[Archived] Underpower Championship

[John]

Jason Roberts gave a masterclass performance up front for Reading too, holding the ball up.

[BuckyRover]

The Hammers fans arent happy at all.

[Tom]

A few more fans wanting him out after replacing a midfielder with a defender at half time

I think they have more chance of being in the top league than us next season though

[Ricky]

Not convinced Tom. Reckon they'll finish 3rd and blow it in the play offs. Let's be honest, with the squad he's go he should have walked that league. The squad is far stronger than the two teams above them. Maybe he shouldn't be managing real Madrid are barcelona.

[den]

Tell you what Ricky, - if we had Sam and Wham had Kean, we would certainly be in different leagues next season, no matter how good Wham's squad is.

[Ricky]

Not arguing that Den. All I would say is that Sam surely has to ask himself why he's not top of the league with the strongest team in the division. Whilst with us he commented that he'd win the league every season with a team like Madrid. Maybe he needs to look at himself at the moment.

[Amo]

How come when Steve Kean & Brian McDermott were separated at birth we ended up with the runt?

[den]

Not arguing that Den. All I would say is that Sam surely has to ask himself why he's not top of the league with the strongest team in the division. Whilst with us he commented that he'd win the league every season with a team like Madrid. Maybe he needs to look at himself at the moment.

I can't remember who Wham signed and sold in the summer Ricky [apart from Scott Parker, their playmaker]. However, I find it hard to believe that they actually strengthened the squad who weren't good enough to avoid relegation. That Wham squad last season, were in the same place as we are this season.

[John]

They have got some OK payers but would say the West Ham squad is fairly average - even the one which got relegated was poor.

[DE.]

Carlton Cole was supposed to be a great striker - he's scored 10 so far this season in the Championship. A few of their players were, imo, hugely overrated last year. I wasn't that surprised to see them relegated.

[Ozz]

Season not finished yet lads.

[Andy]

Season not finished yet lads.

Indeed.

Sam's target/brief was to get an overrated and underperforming team promoted and with several games left, he's still very much on target to do that.

[Tom]

I wouldn't say he's very much on target to do it, I think they'll go up as I said but I expected more

[deryck guyler's spoon]

With his budget and experience Sam Allardyce should really be showing a clean pair of heels to ex non league manager Brian McDermott in the race for the Premier League.

It's good for the game that Swansea, Norwich and Reading are demonstrating that clubs with limited finances don't have to play horrible, cynical percentage football in order to reach the top flight and stay there.

[DE.]

Aye, they'd only be on target if they were in the top two. No way Sam will want to go into the lottery of the playoffs.

The result today is a really, really bad one for West Ham. After Allardyce came out during the week calling the fans delusional, etc, he really needed to follow it up with a win today to silence his critics.

[Ricky]

I know he got injured, but Sam bought in Bentley in the summer Den. Added to Lansbury who was highly rated at arsenal and Nolan I think he bought in some decent players. I'd be interested to see a list of sams signings since he's been there.

[jim mk2]

It's good for the game that Swansea, Norwich and Reading are demonstrating that clubs with limited finances don't have to play horrible, cynical percentage football in order to reach the top flight and stay there.

Swansea and Norwich have been in the top flight one season - whether they can sustain it in the long term like Sam's teams is very doubtful. Reading were in the top division for a short spell but uiltimately were relegated.

[Miker]

I think Reading will end up winning it. Southampton are overachieving and they may end up stuttering at the end.

Sam should be winning the league with that squad, no excuses. I think it's a very strong league this season though with a lot of high quality managers trying to prove themselves. Not easy, but you'd still expect more from Sam.

[Mattyblue]

Why was our football 'cynical' under Allardyce?

Meaningless throwaway phrase.

Anyways, he was brought in to get them up, all this 'he should be doing better' means nothing until the end of the season. Promotion- job done, no promotion- failure.

[Tom]

If he's on course for promotion then rovers are on course for survival by the same reckoning.

Like I say even if they are in the play offs Sam will get them motivated for it and they'll win it

[deryck guyler's spoon]

Why was our football 'cynical' under Allardyce?

Meaningless throwaway phrase.

Admittedly the niggling fouls and cheap free kicks that disrupted the flow of games were more prevalent at Bolton but the playing for throw ins and set pieces was still Allardyce's stock in trade at Rovers. Not against the rules of course but cynical never the less in the opinion of some.

I'm not anti Allardyce per se but since his unjust sacking he seems to have become something of a martyr to some on here. The portrayal of him as a genius type manager isn't accurate nor is the assertion by some that the brutish, ugly football his teams produce is a media myth.

[Mattyblue]

Again 'brutish', we were anything but. I often thought we were not competitive or 'ugly' enough. I hardly remember a tackle made in anger in his whole tenure. We were 'brutes' under Hughes.

Indeed, we are just as 'cynical' now, every free kick from anywhere on the pitch hoofed into the box by the goalkeeper, long throws at every opportunity, we are now a poor mans Allardyce team.

Who said he was a genius? A good manager doing a solid job on a poor budget. It was as simple as that.

[jim mk2]

.

I'm not anti Allardyce per se

Your every post on the subject points to you being anit-Allardyce so why not admit it ? No one said he was a genius by the way, just a very good manager doing a hard job at Ewood in difficult circumstances.

[deryck guyler's spoon]

Again 'brutish', we were anything but. I often thought we were not competitive or 'ugly' enough. I hardly remember a tackle made in anger in his whole tenure. We were 'brutes' under Hughes.

Indeed, we are just as 'cynical' now, every free kick from anywhere on the pitch hoofed into the box by the goalkeeper, long throws at every opportunity, we are now a poor mans Allardyce team.

Who said he was a genius? A good manager doing a solid job on a poor budget. It was as simple as that.

Nobody said he was a genius, as you know, what I'm getting at is that some on here over rate the guy by quite some margin. I didn't say that we were a dirty side under Allardyce. You are using a very general interpretation of 'cynical' and 'brutish'

Sometimes reputations are deserved, sometimes they aren't. I happen to believe that Allardyce has earned his and I'm not alone in that. As The Guardian's Paul Doyle remarked "I've just seen Sam Allardyce's West Ham at Upton Park and I never want to see Sam Allardyce's West Ham again."

Your every post on the subject points to you being anit-Allardyce so why not admit it ? No one said he was a genius by the way, just a very good manager doing a hard job at Ewood in difficult circumstances.

Because I'm not. He was a very effective manager for us. He's gone now, I don't understand the wailing and gnashing of teeth. I was much more p****d off when Hughes went.

[Stuart]

we are now a poor mans Allardyce team.

That in a nutshell sums up the fallacy that is Steve Kean's reign.

Smoke, mirrors and contradictions.