[Archived] Poll Time - Rovers 12 Months Under Big Sam

[Guest Kamy100]

I voted no, I think that Sam has the ability to keep us in the Premier League this season, however the style of football is not for me, it is ugly to watch and at the moment is not really producing results. Teams have worked out how to play against us.

Should he be sacked? Not sure because of the difficulty in getting a suitable replacement and the cost of doing so to the club, also I think that he has earned the right to keep his job until the end of the season due to what he achieved last year.

[Ossydave]

He's frustrating me a lot lately with some of the decisions he makes.

BUT

I honestly think if Dunn had been fit lately we'd be at least 6 points better off and in the top half. In saying that though it's wrong that we are so completely reliant on one player for some creativity.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

???????????

I'm in the unsure camp.Genuinely expected us to improve this season but as results are starting to show we aren't that much better to be honest.

Allardyce needs two things at present,time and money..... he will get the first no doubt but we haven't got a pot to p1ss in.

???????????

[DE.]

At this moment in time, I chose no. January's dealings could sway it to 'undecided' or even 'yes', though i doubt it will.

Last year I was hugely supportive of Sam and one of the most optimistic people on here, when the majority were bemoaning BFS and saying we were destined for relegation. I supported him fully last year because I believed he would save us from relegation, and he did.

I was expecting an improvement this year, but although we're 13th, I don't feel the team has improved in the way I expected. First thing's first, the 'football' we play is turgid - no two ways about it. Earlier in the season we were playing some decent stuff, but since November we have just (Chelsea excluded) been sh!te and I feel sorry for the people that go to watch 90 minutes of it home and away every week.

We all know the purse-strings are tight, and that Sam's job is a very tough one. We've got one of the lowest transfer budgets in the league, after all. However, there have been some seriously strange transfer dealings (3 right backs) and a failure to address an area that has been critical for 2 seasons (Central midfield). Most of us are baffled that Kalinic is playing so little, and players such as Diouf and Givet have declined somewhat since the end of last season. Di Santo started off well, but has struggled recently and can't hit the back of the net. Worth noting that much of our strikers woes come from the failure to create a decent supply line.

Have the players we had last year progressed since this year? The answer, I'm afraid, is no. If anything, we've gone backwards slightly, and the players seem to only play well when we throw Sam's long-ball tactic out the window and get it on the deck. We all know Robbo's strengths and weaknesses, and they've been as apparent as ever this year. For a club in our position Robbo is about as good as we can get, so I'm not going to complain about that. Samba has been excellent for most of the season thus far, as usual, whilst Nelsen has had patches of his old form but is noticably slower and prone to error. MGP has for the most part been invisible, Diouf has been terrible. Dunn has of course been fantastic but I doubt his ability to stay injury-free, Grella has been solid but again, very much doubt we'll see too much of him this season. Keith Andrews I need to say nothing about. It's nice that Hoilett has been brought through, but at his age it's hard to judge his performance level or predict his impact in matches. Roberts is useless, we all know this, whilst Benni Mac when playing has been fantastic. The issue being, as apparently Benni put it himself, "the management have no faith in me". A worrying statement from one of our best players.

Overall - our players are either at the same level as last season or slightly worse, and Sam's signings have had less impact than I'm sure he would have liked.

I don't think our players are as willing to adapt to Sam's methods as they were last year. We seemed to incorporate Sam's mentality last year because we were in such a dire situation, whereas this year the players seem less enthusiastic about using the long-ball tactic and it's showing in our lacklustre performances. We haven't won in 8 now, we struggle to score and at times to defend as well. Does our league position reflect the club's situation? Probably not. Getting the 'big four' out of the way early doors was nice, but we've failed to capitalise on games we should have won and now people are beginning to make up excuses for the team and suggest a point against teams like Hull are good results. I'm sorry, but to me they are not good results at all, away or not. These are games we should be aiming to win, and disappointment should be natural if we are unable to do so. We have no given right to beat any team in the league, but it'd be nice to at least attempt to defeat them. Too often this season the tactics have been negative when a more positive outlook has been required.

For what it's worth, we have been very unlucky in some matches. Much like last year, our players are inexplicably missing sitters and costing us points. Not much Sam can do about that.

Lastly, Big Sam's after-match comments are really annoying me at the moment. Either he's trying to shield the players from criticism or he is sitting far too high in the stands and is confusing the opposition with ourselves. Either way, the fans are not stupid, and most of us know full well we did not "deserve to win" the past few games.

