[Archived] Sam Allardyce

[Andy]

if big sam were to go my short list

zola

ray wilkins

o'neil

strancen

keegan

or ex blackburn players

shearer

short

sutton

...seriously?!

[emerton]

No suprises that the vultures have come out again.

For the moment and at least the immediate future Big Sam is the man for the job.

The are always going to be hiccups along the road & today was a combination of poor selections, poor performances & a switched on united.

These are the games which are not going to define our season. how we rebound and approach the wolves game next week is going to be a big test of character and I hope the lads are up for it.

[Bobby G]

Some people change their minds on a match by match basis, which shows that there is not much up there in logic or rationale.

[Stuart]

Truth be told, though, Sam has always been the right man for our situation but he's never been the right man for Blackburn Rovers. He's got us results but I think even those who agree with that aren't truly happy with him as manager. It's a bit of a begrudging situation but beggars can't be choosers.

Hopefully we're no longer beggars, though.

I've not really thought of it in quite that way before but I think you a right. In our situation (certainly pre-takeover) we are lucky to have him.

The big problem is that I can't see any other manager with enough experience who I'd want to replace him! Coyle?

Our biggest problem right now though is the lack of quality in our playing staff. Hopefully that will change first.

[Zulu]

Same guy was within an minute or two of getting 3 pts off your lot at the breeze block today.

But he didn't did he? Which tends to strengthen my point. Allardyce, or Coyle for that matter, would have shut up shop at 2-0 and taken three well earned points. Ian Holloway has a very large self-destruct gene. Don't get me wrong, there's a part of me that would love to see him in charge at Ewood. But that's more to do with laughing at his post-match interviews, many of which are surreal. Rather he managed you than us - but he's fine at Blackpool too!

I've not really thought of it in quite that way before but I think you a right. In our situation (certainly pre-takeover) we are lucky to have him.

The big problem is that I can't see any other manager with enough experience who I'd want to replace him! Coyle?

Our biggest problem right now though is the lack of quality in our playing staff. Hopefully that will change first.

At the risk of repeating myself Coyle will not leave Bolton for Blackburn.

Nothing to see here. Move on.

[Roost]

Dear Venkys,

Please do not let this man loose with your hard earned cash in January.

Yesterday was an embarrassment for all to see, and his team selection and tactics were nothing short of shambolic.

The recent wins have simply papered over the cracks.

[Stuart]

At the risk of repeating myself Coyle will not leave Bolton for Blackburn.

Nothing to see here. Move on.

Morning Lulu.

I didn't say he'd come just that he'd be one I'd be in favour of.

You are starting to sound a bit concerned though so maybe we do have a chance!

[LeftWinger]

Just had a quick look through the times we've conceded 5 or more while I've been supporting Rovers. Before Allardyce I'd only ever seen us let in 6 once - under Hughes away at Arsenal. We've let in 5 once under Allardyce, 6 twice and now 7. Embarassing. Looking back - it was Souness and Hodgson that brought us the most big wins. We didn't score more than 4 once when we won the league.

WINS

Coventry 95/96 (5)-(1) Harford

Forest 95/96 (7)-(0) Harford

Forest 95/96 (5)-(1) Harford

Sheff Wed 97/98 (7)-(2) Hodgson

PNE 97/98 (6)-(0) Hodgson

Aston Villa 97/98 (5)-(0) Hodgson

Leicester 97/98 (5)-(3) Hodgson

Sheff Utd 99/00 (5)-(0) Souness

Rochdale 00/01 (6)-(1) Souness

Derby 00/01 (5)-(2) Souness

Burnley 00/01 (5)-(0) Souness

West Ham 01/02 (7)-(1) Souness

Newcastle 02/03 (5)-(2) Souness

Wolves 03/04 (5)-(1) Souness

Peterborough 09/10 (5)-(2) Allardyce

LOSSES

Coventry 95/96 (5)-(0) Harford

Barnsley 99/00 (5)-(1) Kidd

Newcastle 02/03 (5)-(1) Souness

Arsenal 06/07 (6)-(2) Hughes

Wigan 07/08 (5)-(3) Hughes

Man United 08/09 (5)-(3) Ince

Arsenal 09/10 (6)-(2) Allardyce

Chelsea 09/10 (5)-(0) Allardyce

Aston Villa 09/10 (6)-(4) Allardyce

Man United 09/10 (7)-(1) Allardyce

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

Just had a quick look through the times we've conceded 5 or more while I've been supporting Rovers. Before Allardyce I'd only ever seen us let in 6 once - under Hughes away at Arsenal. We've let in 5 once under Allardyce, 6 twice and now 7. Embarassing. Looking back - it was Souness and Hodgson that brought us the most big wins. We didn't score more than 4 once when we won the league.

