 years, I've seen some Rovers' players who could teach EHD a thing or two about gamesmanship and bending the rules.

We began the season without spending a penny to strengthen the squad. Despite the fact that our rivals - in our section of the League - like Birmingham, Stoke, Wolves, Sunderland, Fulham have all added to the depth of their squads, our manager has had to go cap in hand to Manchester to borrow a player from Old Trafford and take a castoff from the City of Manchester Stadium.

So far this season we have beaten Everton, played exceptionally well at Birmingham and might have gained at least a point if our England goalkeeper could keep out shots from 25 yards or more. We performed well against Arsenal and did likewise against Manchester City. Even though we played poorly on Saturday, we still came away with a point.

It would appear that whenever we have a poor performance the wind changes direction with regards to opinion about our manager. There are, of course, those who don't like him as a human being and therefore even if he won the title and a couple of cups he would still be unacceptable. His relationship with the media also seems to upset many supporters. The media love him because, like Harry Redknapp, he has an opinion about most things and is not backward at voicing it. That is far enough as obviously his contract does not prevent this. So get ultra sensitive about the things he says while others find it humorous. Personally, it doesn't bother me as long as he does his managerial duties well - and so far he has done.

In fairness, the club knew exactly what they were getting when they appointed him. The reason they took that decision, knowing full well what baggage he would bring to the club, including his style of football, was because they believed and still do that he is a man who will keep the club on the Premier League gravy train despite his limited spending power. Even his most ardant critics acknowledge that he is well versed in sports science and uses every technique available to improve the results that his players achieve. The present staff and players speak highly of him as did Karl Robinson in his article last week.

Sam is not the best manager I have seen during the past 50 years at Ewood - although I'm sure he would argue that point! However, is he far from the worst that I have seen. As regards losing our soul to this man - I think we sold our soul to the Premier League many, many years ago.

Personally, I will continue to support the manager, as I would any manager, until I believe that he is not capable of maintaining Premier League football at Ewood Park. So far I have seen nothing that suggests he will fail to maintain our top flight status. It might not always be pretty, but I believe his style of play will produce enough points to maintain our position. Ultimately, after the debacle with Paul Ince, I suspect that the powers that be at Ewood Park will gladly settle for that no matter how uncomfortable the manager may make it for them at times. I suspect that there is no great enthusiasm for another Ince type gamble.

[rigger]

So turning the club around after the complete mess that Paul Ince got us into was nothing in your view. Do you believe that the club would have survived with Ince still in charge?

The problem that Sam faces is that a vocal minority didn't want him here in the first place. The facebook group set up by the keyboard warriors was a good indication that a group of our fans were not prepared to tolerate Sam and everything that goes with him. All of which is fair enough. Supporters pay their money and are entitled to an opinion, whether it be about a player, a manager or how the club is run etc.

Initially, the club opted to select Ince to follow Mark Hughes but, once that appointment didn't work, they opted for the experience of Sam. Ultimately, he saved the club from relegation and last season took us to a tenth place finish in the League and a Cup semi-final.

Suddenly, we are now losing our soul to Big Sam while El-Hadji Diouf, who most people would admit to being one of our better and more skilful performers this season, is vilified for practising the "dark arts" of professionalism. Believe me Exiled, during the past 50 years, I've seen some Rovers' players who could teach EHD a thing or two about gamesmanship and bending the rules.

We began the season without spending a penny to strengthen the squad. Despite the fact that our rivals - in our section of the League - like Birmingham, Stoke, Wolves, Sunderland, Fulham have all added to the depth of their squads, our manager has had to go cap in hand to Manchester to borrow a player from Old Trafford and take a castoff from the City of Manchester Stadium.

So far this season we have beaten Everton, played exceptionally well at Birmingham and might have gained at least a point if our England goalkeeper could keep out shots from 25 yards or more. We performed well against Arsenal and did likewise against Manchester City. Even though we played poorly on Saturday, we still came away with a point.