For things to improve, we need to ship some deadwood, get back to playing the football we were playing earlier in the season, and become a more positive unit tactically. That doesn't mean we have to do it West Brom style and fail miserably, we just need to mix the long-ball with passing. We did it earlier in the season and produced some fantastic displays (Villa springs to mind) so why can't we do it now? Dunn's injury is obviously big, but if we're relying on a serial crock to get us out of trouble - no matter how good he may be - then clearly something is not right, and needs to be addressed.

What a ramble this has been. Just my two penneth worth, anyway.

[S15]

WE ARE DOOMED - WE ARE GOING DOWN - AND BIG SAM SHOULD BE SACKED!

You have a seriously undeveloped sense of humour.

Is your mind so narrow that you can't see beyond the fantasy land you create. Most people accept a good job was done last season followed by a very average one this season. Considering we have won once in ten games combined with the poor performances is clear evidence to even the dimmest person that there is more to be critical of right now, and not much to praise the manager for.

[walk down bolton road]

Am i happy with the direction the club is heading,I voted no the style of football we play is terrible to say the least.

Our most creative player under Sam is the goalkeeper,reason being he can hoof it the furthest up the pitch,so this cause"s no connection between midfield and the strikers.

Couple of plus points being NZONZI AND GIVET {best position centre half not full back}.

The tactics we play and a lack of funding from the trustees combine to make a very worrying second half of the season.

[Steve Moss]

I voted YES. I think Sam is acting in the long term best interests of the club, bringing in talented youth with just enough experienced players to help them with their continued development. Sam has been hampered by our limited financial ability, but that should improve come the summer and I think he'll keep us on the course of continued improvement.

We have struggled to date, with a combination of critical injuries adversely effecting our midfield and some unlucky strikers. Despite struggling, Sam has keep us north of the relegation zone and within striking distance of 10th. I expect both our squad and our league standing to improve in short order.

[FourLaneBlue]

Much happier than I was 12 months ago but not as happy as I was 24 months.

Pretty much. We have progressed...but not a lot.

We HAVE to bring in at least 1 midfielder in the Jan transfer window.

[Bobby G]

I will have to wait until the end of January before answering too.

Im definitely happier than I was 12 months ago, but the last month has been awfully disappointing. A lot is riding on our dealings this month as well as the cup semi-final and league games in January.

I am somewhere between YES and Not sure either way at this moment, leaning more towards yes, but I need to see the problems being addressed sooner rather than later.

[mjs]

Considering we have won once in ten games combined with the poor performances is clear evidence to even the dimmest person that there is more to be critical of right now, and not much to praise the manager for.

Agreed. We can't win games, we struggles to score goals, we struggle to create chances, we can't pass the ball, we concede too many soft goals, and we play the ugliest football I have ever witnessed by any Rovers team.

Long ball/direct football is slightly bearable if it is effective and enables us to win games. But that isn't happening right now.

[FourLaneBlue]

It is pretty shocking that we have to rely on a player as injury prone as David Dunn for our midfield creativity. It is also shocking just how little Diouf and Pedersen have contributed when we needed them.

As I think this will be addressed in January I have voted yes. However if this is not addressed then perhaps I have been too trigger-happy.

[John]

Don't understand why some people are waiting until the end of January until making their judgement. Even with a decent amount of money, January is notoriously difficult to buy any quality. The fact we have none makes it a tad difficult.

[sam_rovers]

I voted not sure either way.. mainly because even though im not pleased with the style of play and some of his substitutions and tactics are bizarre at best I can't see anyone else taking the job right now. No funds, very little chance of improvement, I think this is the best we can get.

[Tom]

You have a seriously undeveloped sense of humour.

Is your mind so narrow that you can't see beyond the fantasy land you create. Most people accept a good job was done last season followed by a very average one this season. Considering we have won once in ten games combined with the poor performances is clear evidence to even the dimmest person that there is more to be critical of right now, and not much to praise the manager for.

Pretty much spot on, how anyone can think that all is rosy right now is beyond me.

[Mr. E]

I shall give my answer after the semi-finals. If he gets us into the final, I would be able to forgive almost everything.

[cletus]

I voted "no".

I`m not one to stick the knife into our managers. Sam did his job last season by keeping us up, & is currently keeping us out of the bottom 3 (only just) so far. i don`t think we`ll go down, but it`s not pretty stuff we play.

To continue this "hoofball" style of football might just keep us in the prem, but it`s awful to watch & terribly terribly predictable. We`ll lose a big chunk of our new-found season ticket holders if we continue to play like this.

I`m prepared to give Sam time to develope the team, but he`s also got to give us a glimmer of 'better things to come'......something to hang on to.

