[Archived] Sam Allardyce

[chaddyrovers]

Well done Big Sam tonight. Good team selection and tactis. was abit shock with the 3-5-2 today but it worked very well. I have been saying for ages, trust Big Sam, he knows what he is doing. I agree we play direct and maybe sometimes abit to much but today we mix it up alot. He plays winning football and we get us into the top 10 again.

I have full confidence in Big Sam and hope he will be manager for at least the next couple of years yet!!! Hope our new owners keep him as manager!!!

[Hughesy]

He gets the stick when we lose

He gets the stick when we throw away a lead & dont win

He gets the stick for his subs

He gets the stick for his formation

Tonight he got all 4 correct it seems....Credit where its due??

BIG SAMS BLUE & WHITE ARMY!!

[Tom]

Yes Hughesy and if you look up thats exactly what's happening.

Oh and he has rightly got stick this season at times.

[Hughesy]

Yes Hughesy and if you look up thats exactly what's happening.

Oh and he has rightly got stick this season at times.

Just pointing it out, as had we lost we would be hearing the same old from the same old negative posters. Only fair!!

[Tom]

I have been negative at times this season but I feel it has been justified.

Tonight Sam got it spot on in a way none of us could have expected.

[Miker]

We're going to continue having bad games and good games, no manager can have a 100% record, especially with the team we have, but I think Sam has shown enough in his time here and in his past managerial roles that we should feel safe in his hands as far as relegation is concerned at least. What I realistically expect is for us to be challenging for 7th every season. I think the newly established "top 6" is too hard for us to reach, but we should be battling the more established clubs like Everton, Aston Villa and Newcastle for that 7th spot.

[Hughesy]

Sorry if my posts annoy anyone... its born from frustration with some people's CONSTANT negativity! I just enjoy seeing my team win & everyone getting on like a nice big happy family

As for Dirty....check out Fabreglass' tackle Arsene!

[tony gale's mic]

We're going to continue having bad games and good games, no manager can have a 100% record, especially with the team we have, but I think Sam has shown enough in his time here and in his past managerial roles that we should feel safe in his hands as far as relegation is concerned at least. What I realistically expect is for us to be challenging for 7th every season. I think the newly established "top 6" is too hard for us to reach, but we should be battling the more established clubs like Everton, Aston Villa and Newcastle for that 7th spot.

Man U

Chelsea

Arsenal

Liverpool

City

Spurs

Everton

Sunderland

Birmingham

are all in a different spending league to us.

Even Fulham, Stoke, Bolton and Newcastle can spend more than us comfortably.

With the input of the VH Group I still very much doubt we'll move into those 9 clubs above, though we might be able to compete financially with the four I mentioned.

Top 10 would be a good achievement again.

[broadsword]

He gets the stick when we lose

The sheer cheek of it! Just imagine.

[Andy]

I think performance-wise, the players must always take some of the criticism/credit when we play badly/well.

I'm positive that there would have been no (or very little) difference in Big Sam's team instructions between the Chelsea and Wigan games, yet the players put in a cracking shift in one and were dire in the other.

It's absurd to even think that a manager would say to his team:

"Right lads, we're going to play rubbish today. Whenever you get the ball, just crack it anywhere. Samba - make sure you lose Carroll just after half time, to give them the usual just-after-HT goal...etc".

We do tend to concede goals early in the 2nd half, but this really isn't down to Sam demotivating his players during the break - how could it be?!

For me, it's either the opposition making effective changes (that the players haven't adapted to at that point) or it's a physical thing - in which case I've no doubt that Sam will have all of the figures and stats to hand to address that.

Either way, spot on last night - tactical masterstroke in the way he set the team up, but also cracking performances from a number of players

[den]

I think performance-wise, the players must always take some of the criticism/credit when we play badly/well.

I'm positive that there would have been no (or very little) difference in Big Sam's team instructions between the Chelsea and Wigan games, yet the players put in a cracking shift in one and were dire in the other.

It's absurd to even think that a manager would say to his team:

"Right lads, we're going to play rubbish today. Whenever you get the ball, just crack it anywhere. Samba - make sure you lose Carroll just after half time, to give them the usual just-after-HT goal...etc".

We do tend to concede goals early in the 2nd half, but this really isn't down to Sam demotivating his players during the break - how could it be?!

For me, it's either the opposition making effective changes (that the players haven't adapted to at that point) or it's a physical thing - in which case I've no doubt that Sam will have all of the figures and stats to hand to address that.

Either way, spot on last night - tactical masterstroke in the way he set the team up, but also cracking performances from a number of players

Exactly right Andy.