It would appear that whenever we have a poor performance the wind changes direction with regards to opinion about our manager. There are, of course, those who don't like him as a human being and therefore even if he won the title and a couple of cups he would still be unacceptable. His relationship with the media also seems to upset many supporters. The media love him because, like Harry Redknapp, he has an opinion about most things and is not backward at voicing it. That is far enough as obviously his contract does not prevent this. So get ultra sensitive about the things he says while others find it humorous. Personally, it doesn't bother me as long as he does his managerial duties well - and so far he has done.

In fairness, the club knew exactly what they were getting when they appointed him. The reason they took that decision, knowing full well what baggage he would bring to the club, including his style of football, was because they believed and still do that he is a man who will keep the club on the Premier League gravy train despite his limited spending power. Even his most ardant critics acknowledge that he is well versed in sports science and uses every technique available to improve the results that his players achieve. The present staff and players speak highly of him as did Karl Robinson in his article last week.

Sam is not the best manager I have seen during the past 50 years at Ewood - although I'm sure he would argue that point! However, is he far from the worst that I have seen. As regards losing our soul to this man - I think we sold our soul to the Premier League many, many years ago.

Personally, I will continue to support the manager, as I would any manager, until I believe that he is not capable of maintaining Premier League football at Ewood Park. So far I have seen nothing that suggests he will fail to maintain our top flight status. It might not always be pretty, but I believe his style of play will produce enough points to maintain our position. Ultimately, after the debacle with Paul Ince, I suspect that the powers that be at Ewood Park will gladly settle for that no matter how uncomfortable the manager may make it for them at times. I suspect that there is no great enthusiasm for another Ince type gamble.

I will support my club and whoever happens to be the manager, but I must admit that for the first time in my forty years of support, this manager really gets on my nerves with his pollition like speaches, we hear sh1t from MP's at least let us hear a bit of truth from someone, who could have such loyalty from us.

[47er]

While I'm no fan of the football Sam Allardyce presents on a Saturday afternoon I can have sympathy with the argument he did well to keep us in the PL and to finish tenth last season given the squad we have available. We don't have a great squad and clearly are lacking any real creative ability or an exciting bums on (or off) seats player so I suppose to an extent we get what the players can give us. The problem with this view is there have been games when, for 45 minutes at least, this hasn't been true and we have played some good, exciting football. Sadly this isn't often and I find the trip to Ewood less and less interesting, you pretty much know what's going to happen.

Over the last few days things have occurred which I feel deserve a different slant or view point. Initially I wasn't going to post these thoughts because I know the reaction and where it will come from. Anyway lets examine a few things.

The manager has been making quite extraordinary statements to the media. A few months ago I'd have had something to say on these but for me it's just a shrug of the shoulders and an acceptance this is what you get with Allardyce. He clearly thinks he's wonderful, it's true he does achieve within the limitations put on him, but the idea of him managing Real Madrid or England is, for me, amusing to say the least. Clearly he's never had the opportunity but Sam's problem is all the evidence is stacked against him and no one is likely to give him the chance.

After catching Rovers on MOTD I began to put together a few things - the MOTD analysis, Phil Jones on Radio Rovers, Sam's views on the Fulham game in various media:

MOTD clearly demonstrated EHD playing the goalkeeper and not the ball. I couldn't see this at Ewood but it was very clear on the TV. Prior to MOTD I thought he was simply having a slippery afternoon! Hughes obviously wanted a foul.

Schwarzer made an attempt to stop the ball with his right hand, reportedly from outside the area, IMV at the very most it touched the tips of two fingers and may well have been very, very difficult for the referee to see. Sam feels he should have been sent off so this evens things up with regard to the goal. Isn't this just trying to get away with what you can?

Sam complains he doesn't understand why the team always drop back and play too deep after taking the lead.

Phil Jones on RR said words on the line of, (in reaction to Rovers goal) "we're professionals and have to try to get away with everything we can." He also went on to talk about how the team hadn't been playing to their best etc. After the interview the presenters praised him for his honesty. Now I'm sure they were referring to his comments on the team because they couldn't really be referring to his effective acknowledgement that the manager's instructions to EHD were to target the goalkeeper, with or without the ball. BTW this is not having a pop at Jones.

