Allardyce full of admiration for 'unstoppable' City

Allardyce out now!!

Another Premier League record yesterday we created, the most possession any away team has ever had, of course it had to be against Everton.

I don't care what anyone says, Moshiri should be ashamed of what he's created at Everton in just over 2 years of lavishly throwing money on players and managers.

Yet again, for the umpteenth time in this horrible season, we conceded three goals in one half of football, the amount of times that has happened to Everton this season is unreal and it smacks of how defensively poor we really have been.

It's got to the point where it's not even exciting thinking about the upcoming Merseyside derby because it's just another routine defeat and a no-show from this embarrassment of an Everton team, it will be a canter of a 2-0 win for Liverpool and they'll take off the best players to save them for the Champions League.

The loyal fans pressured into renewing a season ticket a day before this predictable disaster – what on Earth are Everton thinking of?

It's just really hard to ever see the club changing because, for too many years, it has simply lauded failure as stability and it will continue to do so, sadly.

The words that were stamped over the season ticket card for the 2016-17 campaign now come back to my memory: “Nothing will be the same”... Makes me laugh because things arguably aren't the same – we have just got worse.

C'mon, Sam – do you think we are all April fools or, heaven forbid, you actually believe it?!?!

That's not true, is it?

There seems to be no passion for the badge anymore, since when have we been happy with winning one half after being outclassed, outplayed and humiliated at home.

I sometimes wander what happens at training because the players look like rabbits in headlights when faced with any team with a little bit of football skill. Sam is a relegation saver, not a skills enhancer, so we are saved from relegation and Sam can go. I hope we won't be paying his salary for the next year as well as Koeman's.

Getting to the level Manchester city are at may never come. City fans have suffered football heartache for years gone by. They are living the dream that all fans want. All you can do is admire there play and application.

For us, 30 years and waiting!

Please sign a midfielder who is comfortable in possession! The last one we had is their assistant manager!

Even with limited experience, he cannot be any more tactically inept than Allardyce! Ever person around me yesterday said that Rooney and Schneiderlin will be overrun in midfield and, shock horror, that's what happened!

Yes, he absolutely did. I've seen and heard it. It's been posted on other sites.

Do a quick Google search and you will find it.

We've had four appalling managers on the run and he is the worst. Thanks, Boys Pen Bill, and your new Orville, Moshiri.

That’s the fault of Moshiri, Kenwright and the rest of the Board. Shame on them all.

We need to find the man that can find the way to stop them – and beat them!

Wayne Rooney and David Silva are both the same age yet one looks like he's just fallen out of the boozer whilst the other, Silva is full of movement always running and looking to find pockets of space, so intelligent and frankly so much damn sleeker and fitter than Rooney.

Then you have Fernandinho and Schneiderlin both playing in the same position for respective teams – yet a million miles apart in terms of what they offer for their teams... so please, let's not even go there!!!

Haven't Liverpool got some fairly average players who, when they play us, put in more of a shift than our lot? It just isn't good enough to shrug shoulders and say we couldn't compete, because although we aren't in the same league as them, we need to look at showing some heart and pride.

We need to look at why we couldn't cope with Spurs, Liverpool, Arsenal, Atalanta etc etc this season. It's not always about being outclassed. Man City are a joy to watch, but c'mon – we are a mess and saying we had no answer to their brilliance is a bit too easy.

We have lacked heart and fight all season and as a blue that is the absolute bare minimum. Liverpool next week will again show more heart and fight than us and have done so with average sides over the years. So, whereas I applaud the brilliance of Man City, I do not buy a showing by us that poor is inevitable.

We could have given them more of a game and we could have still been beaten by the same score, but I would have stayed to applaud the blues at the end if that was the case, not the opposition

But every presser I watch of Fat Sam seems to show that he clearly doesn't give a fuck about the club. And I'm really sad to say that I really believe he will be here next season.