I used to go to Ewood with one guy in particular who always based his opinion of the game on the result. If we won, we had played well and if we lost, it was because we had played poorly. He could never accept that we could play well and lose. I do get the impression that Allardyce gets a similar treatment on here at times, in that when we play well Allardyce has got it right, and when we play poorly Allardyce has got it wrong.

[AndyNeil]

I do not like the manager (as a person) or his general style of play, however I have to say last night that I think he could have found a formation that suits us well away from home - strong at the back with the flexability to be solid yet break and counter-attack.

Excellent result last night, and as somebody pointed out on twitter only 1 point behind the darling of the media, tottenham hotspur.

[Darwen Rover]

It was definitely a better performance than the one we showed against Wigan and his tactics were spot on today especially nullifying Nolan and to an extent Carroll.

Roberts has shown in recent games he has something to offer especially from the bench. Going off history Roberts will likely start a game look awful then be dropped back to the bench, then come on in another game with say 30 mins to go score a winner and so the cycle begins again. Got to worry about his reaction after scoring the goal and at the end, hopefully it doesn’t affect team harmony. Was he trying to make a point to Sam and certain players? Maybe but it looked like he was acting like a complete prat at the final whistle.

Hoilett looked very good tonight, must start the next game imo.

For the benefit of us that weren't at the game, what did Roberts do at the final whistle??

[Ozz]

He tried to boot a bottle of Lucozade at Sam Allardyce but it sliced of his shin, went sideways and rolled slowly onto the cinder track.

[DE.]

Insane to see how close we are to the European spots. Say what you want about Sam, and I've had a couple of digs lately, the man consistantly gets results when he needs them. It's as simple as that.

[Mattyblue]

When we play like we did last night, I fail to see what issue anyone could have with Sam.

Tactically sound, defended resolutely, broke well and took our chances.

Last night was the Rovers I expected to see under Sam by now.

[thenodrog]

From the back page article of the LT... "I'LL SHOW TOON GOT IT WRONG".

"If only" is a big word in football, said Allardyce

Seems he's named his villa in Spain 'Villa St James' after buying it with the proceeds of his settlement.

[Gav]

When we play like we did last night, I fail to see what issue anyone could have with Sam.

Tactically sound, defended resolutely, broke well and took our chances.

Last night was the Rovers I expected to see under Sam by now.

Very good result, manager deserves credit for tactics and performance on the night, worlds away from Saturdays debacle.

But so far this season we have had far more poor performances than good, lets hope the manager can change that in the coming weeks/months.

[Exiled in Toronto]

Fair play to the manager - very good performance last night. It gave us width, pace and possession, 3 things normally notable by their absence from our game. We should play that formation more often as it seems to make much better use of the playing staff we have.

[Hughesy]

It will be interesting to see how we cover Bale on saturday...He will beat Salgado for pace all day...

[ABBEY]

Good win but he will always be a negative hoofing SOB..

[dunc]

Very good result, manager deserves credit for tactics and performance on the night, worlds away from Saturdays debacle.

Saturday was a debacle? We won. Had Dunn scored that chance at the end we'd have scored two goals from excellent moves, two better moves than the two goals last night. Lets have a debacle every week please. Some people want jam on it. Do you think Wigan fans were in the pub on Saturday night lauding their pretty triangles? Doubt it somehow.

[Gav]

Saturday was a debacle? We won. Had Dunn scored that chance at the end we'd have scored two goals from excellent moves, two better moves than the two goals last night. Lets have a debacle every week please. Some people want jam on it. Do you think Wigan fans were in the pub on Saturday night lauding their pretty triangles? Doubt it somehow.

You thought we played well Saturday then? the sort of football you'd like to see week in week out?

[dunc]

You thought we played well Saturday then? the sort of football you'd like to see week in week out?

We won. I went home happy. I'd definitely take that every week. Victory is everything in my book. I can't understand anyone going home unhappy after seeing their side win. I get no pleasure from seeing us lose, no matter what the performance.

[Kelbo]

It will be interesting to see how we cover Bale on saturday...He will beat Salgado for pace all day...

He will beat anybody for pace all day, as a caoch and manager, you deal with it, you push your wide midfielder up on him and Salgado come round the back, you 'two him' dont let him come inside, show him the line where possible, then you make sure the Central defenders or Robbo deal with the cross if he gets one in.

Imagine you were in a playground and you were constantly bullied, I could think of no better person than Sam to be on your side, when the chips are down, the bugger always fights back, thats a man, manager and team player!!