I'm trying to get all this clear in my mind. The manager claims to be good enough for Real Madrid etc. Claims he doesn't comprehend why the team drop back when leading, complains Schwarzer should have been sent off while having clearly sent one of his players on to the pitch with direct instructions to foul the same player. If EHD takes note of those instructions, which the nation saw on TV, why does Sam believe the team collectively decide to defend deep when leading unless they have specifically been told to do so?

So we could argue the manager sends at least one player out with instructions to cheat, moans when an inexperienced referee either doesn't see or act on cheating by the opposition and apparently is instilling a culture in our younger players to get away with anything they can in order to win. Plus instructs his team to defend a 1-0 lead and then pleads innocence and lack of understanding when the strategy fails, which it generally will because we are a rather poor side.

If I've noticed this, I'm fairly sure people who understand football have and more.

Now I appreciate this is not my most coherent post, these thoughts have been spinning around with me for the last 24 hours or so, and still are. Yes, I do understand plenty of teams will be breaking the rules in a similar manner, not least Wenger's Arsenal!!!! If one wants to understand why Allardyce is destined to do what he does you just have to look at some of events of the 4-5 days which make it clear why he's a percentage manager, won't get you relegated and will rarely excite you.......................and will never manage at the top level.

That's a very well thought out post imo. I don't necessarily agree with all the detail and the speculative conclusions you draw but I'm in total sympathy with the state of uneasiness that game invoked in you and others. For a start it wasn't vaguely enjoyable and if its not enjoyable what's the point?

Secondly its clear that Diouf had instructions to block the keeper. It goes on all the time, we have suffered from it eg a couple of seasons ago from a Manure corner at Ewood. It doesn't make me feel any better though it just increases my unease about where football is heading and questioning whether its worth it.

I honestly think Sam has done wonders with this squad but I am terrified about the future without real investment. There are so many players over 30, in some case way over 30,they've grown old (in football terms) together and there's a staleness, a sameness about the team. We are so predictable. If Samba went we would be sunk--he's holding up our defence AND our attack at the moment.

For now I'm prepared to wait for the takeover that never comes and put our problems down to years of under-investment. However a game like Saturdays raises some fundamental questions about the point of it all.

[EWOODACE1]

im not against his tactics if they work which they have been doing since he arrived but im sick of his arrogance. im seriously thinking he is losing the plot and may have some mental disorder.

what made the match even more depressing on sat was the players and their cars thing. why not rub it in our faces more about how much money they earn

[Guest bluerovers]

Couple of songs I wrote from our loveable manager, inspired by Fat Sam from the Film Bugsy Malone..

Ode to BFS #1

Music: Fat Sam's Grand Slam (from Bugsy Malone)

Any body who is anybody,

Can't watch this cr*p no more...Of

Fat Sam's Game Plan,

We're Cheating

Always able to find us mid-table

But our play is a bore...with

Fat Sam's Game Plan,

We're Cheating

Once you get here, hear the crowd cheer

Trust me it wont last long

Fat Sam ain't humble

And of course he's never wrong

Dreams were made here, games are played here

Now we play I can't look

Each game astounds you

Rumours are abuzzing,

Dingles shag their cousins,

We'll let in a dozen,

coz the sh*t we're playing here

Any body who is anybody,

Can't watch this cr*p no more...Of

Fat Sam's Game Plan,

We're Cheating

Da da da da da da

Da da da da da da

Da da da da da da

Hoc ya, Hoo ya, Hoo da da da da

This aint superstition

We are on a mission

Let us play good football

That is all we are wishin'