I couldn't believe the formation that we played. I was expecting a siege mentality of making life hard for City and trying to hit on the break. I certainly didn't expect our expansive formation which made life very easy for City.

No bookings at all summed up our closing down or lack of.We have played a lot more defensively at home against lesser teams this season.

Moshiri must now realise the massive gap between both clubs and the differences in staff. Big Sam or Pep etc etc etc. Only Coleman would get into their team.

A real sad whimper of a performance. We need a major overhaul in the summer if the owner wants us to progress.

I believe every player is below par because, apart from everything else, their confidence has been wiped away completely. Being told, game after game, 'You are not good enough to win, so just try not to lose' is enough to rob the most confident of individuals of confidence and determination. But, in the current situation, the more easily we are beaten, the more negative the team, the quicker the axe will fall!

I know it makes reeeeally difficult viewing but I just keep consoling myself by thinking of the bright side. That we may very soon, become an Allardyce-free zone!!

I was expecting us to be in their faces, hassling and harrying them. I watched an impotent surrender.

I don't believe these players are poor players. A better manager with coherent ideas that he can explain and have the players understand would get far, far more out of this team.

If ever the 'Dogs of War' were needed, it was yesterday; but instead, we got the 'Puppies of Peace'!!

You are spot on with everything you say but I don't think Coleman would get in City's team to be honest.

Kyle Walker is immense and every bit the modern wing-back is required to be.

I love Seamus but there's another level up that he's not really at and that's why a really huge team hasn't come in with a bid for him.

Less than 20% possession at home is utterly disgraceful. This arsehole needs to be sacked immediately.

Just like Silva, if you're good enough, you're big enough... and don't need to get bigger.

My loving wife (a poor knowledge of football and little interest but who acknowledges my passion over a very long time for Everton) asked sweetly how did the score go against City?

I answered and she said "Only to be expected"... I couldn't disagree.

Next she asked where Everton are in the league, to which I gave her our position.

Without any sarcasm or an opportunity to get a cheap joke in she replied.

"Well, that's not a bad position for a small team!"

Ouch!!

I hope that "ouch" is the one heard as you gently tapped her on the chin with a short right!

Disclaimer: That was meant as an out-and-out joke. The author in no way condones violence towards anyone referring to Everton as a small team – let alone an Evertonian's own wife.

If anyone is offended then don't be such an effing snowflake! :-)

I've seen many posts reflecting the same sentiment, albeit from a different perspective, yeah City are amazing blah – couldn't get near them, etc.

How many times have Everton been man for man less skilled than the opposition yet found a way to disrupt and harry a team into submission?

Yesterday, the crowd were conned, short-changed by a team and manager who were there not to risk getting hammered for the sake of their reputation and dignity.

Someone should tell them ‘dignity' left years ago. I can reflect on how good City are once their quality is questioned, pushed and tested, then it's fine to compliment them. At no stage yesterday were they challenged.

That is shameful, yet Allardyce thinks it's smart, clever and savvy. Save your effort for games you can win.

Moshiri, who is ultimately accountable for the state of the club, needs to stop looking like an absent minded fool who parts with his money likewise and show some leadership.

Yesterday Allardyce held the whole club in contempt, he must have a non-compete clause in his contract. Pfft!

It summed up what we have become as a football club. We're just happy to exist now. The mentality from the top down is shameful and, until we rid ourselves of it, we will continue to fail. Another "expected defeat" I'm guessing, Farhad? Another thing that summed it up for me was hearing people say things at the end like "well at least it was only 3", and "we won the 2nd half 1-0". It's so depressing.

We looked like we were leagues below Man City. It was pathetic. A lot, and rightly so, has been said about the manager who, compared to Pep, looked 15 years out of date, but those players are a disgrace.

