[Archived] Sam Allardyce

[den]

If you think that Allardyce has changed his thoughts on football you are just daft.

+1.

[K-Hod]

If you think that Allardyce has changed his thoughts on football you are just daft.

btw non of the happy clappy born agains has commented on the amount of space our formation on Sat afforded the opposing full backs. They had the freedom of the park culminating in Ibramovich scoring the winner from close in.

How do we stop other teams exploiting our flanks guys?

Assuming you're referring to Ivanovic not Ibrhamimovic who scored the winning goal

[ABBEY]

. I can count the number of people I've put on 'ignore' on one hand, and it's not a flattering list to be on!

im a proud member

Wow.

I remember some fans used to dislike/hate Souness but this is taking things to a complete new level. You would think we were cut adrift at the bottom of the table staring relegation in the face.

Also, a reminder, we did not actually get any points at the weekend for all the pretty football we played (yes, surprisingly like most teams do at home, we raised our game against the champions).....WE SHOULD BE ON OUR GAME EVERY TIME WE PLAY NOT JUST BECAUSE WE PLAYED THE CHAMPIONS!!!!

bottom 3? relegation battle in my eyes.

[Gav]

Bloody hell, give it a rest!

You used to be a good poster, but it's just constant nonsense now. The above is a perfect example. I suspect if you read that in a couple of months you'd agree with me. At this present time you've just lost all rationality.

Why don't you try not posting about Sam for a couple of weeks? There are other things to talk about. See how you feel after a Sam-free break. I can count the number of people I've put on 'ignore' on one hand, and it's not a flattering list to be on!

You still trying to shout down the people that don’t agree with you LeChuck – Why don’t you give it a rest, Topman makes a couple of good points which is more than you've been doing of late.

[John]

im a proud member

bottom 3? relegation battle in my eyes.

The season finishes today does it?

After finishing 10th last season where would you expect us to finish up this time around out of interst?

[ABBEY]

with sam in charge ,down near the bottom. dont be a pillock doh i know the season doesnt finish today...BUT TODAY WE ARE IN THE BOTTOM 3 ..

[Andy]

And WBA are 6th TODAY.

Do you expect that their fans are talking of challenging for the title...?

[den]

You still trying to shout down the people that don’t agree with you LeChuck – Why don’t you give it a rest, Topman makes a couple of good points which is more than you've been doing of late.

To be honest Gav, I found it fabulous entertainment watching Topman and others searching for answers to the Chelsea performance, after saying for most of his time in charge, that Sam's teams can't play anything other than hoofball, and never have done .

Oh yes - after 40 years in football, he changed his ideas. "I know lads" he said, "let's try not to hoof it this week".

Stuff you read in comics.

[BuckyRover]

Not the title, Europe though

http://en-gb.facebook.com/pages/Baggies-For-Europe/156932831001940

[ABBEY]

To be honest Gav, I found it fabulous entertainment watching Topman and others searching for answers to the Chelsea performance, after saying for most of his time in charge, that Sam's teams can't play anything other than hoofball, and never have done .

Oh yes - after 40 years in football, he changed his ideas. "I know lads" he said, "let's try not to hoof it this week".

Stuff you read in comics.

but his tactics against chelsea DIDNT work,like i said i wasnt there,but to change against the champions and go against your belifs is crazy...we lost and as result we are in relegation form. 2 WINS SINCE AUGUST PROVES IT!!!!!

[BuckyRover]

To be honest Gav, I found it fabulous entertainment watching Topman and others searching for answers to the Chelsea performance, after saying for most of his time in charge, that Sam's teams can't play anything other than hoofball, and never have done .

Oh yes - after 40 years in football, he changed his ideas. "I know lads" he said, "let's try not to hoof it this week".

Stuff you read in comics.

I think most sensible people remembered our performances at the back end of last season and were asking why that could not be replicated.

[CircoWill]

I think it made a huge difference that we played with only one defensive-minded midfielder (Jones) instead of two holding players (Nzonzi or Grella with Jones) on Saturday. Meant that there was a lot more movement and breaks forward to support the front man and wide players. I thought Emerton was impressive (particularly in the first half).