Once you get here, hear the crowd cheer

Trust me it wont last long

Fat Sam ain't humble

And of course he's never wrong

Dreams were made here, games are played here

Now we play I can't look

Each game astounds you

Rumours are abuzzing,

Dingles shag their cousins,

We'll let in a dozen,

coz the sh*t we're playing here

Any body who is anybody,

Can't watch this cr*p no more...Of

Fat Sam's Game Plan,

We're Cheating

Ode to BFS #2

Music: You Give A Little Love (from Bugsy Malone)

We could've had any coach

That we wanted to see

And it's not too late to change

We'd get excited if we passed the ball

All this hoof ball crap wins us *eff* all

...two...three...four

We could've played any way

That we wanted to play

But that decision was yours

It's been decided we no longer like it

Let's *effing* get wins instead of draws

You could've said anything

That you wanted to say

And not slagged us off like you did

Next time you talk sh*t, you'd better believe it

You can *eff* off and manage Madrid (aaaaarrrr)

We have scoured the earth

Who can even guess how much

Ahsan Ali's worth? (fuuuckk knows)

Will he buy our club

You think that you'll be trusted?

And not watching from the pub?

No doubt about it

It might be worthwhile

Least the football would make us smile

We could've played any way

That we wanted to play

But that decision was yours

It's been decided we no longer like it

Let's *effing* get wins instead of draws

If You give us Rovers love

it will all come back to you

(Da da da ra da da da)

You know you gonna be remembered

For the things you say and do

(Da da da ra da da da)

If You give us Rovers love

it will all come back to you

(Da da da ra da da da)

You know you gonna be remembered

For the things you say and do

(Da da da ra da da da)

[Miker]

Do you walk around in your birthday suit then?

Only on special occasions.

[Exiled in Toronto]

So turning the club around after the complete mess that Paul Ince got us into was nothing in your view. Do you believe that the club would have survived with Ince still in charge?

I suspect that there is no great enthusiasm for another Ince type gamble.

A well argued response which I haven't quoted in full to save space, but I've highlighted the above because your argument seems to be that it's Allardyce or Ince. Ince should never have been appointed; he wasn't qualified, experienced or temperamentally suited. Williams was blinded by his so-called 'model' of young, British managers when we'd only ever had one. In other words, he was a horrendous mistake; a one-off who is not the reference point for future choices.

I for one believe that a manager should be the custodian of the club's history ethos and values. Ferguson, who has far more reason than Allardyce to use the word 'I', in contrast always talks about United. "He's a United type of player", "That's not the United way" and so on. He never says he wishes he was at the Bernabau.

Allardyce clearly doesn't give a sh!t about our history, ethos and values - quite the opposite, as he demonstrates on an increasing and louder basis almost each day. Premier League champions? "They" bought it. Arte et Labore? Hit it long son and Dioufy'll tw@t the keeper.

To the outside world and an increasing percentage of our fanbase, we are now Allardyce Rovers and it'll take years to get back our club from this egomaniac

[thenodrog]

EiT ...... Don't be such a precious drama queen.

[bluebruce]

Stop you there philipl if I may, he took a defensive midfielder off for an attacking one inside twelve minutes of the second half against Arsenal. Ok it didnt do much good but for me that wasnt being too slow.

So you're forgetting that he also took all our strikers off whilst a goal down, or choosing to ignore it for the sake of your argument?

[tony gale's mic]

A well argued response which I haven't quoted in full to save space, but I've highlighted the above because your argument seems to be that it's Allardyce or Ince. Ince should never have been appointed; he wasn't qualified, experienced or temperamentally suited. Williams was blinded by his so-called 'model' of young, British managers when we'd only ever had one. In other words, he was a horrendous mistake; a one-off who is not the reference point for future choices.

I for one believe that a manager should be the custodian of the club's history ethos and values. Ferguson, who has far more reason than Allardyce to use the word 'I', in contrast always talks about United. "He's a United type of player", "That's not the United way" and so on. He never says he wishes he was at the Bernabau.

Allardyce clearly doesn't give a sh!t about our history, ethos and values - quite the opposite, as he demonstrates on an increasing and louder basis almost each day. Premier League champions? "They" bought it. Arte et Labore? Hit it long son and Dioufy'll tw@t the keeper.