It wasn't until Davies and Baningime came on that we looked even remotely interested in closing down, instead we let them pop it around at will. I mean David Silva is arguably the best player in the Premier League in my view anyway (and probably when he retires, will go down as one of the best in Premier League history) and we're just letting him walk through the midfield and run the show? Disgraceful. They downed tools for Martinez, Koeman and now they've packed it in for Allardyce.

We spent £150m in the summer, supposedly with the aim of challenging the top 6. Well, when you look at our results against these sides this season, it just underlines how far off that level we are:

Lost 3-0 at home to Spurs
Lost 4-0 at Old Trafford
Lost 5-2 at home to Arsenal
Lost 4-0 at Spurs
Lost 5-1 at Arsenal
Lost 3-1 at home to Man City

Hopefully this rumoured clean slate of Brands and Fonseca coming in is true and that it paves the way for a complete cull of this squad because I am sick to death of the defeatism and lack of effort they've shown in these games.

If he wants us to finish 7th or 8th each season, Sam will stay. If he wants to keep his 'project' going, Moshiri will have alternatives on the go and give Sam a dignified thanks and payoff at the end of the season.

Result is usually loud bigheads with a shit track record in all walks of life who are equally dim listen to. He was certainly in that form after the Citeh game.

However, to just disengage and say "We cannot complete. I need more funds/better players" really sticks in my craw. The fact he cannot, like Koeman, coach more out of the squad is deplorable.

My preference is for a coach not a manager, I need to see players, all players the good ones included, at the club improve individually and collectively.

But a lot rests on Moshiri, if he cannot find a good Director of Football to help make better decisions with appointments and transfers, I'd rather see the back of him.

You're right, we need a coach who gets on the training pitch and drills them to within an inch of their lives. One who actually believes in his methods and his players. One who can make players believe in him and themselves. One who can give us some identity and belief.

Very low expectations, just keep us up so we can build our ground. Gift on a plate to likes of Sam.

I think Allardyce knows he's not staying past this season and putting out a team like that against that City team was proof of it. That team showed he doesn't care. Even with injuries, it was such a mish-mash of players in wrong positions, that you couldn't tell who was meant to be where.

One of my mates is a huge West Ham fan, and one thing he said was he destroys teams. Other than maybe his brief stint at Palace, you look at all the other teams he's been involved with and he's left them in a complete mess. He took over a mess here and it's been going downhill ever since.

We've got players who have played under directionless managers, or been signed by a manager who didn't know what to do with them, followed by two caretakers who don't like, rate, or get them and don't know how to get the best out of them.

Direction starts at the top, then runs through the organisation like the words on a stick of rock.

This club needs a root-and-branch clear out and it needs clear strategy. The day after the season ends, Alladyce and his entourage, along with Walsh, need to be shown the door. We then need to appoint a manager with a clear vision and plan and one who will be backed to clear out certain players. Not a Sean Dyche or Eddie Howe type from smaller clubs but someone of calibre and someone who has a demonstrable will to succeed.

We need to see tangible progress on the ground move – not sound bites about core principles.

We need a new chief executive who sets clear goals as part of a plan.

ps: I just looked up the date and noticed Man City got relegated from Div 1 with the Os that season!

They took their foot off the pedal, played exhibition football with us just sat back admiring.

Make no mistake, had City gone for all out attack, we would have been on the end of a good hiding.

Let's just be thankful that City had one eye on Wednesday's game.

At The hell-hole, they slaughtered them and allowed City back in after a couple of defensive mistakes but still won. God, I sincerely hope that Man City put them out of that competition but it won't happen. City have an awful record at Mordor and I'm convinced it'll get worse on Wednesday.

You're right about Chelsea and United – they did look ordinary against them. But Wigan and Bristol City never did and give it a real good go. Us? No. We were petrified and will be next Saturday when them red twats come calling.

Sam also is on a different planet, but his seems not to be even in the same solar system as us. He's on his way out, but the worrying news passed to me tonight was that Moyes is top of Moshiri's replacement list. And that is NOTHING to do with the date, seriously.