Will be interesting to see if Sam has the courage to go with that again on Saturday or if he will revert to type. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and praise him for Saturday's performance. The question is, why can't we play with that attacking verve and purpose every week, rather than relying on set-pieces and long balls? Chaos football! Only time will tell if we can but if we can go at teams like Chelsea in that way, surely we should have the confidence and ability to do it against Wigan this Saturday.

I'm not an Allardyce fan at all but would be happy to be proven wrong with more displays like Saturday.

[Gav]

To be honest Gav, I found it fabulous entertainment watching Topman and others searching for answers to the Chelsea performance, after saying for most of his time in charge, that Sam's teams can't play anything other than hoofball, and never have done .

Oh yes - after 40 years in football, he changed his ideas. "I know lads" he said, "let's try not to hoof it this week".

Stuff you read in comics.

So he goes out and attack the champions on our own patch, but fails to setup the team in that way against the likes of Fulham and Sunderland?

The mans inept I hear moist people cry, but I can’t even be bothered to slam the manager these days, he’s doing a good enough job to alienate himself from the fans, without me joining in.

[ABBEY]

moist people cry,

love it...did you mean it hahahaahaha

[den]

So he goes out and attack the champions on our own patch, but fails to setup the team in that way against the likes of Fulham and Sunderland?

Yeah, but you had made your mind up before he was appointed?

Set up the team - what does that mean Gav? 4-5-1 is the way we've played since he's been here. One big difference that very few people have mentioned was Benjani for Kalanic. Benjani has caused more problems in the half he played against Chelsea and the game against Liverpool, than Niko has done in 15 months. When you have a front man who can cause problems from inside the area and out, and when you have a front man who can turn and run at defenders and get shots away, and when you have a front man who can bring other front runners into the game with intelligent play - it makes all the difference in the world.

That, added to the fact that the rest of the side were well up for it and gave Chelsea no room on the ball [as Ancelotti said afterwards] was the reason for the display. Nowt to do with Sam "learning his lessons" as some scribe said.

All in my humble opinion of course.

It's a bit strange as well that our best player this season has been EHD, who always tries to control the ball, keep posession and pass it. Wonder why he doesn't hoof it like Sam tells them all to do? Maybe the difference is "class" or "technical quality", rather than team orders? I don't know - someone tell me why EHD always plays football?

All in my humble opinion of course and all in the interest of quality footy debate.

[Ozz]

One big difference that very few people have mentioned was Benjani for Kalanic. Benjani has caused more problems in the half he played against Chelsea and the game against Liverpool, than Niko has done in 15 months.

Vowed I would not get sucked into football talk much more on here, but I made this point at the match on Saturday. For all Benjanis injuries and baggage he did make Nikos efforts seem a little poor.

[Tom]

I'm neither Pro-Sam or Anti-Sam but lean towards the latter if anything but I have a genuine question for the Pro Sam camp.

What would it take for you to think that a change would be for the best?

If we don't win on Saturday we will be in the bottom 3 with over a quarter of the season gone and 4 or so very winnable games gone by the wayside.

If we are in the bottom 3 come December would you stick with Sam regardless and give him the money in January to try and turn it around or would you think it best to get a new man in?

At times like these I'm glad I'm not one of the ones in the position to have to make a decision because it wont be an easy one it it comes up.

[den]

Oh - another thought for debate.

Mark Hughe's early reign saw football that was, IMO, no better than a lot of what we've seen under Allardyce and there was a lot of long ball football played by rovers at that time too. Hughes though, didn't come into the club with any preconceptions from the fans. Although there was a lot of disquiet at the time, he didn't get the anger that Sam gets. So, how did Hughes turn us around? Was it by altering his long ball tactics, or was it by bringing in quality players like Bentley, Bellamy Savage and RSC?

Simple question.

[den]

I'm neither Pro-Sam or Anti-Sam but lean towards the latter if anything but I have a genuine question for the Pro Sam camp.