To the outside world and an increasing percentage of our fanbase, we are now Allardyce Rovers and it'll take years to get back our club from this egomaniac

That's rubbish. You were one of the most pro-Ince people from the off as I recall and one of the most anti-Allardyce people from the off too and that kind of twisted logic shows up pretty well here.

How much of a custodian of our ethos and values was Kenny Dalglish?! Sure he was hugely successful but he, as we've just learned, spent the summer before the title winning season trying to get away. I can't say I particularly like Sam on a personal level at all, but how we do as a club is of absolute paramount importance. Was Souness a custodian of our ethos and values? Was he hell.

How much rubbish does Harry Redknapp come out with? On a regular basis, maybe not quite so delusional as Sam but everything that comes out of his mouth tends to be self promoting and white van man crap. Should Spurs fans care? No, he's got them into the Champions League, but surely Sam's effort in getting us top half with no money (not to mention his efforts at Bolton) is comparable to Harry getting Spurs top 4 and spending a shedload of money.

God knows how many managers think like Sam, to be honest in sport and in many highly competitive fields it often pays to think you're the best even if you're not quite the best. Having an unshakeable self belief has arguably got Sam where he is today but what separates him from the crowd is really how media savvy he is.

Who cares what other fans think of us? Surely your pride in your own club should be the main thing. Are you one of those fans who sees us as Allardyce Rovers? If you can't see past your dislike of our manager and see that one man can never come close to encompassing what we are as a football club, then you're supporting the wrong club. If you're not one of those people then again - who cares? We're still getting 25k in most games.

[Exiled in Toronto]

Surely your pride in your own club should be the main thing.

I'm not at all proud when he is the voice of my club

Are you one of those fans who sees us as Allardyce Rovers?

Yes.

If you can't see past your dislike of our manager and see that one man can never come close to encompassing what we are as a football club, then you're supporting the wrong club.

I can accept not encompassing, but I can't accept him publicly denigrating us, our past achievements and the team whenever we don't get a result.

If you're not one of those people then again - who cares? We're still getting 25k in most games.

Read the LT page, I am not alone in being embarrassed, far from it. I didn't go to almost every game in the 3rd division to end up worshipping this tw@t and his sh!t football. I support the club.

[Miker]

I for one believe that a manager should be the custodian of the club's history ethos and values. Ferguson, who has far more reason than Allardyce to use the word 'I', in contrast always talks about United. "He's a United type of player", "That's not the United way" and so on. He never says he wishes he was at the Bernabau.

Sam has never said this.

Allardyce clearly doesn't give a sh!t about our history, ethos and values - quite the opposite, as he demonstrates on an increasing and louder basis almost each day. Premier League champions? "They" bought it. Arte et Labore? Hit it long son and Dioufy'll tw@t the keeper.

That's false.

To the outside world and an increasing percentage of our fanbase, we are now Allardyce Rovers and it'll take years to get back our club from this egomaniac

To the daft fans maybe we are Allardyce Rovers. The average person that will watch football won't even know who the manager is, much less how "egotistical" he is. They watch the teams play, not the managers.

[JAL]

So you're forgetting that he also took all our strikers off whilst a goal down, or choosing to ignore it for the sake of your argument?

Mame Diouf replaced the guy doing nothing Kalinic, once that didnt work Mame Diouf went off to be replaced by Samba.

I'm not ignoring anything, that was the hand that Sam Allardyce had at his disposal and he played it, there was nothing slow about it, Diouf, Grella and Kalinic were all pretty poor and ineffective once they had run out of steam.

[EWOODACE1]

Sam has never said this.

That's false.

How do you know?

To the daft fans maybe we are Allardyce Rovers. The average person that will watch football won't even know who the manager is, much less how "egotistical" he is. They watch the teams play, not the managers.

Doesnt the manager determine what football we watch.