[whittle blue]

Don't understand why some people are waiting until the end of January until making their judgement. Even with a decent amount of money, January is notoriously difficult to buy any quality. The fact we have none makes it a tad difficult.

I agree, John.

We need to see what happens in another 12 months when Sam's had time to do some more ins & outs.

Last season he was firefighting.

This season he's keeping the ship steady and taking stock.

Next season is the one where he should make his mark and hopefully, give us better & more ambitious football.(and be judged).

[RovertheHill]

When Mark Hughes left I was convinced that Sam Allardyce wasn't the man to take us forward. In fact I was very much opposed to him being appointed at that time (although I drew the line at joining Facebook groups about it). The reason was that I didn't think he'd be the man to build on our shaky foundations and move us forward. And let's be clear, those foundations were weakening during the last 6-8 months of Hughes' reign. My vote at the time was Ten Cate, and I was massively underwhelmed with Paul Ince. Once it became clear we were in deep sh*te, my view was that Allardyce was the best man to get us out of it. He was - and we stayed up with games to spare.

This season we needed to see progress, and to be fair and frank we haven't seen anywhere enough of it. There have been exciting games but mostly punctuated with some boring drivel. We seem incapable of playing for more than 45 minutes. When we do play, we play well - often on the floor, often direct, but not "hoof-ball" as some would claim all the time. However, the figures are everything - 21 points at this stage is not good enough. Allardyce has targeted certain teams for wins and we haven't done that. I think Allardyce would be the first to admit his signings haven't made quite the impact this season he would have wanted. Last season Givet and DIouf really helped drag us out of the mire. This season Chimbonda and Nzonzi have played well, as has Jacobsen when started. Di Santo, Hoillet and Kalinic look good for the future. Van Heerden is seemingly the new Bruno Berner.

Allardyce has done himself no favours with some of his comments - although frankly I'm more irritated that it gives individuals on here the ammunition to repeat ad nauseum (Mr Expert this, Mr Expert that. Give it a rest for pity's sake). Allardyce seems a bit like Souness in that he likes the attention and perhaps should shut up occasionally rather than go on. I preferred Hughes' attitude to success far more than Allardyce.

All in all, I think I'm ion the middle of the spectrum on this site. There are haters, there are dreamers but I'm in the middle - I'm not particularly happy but he continues to have my support.

Footnote:

Some interesting stats - make of them what you will

Graeme Souness - P212 W86 D61 L65 - Win 40.56%, Loss 30.66%, Points-per-game 1.50

Mark Hughes - P188 W82 D47 L59 - Win 43.62%, Loss 31.38%, Points-per-game 1.56

Paul Ince - P21 W6 D4 L11 - Win 28.57%, Loss 52.38%, Points-per-game 1.05

Sam Allardyce - P50 W17 D16 L17, Win 34%, Loss 34%, Points-per-game 1.34

[PAFELL]

When Mark Hughes left I was convinced that Sam Allardyce wasn't the man to take us forward. In fact I was very much opposed to him being appointed at that time (although I drew the line at joining Facebook groups about it). The reason was that I didn't think he'd be the man to build on our shaky foundations and move us forward. And let's be clear, those foundations were weakening during the last 6-8 months of Hughes' reign. My vote at the time was Ten Cate, and I was massively underwhelmed with Paul Ince. Once it became clear we were in deep sh*te, my view was that Allardyce was the best man to get us out of it. He was - and we stayed up with games to spare.

This season we needed to see progress, and to be fair and frank we haven't seen anywhere enough of it. There have been exciting games but mostly punctuated with some boring drivel. We seem incapable of playing for more than 45 minutes. When we do play, we play well - often on the floor, often direct, but not "hoof-ball" as some would claim all the time. However, the figures are everything - 21 points at this stage is not good enough. Allardyce has targeted certain teams for wins and we haven't done that. I think Allardyce would be the first to admit his signings haven't made quite the impact this season he would have wanted. Last season Givet and DIouf really helped drag us out of the mire. This season Chimbonda and Nzonzi have played well, as has Jacobsen when started. Di Santo, Hoillet and Kalinic look good for the future. Van Heerden is seemingly the new Bruno Berner.

Allardyce has done himself no favours with some of his comments - although frankly I'm more irritated that it gives individuals on here the ammunition to repeat ad nauseum (Mr Expert this, Mr Expert that. Give it a rest for pity's sake). Allardyce seems a bit like Souness in that he likes the attention and perhaps should shut up occasionally rather than go on. I preferred Hughes' attitude to success far more than Allardyce.