Topped off by the new stadium is very very unlikely. It's blue times for us Blues.

My Park End season ticket will be available next season.

Is it because we only had approximately 16.2 minutes of actual possession and not enough to make a full program? Or were we really that embarrassing...

Moyes will not be coming back, you can bank on that, if there was even an ounce of truth, he would have gone for Moyes before Sam, when both were available.

One thing with Moyes, he may have taken a penknife, but I am struggling to find an instance where we never even tried with him in charge; every team had to fight to beat Everton. What we lacked in a team, we made up for it by at least having a go if we went a goal down.

This set up has got no fight in it, is managed by a manager content on picking his salary up, knowing full well he will be gone in the Summer.

What everyone seems to be missing is we are now safe, he has achieved his goal; winning games will only see him here next season.

With that in mind, I would not be surprised if he is deliberately throwing games so that he can get his Salary paid up and retire in the Summer.

His record since leaving has been poor and the manner of his exit left a sour taste, but he went to the biggest club on earth having earned the opportunity. I'm not saying I fancy him to take over, although I would prefer Jimmy Tarbuck to another season of Lardiola, but given Moshiri's tendency towards safety first, he may well be back.

There is a stat from when he took over which shows his record puts him at sixth place in a management league. Allardyce suggests this is evidence of improvements generated by his managerial prowess: with typical grace, he overlooks the contribution of Unsworth.

On the other hand consider the abject performances, too many to mention, in which his inability to respond to tactical changes has lost games, criminal team selections and an emphasis on damage limitation. This is acceptable at Bolton and Sunderland but not here. A decent manager would have yielded a much better return and not alienated the fans.

I don't think any amount of money will attract some of the fantasy names often mentioned: Simone, Conte, Tuchel. Fonseca is my favourite but he still represents a considerable risk coming from a two-horse league and Moshiri has proved he is risk averse: after getting badly burned he may be wondering whether Fonseca is next years Koeman?

I always wondered how Moyes would have fared with money to compete, to have an Uzi instead of a pencil sharpener.

Just as well there are no misty eyed romantics on the board.

Whilst I am looking forward to him being replaced, I don't want to see another knee jerk. We have to bring someone in who is given time at the club. There is no chance we will bring in a top manager, so I think we have to be brave and give a younger manager a chance. It will be tough for whoever comes in, as there is a lot of work to be done with this squad.

Keith Harris, who was appointed an Everton director in October 2016, apparently seems to be pushing for it. And no, he is in no way shape or form related to me.

Everton are lacking behind in every way on and off the pitch, add to that the current wooden stadium, the pantomime dame as Chairman and Moyes back I will after 42 years throw in the towel. Having to face Liverpool fans with all of the above, I don't think so!

82% possession for City (at Goodison). In the good old days under Martinez, we used to scoff when we had all the possession but couldn't do much with it.

I miss those days.

Given the Club is still in hock to the two previous managers, there may, of course, be a reluctance to add to the 'gardening leave' budget but unless the two geniuses 'at the top' don't see the Big Man off the premises pretty soon they may well find next season's attendances struggling to reach 30,000.

I'm convinced that our club has already contracted 'Villa Syndrome' whereby however often you change manager and players and however much you spend doing so, you are already on the slippery slope.

With the favourite to be the next man in charge 'a young British wannabee' it may well be the turn of a Dyche or a Howe but that route carries no more guarantee of success than does some old geezer from the other side of the world.

Forever the fatalist, I think we are fucked so we can only hope against hope that Jim White & Co will get it right in advising Moshiri this time round !/p>

When I lived in Spain, circa 1990, I remember once playing in goal for an expat team vs Torrevieja (a Spanish 5th division side at the time) 'reserves'... FIVE had gone past me by half-time.. but still, they came out and just passed it around for the next 45 minutes, and only scored two more, during which time we scored two ourselves (and I saved a pen!).. 7-2 then.. but we DREW with them that second half, right?

