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Allardyce defends his record as Blues beat Newcastle
Sam Allardyce was satisfied with a hard-won victory over Newcastle this evening as Theo Walcott's solitary goal allowed Everton to edge the Magpies at Goodison Park.
The Blues had the bulk of the possession but lacked quality going forward until Walcott seized on a rebound off a defender, took a touch and then thumped the ball home early in the second half.
Allardyce, who had named an unchanged side from that which drew at Swansea last weekend, paid tribute to the January signing from Arsenal and his side for seeing out a nervy last few minutes.
“Newcastle had won their last four and, apart from the last 10 minutes in fairness, we've dominated the game so for me there was only going to be one winner,” Allardyce said afterwards.
“What we didn't do is get the second goal and they put us under a bit of pressure last five minutes but we defended really well and I think it's a well-deserved win and another three important points at home, again.”
“So, moving forward here and with the fans, the support we get and the players delivering results week in and week out, that's our big bonus since I arrived here.
“It's won three, drawn two and lost won in the last six now and we've moved up the league one place again so we're on the right track and moving in the right direction.”
A banner unfurled in the Gwladys Street End before kick-off suggesting Allardyce should “get out of our club” was displayed prominently by the television cameras, leading to the manager being asked whether he thought he was starting to win over some of the Everton fans.
“Well, if I lose next week they weren't be there, will they?” he smiled. “We'll all be rubbish if we lose next week but if we win we'll be OK,” Allardyce replied. “So, let's keep winning, eh, so there don't get the criticism.
“But when does every fan like the manager? I'm working with a squad of players I've inherited and I think 8th in the League compared to fifth from bottom tells you we're getting better.”
Asked if he thought he could deliver results with the style that Evertonians expect he retorted: “What was wrong with our style today? We've completely dominated the game and out-passed the opposition.
“We found them very difficult to break down because of the very negative tactic of dropping everyone back so you have to be patient and we got the winner so you couldn't knock our football.
“You can knock some of our passing that goes astray but, in all fairness, you can't really blame me for that, can you? I don't pass the ball out there, the lads do.”
Reader Comments (114)
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2 Posted 23/04/2018 at 23:04:48
He is arrogant will do nothing for the future of the club. He is arrogant and all he cares about is himself; he needs to go.
3 Posted 23/04/2018 at 23:16:11
4 Posted 23/04/2018 at 23:31:38
However his style of play is awful
Saying that, some of the players are awful: Rooney, Bolasie for example. Terrible
Club is in an absolute state
5 Posted 23/04/2018 at 23:47:06
Davies came on and spent the next 40 mins passing to the opposition. I noticed Bolasie was wearing TWO sweatbands... lol.
6 Posted 23/04/2018 at 23:49:38
Terrible game that we apparently controlled throughout according to World Cup winner and war hero, Sam.
7 Posted 24/04/2018 at 00:09:25
8 Posted 24/04/2018 at 00:26:35
Me: "We have never played in black and white striped shirts."
Sam: "What's wrong with the style of play tonight?"
Me: "It would make a glass eye weep."
Please take your pay off, be glad EFC is on your CV and become a Baggies legend next season.
9 Posted 24/04/2018 at 00:33:37
So 'exciting' was tonight's game that I spent most of the second half watching it on my phone out of one eye, with the sound turned off, while watching a DVD on the telly instead. It was incredibly, phenomenally, wonderfully boring to the n-th degree. Even though we won, it still felt almost like a defeat to me.
Allardyce has basically sucked all the romance out of the game, romance? Yes, that fantastic feeling of pride you normally feel as you watch your team emerge from the tunnel, the surge of excitement you feel as your team surges forward in attack after attack against the poorer sides especially and the incredible roar that escapes from your lungs when your team scores a great goal, better still, two or three.
Goodison was so quiet tonight, even the goal didn't seem to galvanise the crowd, or the team, and I couldn't be bothered to raise an arm or cheer as I once would have done when that 'romance' surrounding our team existed.