WINS

Coventry 95/96 (5)-(1) Harford

Forest 95/96 (7)-(0) Harford

Forest 95/96 (5)-(1) Harford

Sheff Wed 97/98 (7)-(2) Hodgson

PNE 97/98 (6)-(0) Hodgson

Aston Villa 97/98 (5)-(0) Hodgson

Leicester 97/98 (5)-(3) Hodgson

Sheff Utd 99/00 (5)-(0) Souness

Rochdale 00/01 (6)-(1) Souness

Derby 00/01 (5)-(2) Souness

Burnley 00/01 (5)-(0) Souness

West Ham 01/02 (7)-(1) Souness

Newcastle 02/03 (5)-(2) Souness

Wolves 03/04 (5)-(1) Souness

Peterborough 09/10 (5)-(2) Allardyce

LOSSES

Coventry 95/96 (5)-(0) Harford

Barnsley 99/00 (5)-(1) Kidd

Newcastle 02/03 (5)-(1) Souness

Arsenal 06/07 (6)-(2) Hughes

Wigan 07/08 (5)-(3) Hughes

Man United 08/09 (5)-(3) Ince

Arsenal 09/10 (6)-(2) Allardyce

Chelsea 09/10 (5)-(0) Allardyce

Aston Villa 09/10 (6)-(4) Allardyce

Man United 09/10 (7)-(1) Allardyce

I would imagine there are quite a few occasions where we have shipped 4 under Allardyce. Liverpool, Spurs & Man City leap to mind.

[Amo]

From today's People Sport (Dave Kidd):

ONE of football’s great fly-on-the-wall moments will be coming to Ewood Park soon, judging from some comments made by Mrs Anuradha Desai, chairwoman of Blackburn’s new owners, the poultry firm Venky’s. “I am going to speak to the manager soon and tell him the fans’ opinions are very important,” says the plucky Mrs Desai.

“We should go up in the rankings but playing well is not just about winning. The way we play is vital.”

That’s right Mrs Desai, you tell him, love. No more lumping it.

Sam Allardyce will be all ears. And some lucky, lucky bluebottle will be in for a treat.

[PAFELL]

An admittedly bad defeat coming after 3 wins in 4 games and a cracking performance against Villa and people are calling for the manager's head ?

Bonkers.

There may have been some fairly decent results before yesterday. But a lot of those were down to some bad misses from the other teams. The defence creaked a number of times. My view was that it is only a matter of time before the cracks were really exposed. That happened yesterday, as it did v spurs and the bad performance v liverpool.

The bite that hughes gave rovers has gone.

[tashor]

Allardyce obviously couldn't give a stuff about yesterday - read his post match comments - unconcerned platitudes......

During the game his main concern was avoiding injuries ( banning tackling, subsitutions, not playing the fit Gamst etc.......)

This happened last season - judge him after the games in December - if we have climbed the table by the New Year then, however annoyingly, he will have been proved right yet again.......

[Exiled in Toronto]

My first thought after Saturday was that Sam would get an email, saying "Meeting, My office in Pune, 8am Monday", but I suspect our new owners are first taking counsel from their football advisors.

If I were Venky's, I would be asking my advisors two things:

1) WTF was that? Did we really have seven first-teamers out?

2) Assuming that was a one-off, with January coming up, what's his record in spending money well?

As to the first question, Sam may well have already shot himself in the foot. We didn't have 7 players injured who would have played yesterday, only 2 or maybe at a push 3. So, if I'm thinking I can't trust what my new employee tells me, then that could well be a deal-breaker in itself.

As to the second, before I hand over 5-10 million of my own money, and I'm not so rich that it's loose change, I'm going to want some confidence that it will be invested well. I could buy another 5 chicken sheds for that. So how would an impartial but very knowledgeable outsider rate Sam's recent track record on spending? He hasn't had much, but has he spent it well? One yardstick would be, who out of Sam's purchases is worth more now than he paid for them? And I get as far as N'Zonzi. And I'm not sure how much more he is worth anyway. The only players sellable at a profit are either Hughes's buys or out of the academy. Sam's forte is getting in players with a proven pedigree and squeezing more mileage out of them; I'm not sure he has any kind of record even from his Bolton days in spotting new talent. If our new owners want a couple of marque signings, then Sam is probably the man for that approach; if they want someone who can find the pearls amongst their advisors many swine, I don't think so.

Sam might find that having owners who are interested in getting a return on their money is a different kettle of fish from having one's who only wanted to stay up so they could sell up.

[USABlue]

I am not going to jump on the sack Sam bandwagon. I have disliked this fella's style of play for some time but I have actually liked some of our later games and the way we have played. I just need an answer to this one question. A couple of weeks back Sam pulled Salgado because in his eyes he was getting done, why the hell then does Chimbonda play the full game yesterday. As a boss one thing you need is to be consistant, he leaves me befuddled.

O'Neill is so over-rated, I dislike him & he is dull as a person too....Infact I would HATE him to be the manager.