"Yeah... right, Lee" you might say!

For those who don't know, Ronaldo is actually OLDER than Wayne Rooney! It's true and yet look at the difference between the two. Ronaldo has looked after himself and his body and physical fitness in particular. He knows football is his living and will probably still be knocking in Champions League goals when he is 36. Contrast with Rooney, overweight, unfit and a drinker and clubber of repute.

How can you compare the two? Impossible. But it does beg the question, just who decided that Wayne was worth £150k a week?

Olympiacos Players Fined €400,000 & Told to 'Go on Holiday' By Outspoken Owner Evangelos Marinakis

Olympiacos owner Evangelos Marinakis has created headlines in Greece after fining his players a combined €400,000 and ordering them to 'go on holiday', with reserve team players seemingly set to fill holes in the squad between now and the end the season.

It comes after the reigning champions dropped two points against bottom half Levadiakos at the weekend and fell down to third place. Part of the fine is also apparently for a 1-1 draw last month against fierce rivals Panathinaikos, who are also struggling in the bottom half.

"I and the rest of the fans have tolerated you enough. You will leave today and go on holiday," Marinakis, who also owns Championship club Nottingham Forest, is quoted as saying by various sources after making the declaration to the Greek media.

He accused players of not caring about fans because they are comfortable with their nice houses and expensive cars, even now blaming the team for two managers – Besnik Hasi and Takis Lemonis – losing their jobs this season.

We Shall Not Overcome.

A lot of the rot started this Summer when someone allowed Koeman/Walsh to spend a lot of money buying some incredibly slow but 'technically gifted' players (Rooney, Sigurdsson, Klaassen, Keane?) to compliment the other slow players we had already signed (Williams, Schneiderlin etc) in what is a league that requires speed and energy.

As people have pointed out, you can have players of high technical ability like David Silva but they need to be highly mobile; with constant movement and the ability to find a burst of pace to get out of trouble or accelerate into a gap.

Koeman seemed determined to show a different way of playing based on first-time passing with his 'intelligent' footballers. But it failed big time. And it should never have been allowed in the first place.

Moshiri then panicked (as did many on here) that we might genuinely go down when in reality that was never likely, we just had a terrible fixture list, and so bought in the relegation battler to take hold of this squad assembled to play smart, dutch football.

The season essentially ended when Allardyce was hired. Not his fault, he has done what he does. Terrible recruitment, lack of leadership, total absence of clear direction. What a terrible mess.

Time to start again this summer.

We're all much wiser now – after the event.

I hope Moshiri is also much wiser and his next hires are fit for purpose.

Just because lots of people were optimistic at the time (and I was not one of them) does not mean that they were the right move. I've not said anything about how they were received so I'm not sure what part of history I'm meant to have altered?

It seemed to me that Allardyce and the players weren't interested in winning that game – they gave up after 12 minutes. They have got their 40 points so why bother?

Without a major clear-out of management and playing staff in the summer, I can't see next season being any different. But is Moshiri up to it?

With barely a dozen part-games under their belts, our kids get over-hyped to a ridiculous degree.

I was at a function last night and was talking to a Geordie and a Hammers fan. There was a lot mirth at our expense. The thing they both agreed was that Big Sam was the awful for them. For many of the reasons that have already been posted on here, so I won't repeat. They both agreed that we should get rid as soon as possible.

Alas he is still with us and we have the derby to look forward to tomorrow, such joy. Just can't wait for the non-football. Will we get a shot on target?

Speaking during his pre-match press conference ahead of this weekend's Merseyside derby, the Blues boss insisted that only a minority of supporters want him to leave and accused the reporters in attendance of paying too much attention to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

"Where are the doubters? Have you been looking at Twitter and Facebook? Your lives are really run by Facebook, Twitter and Instagram far too much," he said.