For God's sake, Mr Moshiri, help to bring back the romance. Get rid of this terrible man who thinks this was an excellent performance and give us a manager worthy of the name, and worthy of our team.
Over the last few months it's felt like watching a great old relative slowly bleeding to death, when radical surgery if swiftly performed could quite possibly put new life into the tired and terminally ill body. It's time for that surgery now, Mr Moshiri. If Allardyce is still in charge for another year the terminal decline will continue and the atmosphere at Goodison will grow ever more toxic as the sepsis invading the body of our club grows worse and worse and every defeat or bore draw will lead to gangrene infecting the entire organism with the fans turning not only against the manager but against the decision facto owner as well as they decide he couldn't run the proverbial you know what in a brewery.
Goodnight all.
10 Posted 24/04/2018 at 00:48:40
11 Posted 24/04/2018 at 01:00:27
“we dominated the game and for me there was only ever going to be one winner†– We had more clear cut openings, more shots, more shots on target (only fractionally, but still), more corners and, with 57% of the ball to our 43%, it's not like they completely dominated the possession stats.
“Negative tactics of dropping ten players in their own half†– Basically exactly what Big Sam did at St James' Park for the full 90. Also, it's not like Allardyce's Everton played with attacking intent. His approach probably defines the term ‘negative tactics' and that'll be why so many on Merseyside want him out. They may have won, but the home fans inside Goodison will have been far from impressed. Criticising Rafa for negative tactics when this is Big Sam's trademark is pretty priceless.
What an awful game of football and a classless post-match interview to match. To be arrogant in victory after a game like that is quite laughable really – but that's the gravy guzzler for you!
12 Posted 24/04/2018 at 01:17:21
I've always disliked players who thought they were bigger than the club but this guy eats all the biscuits!
Hardly dominant if you can only create one chance on target and that being a goal that was gifted to us by poor defending.
I can't be bothered with another season of Sams self-praise and dull football where we're meant to be happy just pipping a one-nil with negative football tactics and no creativity.
Heard tripe about having stability with Sam but seriously! Fine take stability over ambition and we'll eventually head lower and lower by going nowhere!
I've loved Everton all my life and remember years where avoiding relegation and not getting beat by Liverpool was almost our season goal. I've developed low interest in watching Everton which feels so unusual and but just can't stand the guy. He only has one way of playing, to be fair great for avoiding relegation but dreadful to watch.
Please leave Sam!
13 Posted 24/04/2018 at 06:18:23
If you really think this is football, "the glory game" as Blanchflower once tellingly called it, you are mistaken. The problem is you have a contract for one more year and if you continue, I can see you emptying Goodison Park. If I was a boy watching this Everton team, who'd be my hero, my Dave Hickson, my Bobby Collins, my Alex Young?
This team you claim to have inherited is soulless. You train them, you organise them, you set out the tactics, you motivate them and they lack a vision.
Go back to playing golf on the Iberian Peninsula and let Everton find a manager who can help the players and club to flourish and to give us a hope of "glory", not necessarily by winning a trophy, but by giving us skill and heroes for youngsters to admire.
14 Posted 24/04/2018 at 06:46:49
I suspect if his tone was more along this line than spouting his self-defence bollocks a few would be less pissed off. I can understand pragmatism, and if we finish 8th a shite season will result in us being one place worse off than last so to a degree yes, he has limited the damage. But his us v them speakers, provoking the fans, who are the lifeblood of the club is sheer stupidity!!
As for bitching about the squad he inherited, the finished 7th by a mile last season. One major player has left, and the other significant departure had been injured most of the current season and was patchy last year. It's unbalanced and needs improvement but still has plenty of quality if motivated and drilled correctly. It's an easy excuse to use. Koeman improved Bobby's team's performance with mainly the same players in his first season
He has to go. Not so much based on his performance, which at least he has achieved the minimum required, but because of his relationship with the fans, just as at West Ham, is causing negativity
15 Posted 24/04/2018 at 07:30:14
He may also feel he has done the job he was hired to do even if his style of play is abhorrent to Evertonians.