All in all, I think I'm ion the middle of the spectrum on this site. There are haters, there are dreamers but I'm in the middle - I'm not particularly happy but he continues to have my support.

Footnote:

Some interesting stats - make of them what you will

Graeme Souness - P212 W86 D61 L65 - Win 40.56%, Loss 30.66%, Points-per-game 1.50

Mark Hughes - P188 W82 D47 L59 - Win 43.62%, Loss 31.38%, Points-per-game 1.56

Paul Ince - P21 W6 D4 L11 - Win 28.57%, Loss 52.38%, Points-per-game 1.05

Sam Allardyce - P50 W17 D16 L17, Win 34%, Loss 34%, Points-per-game 1.34

I think Sam has waited to see what he really has available to him. Maybe he has done his upmost to get players such as Pedeson, Roberts, diouf and macarthy to play at their best yet been unable to do it. Because of Sam's own history of getting the best out of players he has pursued with the mentioned players. I think this mornings rant in the LET is a large hint that he has tried and maybe had enough and considers now is the time to get rid, and replace with others. Apart from Bennie I would agree with him. Though even Bennie can have is lazy cannot be bothered days - which is something Rovers cannot afford.

[FourLaneBlue]

Some interesting stats - make of them what you will

Graeme Souness - P212 W86 D61 L65 - Win 40.56%, Loss 30.66%, Points-per-game 1.50

Mark Hughes - P188 W82 D47 L59 - Win 43.62%, Loss 31.38%, Points-per-game 1.56

Paul Ince - P21 W6 D4 L11 - Win 28.57%, Loss 52.38%, Points-per-game 1.05

Sam Allardyce - P50 W17 D16 L17, Win 34%, Loss 34%, Points-per-game 1.34

For Souness that would include more than a quarter of those being in the Championship. The Prem results are likely to be similar to Sam's with Souness having spent far, far more.

It does go to show just how successful Hughes was at Ewood.

That does not even take into account the 3 semi finals and the best European run in our history. Not that it had much to beat...

Unfortunately Sam has it financially tougher than even Hughes had.

[dingles staying down 4ever]

I'd wait until January is out of the way until answering this one Kammy.

Snap!

[philipl]

Under a quarter saying yes. And probably some of those are people who felt utter despair under Ince and are just thankful that nightmare closed.

[RevidgeBlue]

Under a quarter saying yes. And probably some of those are people who felt utter despair under Ince and are just thankful that nightmare closed.

In the interests of balance and to be fair to Sam an equally pertinent poll would be "Can any manager take us forward under the current owners?"

It may be that there are a few out there who could get us playing like Brazil and winning games in the Premier League on a transfer budget of minus 16m but we'd be lucky to find one of them.

[thenodrog]

Given there are glaring deficiencies in the squad should we be trying to spread 10m around when we've just banked 27m?

I would if it was my money Simon and I bet you would too. Thing is the lads we sold for 27m cost less than 7m so it's quite reasonable to expect a manager of BRFC to continue in that vein. I still remember Jack Walker saying publically that BRFC is a business and has to be run as one.

Problem is that

a. the manager gets ticked off with continually being foiled in his attempts to raise his own profile.

b. other clubs place a high value on him and whisk him away.

Look at this from a different perspective and where would Burnley be left if some bigger club whisked Owen Coyle away? That is the biggest threat to their Prem existence imo. Coyles young and ambitious and he will know full well that for his career to progress he has to to an equally good job at a club with higher expectations than mere survival. He needs to display a certain amount of loyalty but if he waits until Burnley's fortunes take a serious dip as they inevitably will then his career prospects will dip with it. Make no mistake his abilities will have been noted in corridors of power up and down the Prem and he needs to take advantage whilst he is still 'upwardly mobile'. Should the situation arise I'd expect clubs like Everton, SLand and Newcastle to see him as their ideal replacement.

[RevidgeBlue]

I would if it was my money Simon and I bet you would too. Thing is the lads we sold for 27m cost less than 7m so it's quite reasonable to expect a manager of BRFC to continue in that vein. I still remember Jack Walker saying publically that BRFC is a business and has to be run as one.

Problem is that

a. the manager gets ticked off with continually being foiled in his attempts to raise his own profile.

b. other clubs place a high value on him and whisk him away.

If you are lucky enough to find a good manager (as we did with Hughes) is it not better business to back him to the hilt?

I would say if a manager is clever enough to turn a huge profit on a player it is only reasonable to allow that manager to reinvest the vast majority of that profit on better quality players and so on and so on. You can't go on unearthing hidden gems forever and there must be a large slice of luck involved with that no matter who you are.