"You are professional journalists. You shouldn't listen to speculating unprofessionals which is what you are doing to get your stories.

"So be real and say that there are a few that are complaining and there a few that speculate that my reign at the end of the season will not be here - on many fronts, on radio, on TV, in the papers and social media."

The Everton head coach went on to say that he will continue to do his job undeterred until the club's majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri tells him to do otherwise.

"When Farhad rings me up and says 'Sam we don't want you anymore' then I know I'm not wanted," he added.

Everton head into this weekend's derby without a win in 16 matches against neighbours Liverpool.

In what world are you living in where the media hasn’t condemned what those idiots did? It’s been condemned in all quarters and been on the front pages/home pages since it happened. There is no need to make things up.

It had more of the late seventies riots about it that than a spirited welcome. Of course LFC have form in this area when they said the troublemakers at Heysel were not Liverpool fans because they don’t wave union flags, so rather than play this down and let many off the hook with the “few idiots” remark LFC (and Klopp) should be keeping their mouths shut and just let the police and UEFA get on with it.

I am rs bashing, they are a crowd of hypocritical bastards.

Even the official club statement read they would like to apologise for the one or two people misbehaving.

Robbie Fowler has told the fansthrough the media all week.
"bring your flares, bring your fireworks"

It took them 25 years to put a small plaque on the ground commemorating the 39 people killed at Heysel.

No class whatsoever as a club.

This is where the attack on the coach starts. There are flares and thick red smoke bellowing out in front of the coach. The coach driver can barely see where he's going. What if, for example, the coach driver veered slightly towards the left and ran into the crowd, or someone ran in front of the coach and got hit, because he couldn't see where he was going. Highly improbable, I know, but not entirely impossible.

Quite simply, UEFA should ban them from Europe ASAP, and award the tie to city.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43639036

We could win 5 - 0 tomorrow and the majority will still want him gone.

Ok we won't win 5 - 0!!

The vile bastards try and worm there way out of every situation they create and don't give a toss about the aftermath. AKA Heysel, Suarez...

It will be brushed under the FA carpet an all forgotten about in a week or so.

Withdraw all entry visas to the UK, that'll sort them.

Typical! Whilst our own club is a fucking mess from top to bottom. It's a pity some of you don''t speak with as much passion about the mess we're in, the way you talk about the shite! It's fucking embarrassing the way you go on about our neighbours, anyone would think you were obsessed?

Who gives a flying fuck? Every Evertonian should be more worried about the state of our club than being concerned about a few fucking flares and fireworks, ooooohhhhh naughty boys. Jeez lads really?

Sam is a hard faced, thick skinned chancer, he knows the score, he's going, just brazing it out 'til he gets his comics and his P45.

When I was renewing my seaso ticket last Saturday morning I asked the receptionist " Do we get our money back if Sam is still here next season" she just smiled and said "One or two fans have already asked me that".

The phone calls I've received from Everton about next season made it pretty clear that the club has got the message off the fans loud and clear. Moshiri is a businessman first and foremost and he will looking to jumpstart life back into the club, and retaining Allardyce will be harmful financially, so I cannot envisage any scenario whereby the club keeps him now.

Much like the Koeman appointment many thought it was not a good move.

He was ultimately like a deer in the headlights when he lost his way and his signings did him in barring one or two.

However, who knows which of those available out there come the end of the season will be approached by Everton, if any ?

The remaining games may decide what happens with Allardyce and none more important. from the fans perspective than tomorrow's.

On paper of course they stand little chance of a good result as the RS have vastly superior players and strength in depth.

It would take a really humungous effort especially by the defence to have any chance and based on almost all the games this season there is little chance of that as Everton almost always start cold.

If they can keep a clean sheet until the well into the game they may have a chance.

Everton have very little on offence and now would be a good time for Rooney, Walcott and Bolasie to really step up with their best games of the season.

Come on Blues, play with some pride.