[Parsonblue]

Allardyce clearly doesn't give a sh!t about our history, ethos and values - quite the opposite, as he demonstrates on an increasing and louder basis almost each day. Premier League champions? "They" bought it. Arte et Labore? Hit it long son and Dioufy'll tw@t the keeper.

To the outside world and an increasing percentage of our fanbase, we are now Allardyce Rovers and it'll take years to get back our club from this egomaniac

Firstly, what is our ethos and what are our values as a football club? I can honestly say that I have never heard anyone at the club explain what they are apart from winning football matches. The first team is about winning football matches and achieving success on the pitch. There is no particular blueprint for how than can be achieved. As I have said many times in the past, Howard Kendall produced a very successful brand of football which was based on grinding out 1-0 wins. I suspect that to the purist would it was negative football and depended a great deal on set pieces, particularly the near post corner which enabled Keeley or Faz to flick the ball on for someone to run onto. It was a simple tactic but hugely successful at the time - a bit like Robinson's free-kicks into the area.

I would agree that we were fortunate to get away with the goal against Fulham as it was a clear foul. However, how many times do you see players being pulled to the ground in the penalty area at a set piece and nothing is given. Watch how the opposition manhandle Samba at corners. Players gamble on getting away with it and usually do. Are you saying that we are the only team in the Premier League who try to get away with that type of thing? I'm not quite sure how you can describe that as an "Allardyce" tactic when every team I see is doing exactly the same type of thing.

The allegation that the manager had the audacity to suggest that we "bought" the title was argued very thoroughly last week on these boards. The bottom line is that every club does "buy" the title in one way or another. Sam's crime appears to be actually saying what many fans want to be left unspoken - namely that we did the same as every other club that is successful and used some financial muscle to win the title. Two British transfer records and a world transfer record for a goalkeeper make it difficult to argue otherwise. Did we sell our soul because we used Jack's money to assemble a first class management team and playing squad? Of course not. We did what any other club would do in those circumstances. It was was fortunate that in Kenny and Ray we had two people who could make the most of Jack's money and make it work for us.

Are we "Allardyce" Rovers? I go to every game and I still believe that I am following Blackburn Rovers. Indeed, you are the first person I have heard refer to us as "Allardyce" Rovers. I would totally agree that our present manager is keen to court the media. He always was at Bolton and nothing has changed now that he is here. Of course he is proud of his achievements at Bolton and often refers to them when talking to the press. That is only natural. Journalists will also seek out guys like Sam and Harry Redknapp because they are always good for a quote - hence they appear in the newspapers more than most.

What nobody does seem to talk about on these boards with regard to the manager is the work that he and his staff do at Brockhall. Within the game he is highly regarded for this approach to sports science and using technology and every other "ology" to improve his players. Ultimately, that's the ethos and values, that he brings to this club. It is his open minded approach to embrace new sciences and new technologies to improve the players of Blackburn Rovers and ultimately it is the success of those methods that he should be judged on.

That doesn't mean that I am saying that Sam is the only manager who could do a decent job at Ewood Park. However, he was the choice of the club for that role and so far he has delivered what the club have expected from him. Indeed, I would argue that last season we over achieved given the limited resources that he was given to work with. A tenth place finish, a semi-final of a major cup competition and a host of young players beginning to challenge for first team places is surely something that is in the manager's favour.

[thenodrog]

After considering the continual bile you direct at the manager I have come to the conclusion that you would love to see us relegated in order to see off Sam Allardyce (who would walk into another Prem job within half a season) and by some skewed logic prove to us all that you were right all along and that you actually know what you are talking about.

EiT you are losing it big time, your irrational hatred has addled your mind.

[thenodrog]

Doesnt the manager determine what football we watch.

Partly as do the players that he has at his disposal. We have a keeper with the best and most accurate kick in the Prem and we have some very tall and imposing players. It's not eye candy but it plays to our strengths. We wont be seeing Samba and N'Zonzi playing intricate one two's through opposing defences thats for sure.

One aspect that the small army of Sam haters can't cope with is the team spirit that now exists within the squad. It must be really chewing you all up inside.