Going off what he's done...If Sam goes, Id like Holloway

Holloway here would be good. Never a dull moment with him. Let's stick with Sam for a bit though.

[Stuart]

Sam might find that having owners who are interested in getting a return on their money is a different kettle of fish from having one's who only wanted to stay up so they could sell up.

I don't imagine Sam"s that worried. He'll walk before he'll let little, old Rovers sack him.

My prediction is that he won't be with us after the Summer. He might even retire from football.

[USABlue]

if big sam were to go my short list

zola

ray wilkins

o'neil

strancen

keegan

or ex blackburn players

shearer

short

sutton

Surely you're taking the Mick

[ABBEY]

He won't Walk and miss a pay day.

[chaddyrovers]

To the people who wanted Big Sam, who would you wanted to replace him???

Hughton?

Shearer?

Di Matteo?

Hollway?

Zola?

Steve McClaren?

[imy9]

My first thought after Saturday was that Sam would get an email, saying "Meeting, My office in Pune, 8am Monday", but I suspect our new owners are first taking counsel from their football advisors.

If I were Venky's, I would be asking my advisors two things:

1) WTF was that? Did we really have seven first-teamers out?

2) Assuming that was a one-off, with January coming up, what's his record in spending money well?

As to the first question, Sam may well have already shot himself in the foot. We didn't have 7 players injured who would have played yesterday, only 2 or maybe at a push 3. So, if I'm thinking I can't trust what my new employee tells me, then that could well be a deal-breaker in itself.

As to the second, before I hand over 5-10 million of my own money, and I'm not so rich that it's loose change, I'm going to want some confidence that it will be invested well. I could buy another 5 chicken sheds for that. So how would an impartial but very knowledgeable outsider rate Sam's recent track record on spending? He hasn't had much, but has he spent it well? One yardstick would be, who out of Sam's purchases is worth more now than he paid for them? And I get as far as N'Zonzi. And I'm not sure how much more he is worth anyway. The only players sellable at a profit are either Hughes's buys or out of the academy. Sam's forte is getting in players with a proven pedigree and squeezing more mileage out of them; I'm not sure he has any kind of record even from his Bolton days in spotting new talent. If our new owners want a couple of marque signings, then Sam is probably the man for that approach; if they want someone who can find the pearls amongst their advisors many swine, I don't think so.

Sam might find that having owners who are interested in getting a return on their money is a different kettle of fish from having one's who only wanted to stay up so they could sell up.

We had:

1. Givet (only on the bench to make up the numbers)

2. Nzonzi (Current player of the year)

3. Grella (when fit he is in the first 11)

4. Andrews (look how many starts he has had when fit)

5. MGP (most in form player)

6. Kalinic(£6 million pound man)

7. Diouf (in around the first 11)

8. Olsson (regular first 11)

There are EIGHT players listed who are first 11 or first to come off the bench in our games FOUR of the above play in central midfield, an area which is our weakest anyway!

On the topic of spending money well, I think he has shown over the years at Rovers that he can and does purchase players well, however I think the mindset now is to purchase top young players and sell them on, trouble is that you need experienced players too and I think we are lacking a few

[PAFELL]

To the people who wanted Big Sam, who would you wanted to replace him???

Hughton?

Shearer?

Di Matteo?

Hollway?

Zola?

Steve McClaren?

Out of that list. No to Houghton or shearer or Zola.

Di Matteo is worth a shot in my view.

Holloway I also wouldn't mind. He does motivate the players. But they are playing with a 'we expect to go down' attitude. So hard to judge in someways.

The wollie with the brollie - not sure.

But you could add to the list of those who have managed in the prem, Souness, O Neil, Hughes - but would have to pay compo for the latter.

[Amo]

There are EIGHT players listed who are first 11 or first to come off the bench in our games FOUR of the above play in central midfield, an area which is our weakest anyway!

What a joke. We lost the game in the first half, of which we were only missing three starters from the win vs. Villa (Givet, Pedersen), the former of which had calls to be dropped anyway, and Hoilett, who was randomly dropped.

[chaddyrovers]

Souness has said he's not interest in football management anymore. MO'N needs alot of money to spend and I don't like the guy and his tactics are the same as BS. Hughes won't come back to us.

[John]

To the people who wanted Big Sam, who would you wanted to replace him???

Hughton?

Shearer?

Di Matteo?

Hollway?

Zola?

Steve McClaren?

Pretty horrible list...

[chaddyrovers]

Curbishley and Poyet to add to the list of managers

[imy9]

What a joke. We lost the game in the first half, of which we were only missing three starters from the win vs. Villa (Givet, Pedersen), the former of which had calls to be dropped anyway, and Hoilett, who was randomly dropped.

So we were missing three starters from the Villa does that mean the other players are not first 11 players? So Sam was correct in what he said and wasn't lying/ misleading as was implied? glad you agree.