What would it take for you to think that a change would be for the best?

If we don't win on Saturday we will be in the bottom 3 with over a quarter of the season gone and 4 or so very winnable games gone by the wayside.

If we are in the bottom 3 come December would you stick with Sam regardless and give him the money in January to try and turn it around or would you think it best to get a new man in?

At times like these I'm glad I'm not one of the ones in the position to have to make a decision because it wont be an easy one it it comes up.

Believe it or not TCO, I'm not in either camp. I have mixed feelings about Allardyce. To answer your question though, If VH take over, the best thing for them and the club at this time would be to give Allardyce another 12 months on his contract. They need time to work things out and to come in and get rid straight away would be a big mistake IMO.

Unless of course, VH have more funds than any of us think.

[Tom]

That's fair enough, as I said if I'm honest I have no idea what's best for the club with regards to the manager but then again without a crsytal ball or an amazing amount of arrogance nobody can be sure.

Would Sam want to stay on board if we went down? Would the board want him to stay on board if we went down? Would the board themselves want to stay onboard if we went down?

Too many things to consider right now, but for me we need someone who could if worst comes to worst get us back into this league and I think Sam is far better equipped than most foreign managers at doing so. Whether he is the man to push us on from there is another matter.

[ABBEY]

Vowed I would not get sucked into football talk much more on here, but I made this point at the match on Saturday. For all Benjanis injuries and baggage he did make Nikos efforts seem a little poor.

strikers need partners.

[T4E]

Believe it or not TCO, I'm not in either camp. I have mixed feelings about Allardyce. To answer your question though, If VH take over, the best thing for them and the club at this time would be to give Allardyce another 12 months on his contract. They need time to work things out and to come in and get rid straight away would be a big mistake IMO.

Unless of course, VH have more funds than any of us think.

Surely it's the opposite? If money is going to be tight then making sacking the manager a few million pound more expensive surely can't be the way forward?

[booth]

strikers need partners.

Agreed, Benjani had more support in that one match than Kalanic has had in his entire time playing for BRFC.

Actually, that's not true. I can remember him having a very good game in the league cup against Peterborough last year. Partnered with McCarthy.

[Steve Moss]

but his tactics against chelsea DIDNT work,like i said i wasnt there,but to change against the champions and go against your belifs is crazy...we lost and as result we are in relegation form. 2 WINS SINCE AUGUST PROVES IT!!!!!

We lost but we played genuinely well, and were a threat the entire time. If we can play at that level, week in and out, we won't be relegated and will actually have a decent season.

Think of it this way, if it were possible to consistently beat the champions, they wouldn't be champions. We would be.

For all Benjanis injuries and baggage he did make Nikos efforts seem a little poor.

Yes. But I think Niko is the better long term prospect. He just needs a kick now and again, as do many young men.

Believe it or not TCO, I'm not in either camp. I have mixed feelings about Allardyce. To answer your question though, If VH take over, the best thing for them and the club at this time would be to give Allardyce another 12 months on his contract.

I agree 100% with both of these statements.

[ABBEY]

We lost but we played genuinely well, and were a threat the entire time. If we can play at that level, week in and out, we won't be relegated and will actually have a decent season.

Think of it this way, if it were possible to consistently beat the champions, they wouldn't be champions. We would be.

I despair,DER HELLLLLO WE LOST AGAIN OR DID IT FEEL LIKE A WIN,EXPERT STYLE?

DER LOOK AT IT THIS WAY WE DIDNT BEAT THE CHAMPIONS AND IF WE CONSITENTLY ACTUALLY BEAT THEM THEN WE WOULD BUT WE DIDNT AND IF KEEP LOSING WERE DOWN ITS SIMPLES REALLY? OMG WE LOST FFS DIDNT WIN . IF I HAD PUT 6 NUMBERS ON THE LOTTO ID BE RICH,I FELT LIKE I DID BUT I DIDNT . BUT HEY I LOST ON THAT TO.