[Henwah]

I do not have a problem with the direct approach and pressurising the opposition in their penalty area when we are either away from home or against teams which can tear us apart if we try to play past them - The 2-1 win over Arsenal at the tail end of last season was an example of how a 'lesser' team can come out on top fairly, using a less than attractive approach, and it was for the most part accepted as being a fair and tactical victory and a good day at the office for Sam and his ethos.

What irritates me is that we resort to that tactic (and sometimes not nearly as fairly) almost all the time, against opposition we should be willing to try and beat with a bit more verve and style - sure, if its not working go direct (for a spell at least) in order to get us playing at the right end of the pitch, peg the opposition back and give them something else to deal with. At least we would have options that might catch the opposition out, as it stands we have one style, and every team knows what we are going to do and when (i.e. all the time), so can prepare for it quite easily - if they stick to their tasks we have nothing else to throw at them.

Not only would having more than one tactic keep the opposition on their toes and guessing, it would provide some value for the ticket price and it would help to change the media/general view of our club (as much as we can say it doesn't matter what other people think about us bla bla - it does to an extent, not least when trying to attract more fans, advertising, better players etc).

I'm not Sam's biggest fan, but I also accept that he's done a good job for us in terms of steading the ship after Ince's tenure, and is often quite effective in terms of getting points, however sending the team out to try and scrap(e) a 1-0 win at home against Fulham via the cynical (and calculated) tactics we saw is a step too far - we should be better than that

[cn174]

Partly as do the players that he has at his disposal. We have a keeper with the best and most accurate kick in the Prem and we have a very tall and imposing players.

Who happens to play in defence. How often have you seen Robbo whack the ball up, for Kalinic/Diouf/anyone either hold the ball up or flick it onto a Rovers player? The times that happens are very few and far between.

At worst even if we don't win such challenges, we should be there to win the ball on the 2nd occasion. But our midfield are normally so far behind that doesn't happen either.

I don't think most people have any problem with long ball if it is a tactic we utilise well, but all too often the opposition get the ball straight back.

[thenodrog]

I'm not Sam's biggest fan, but I also accept that he's done a good job for us in terms of steading the ship after Ince's tenure, and is often quite effective in terms of getting points, however sending the team out to try and scrap(e) a 1-0 win at home against Fulham via the cynical (and calculated) tactics we saw is a step too far - we should be better than that

Creativity is the key to that and because of the boardroom decisions to stricly limit the spending we hardly have any when old glass back breaks down again.

It's liley that if SA had had money to spend that we would be better placed in that department. At Bolton he got JJ and Djorkaeff to perform that role and last season he signed Basturk on a short term contract to do a similar job. Obviously it didn't work so he shipped him out and thats fine.

Lets be brutally honest we all know that we have a below average squad that achieved an average position last year. Something must be better than the average.

The time to judge Allardyce is when he has been able to spend a bit rather than trying to work miracles with some players that he'd rather have traded on.

[AndyC]

I don't subscribe to the view that we have to give allardyce money to work out what style of play he favours.

I for one am incredibly pleased he got us out of the mire that Ince left us in, but rather than trying to convince EIT that he's wrong - surely you can allow him an opinion.

Regardless of whether you don't like / agree with what he says, he has the right to wish Rovers played more of a passing game of football. The facts are - we don't. The facts, as often seen through the stats, are that we have the least amount of completed passes and the most long balls.

Some fans don't care a jolt as long as we're winning more than we're losing.

Other fans genuinely can't stand watching a certain type of football and would rather we changed style. If you use Hodgeson at Fulham as an example - he didnt have a huge amount to spend either, but he was single minded about getting them playing the ball on the floor and keeping possession and they were good to watch. Whether he can do the same at Liverpool, only time will tell.

That's why we love the game so much - because we all think we know best!

[BuckyRover]

If I am not mistaken he said that Chelsea and ourselves bought the title. Implying that Man Utd and Arsenal did not.

So he is not saying all Premiership winners bought the league.