He may even have read ToffeeWeb, where many regular posters can't help but deride or blame the manager for every thing that goes wrong with the club. I don't just mean this manager I mean the last four.
I just wonder how long it will take for the manager haters on here to abuse the next manager.
16 Posted 24/04/2018 at 08:10:35
Last night, to me Allardyce sounded like a man who knows he is leaving. I may be wrong but surely after a win and getting to a more respectable 8th and you still had a chance of staying, you would be talking with some hope or enthusiasm about the future. If for no other reason to convince the Board. Now I know Sam is no cheerleader but even for him what I heard sounded like "dead man walking."
His exposé after he leaves will be great fun to read, unless it is in his contract he cannot do that. Then we will hear nothing as he will not say anything that may jeopardise his pay off.
17 Posted 24/04/2018 at 09:12:09
I remember when we had a club that oozed class with supporters who had a high footballing IQ that allowed them to be objective and fair.
Now I see fans that are completely subjective and emotional. Sam has not had a fair crack of the whip. These players have failed 3 managers now. For me Sam is better than people think and given time will improve us.
We are so quick to critisies our own now in favour of foreign managers who are only successful because of money. If everyone plays Peps way city will win it every year.
One way for Everton if Sam goes and that's down like Newcastle, Aston Villa, Bolton, West Ham, Sunderland. Anyone who says we weren't in danger of relegation before he came is dreaming or a fool.
I bet one statistic Pep teams would win hands down is passing it back to the keeper. The league, in my opinion, is at it poorest standard in years. Games are starting to look like training games like they do in Spain and Germany. For those who never seen good football that means no one tackles. Frankly it is shite.
So slag Sam all you like but be careful want you wish for. Just my opinion though. Long live Sam!
18 Posted 24/04/2018 at 09:46:44
To accept him is like finding out your missus is seeing another fella and you let them use your bed. (And he happens to be a season ticket holding red shite!)
19 Posted 24/04/2018 at 09:55:42
He's gone and he knows it. Let's all recognise his interviews until the end of the season as audition tape for West Brom poor bastards.
20 Posted 24/04/2018 at 10:11:05
I tried to get on a national radio show this morning but wasn't put on air. I wanted to make an analogy about why managers like Allardyce, Pulis, Pardew, Mark Hughes and Dean Saunders are serial failures. It goes like this;
I am a golfer, I have just been given my first official handicap and it is 18. I now have my benchmark, so do I want to improve and get my handicap lower, or keep doing what I have always done and at best stay an 18 handicap golfer? Most people would say they want to improve and lower their handicap. To do this you look to improve or change certain parts of your game, e.g. a different putting stroke, practice your short game, maybe get a few lessons. Your game evolves, you improve, you get better results and your handicap drops because you have pushed yourself to achieve more.
The managers listed above DO NOT practice this approach. They stick with what they have always done, stay 18 handicappers and watch those around them with more drive and adaptability move ahead of them. You can, to a lesser degree, apply this analogy to most managers, e.g. Guardiola never changes, so that is why he generally gets beat by Klopp, who knows how to combat his philosophy. Klopp generally losses in big games (cup finals) because he won't adapt, Mourinho won't change or adapt, Wenger, Martinez, Moyes, etc.
The only manager who stood the test of time was Ferguson and that was because he adapted to the changes going on around him.
So Big Sam will NOT change his style/philosophy next season, he will still claim a point at Swansea is an achievement and we will still be negative. However, can we find an adaptable manager, who can entertain and set up a team to beat the opposition in various systems? Well that isn't my job, but I know it isn't Sam Allardyce.
21 Posted 24/04/2018 at 10:11:05
Yes, we must be careful what we wish for, but one of the reasons Sam must go is because if he stays, we will NEVER have a chance of qualifying for Champions League. It's a dream right now for our club - but dream and strive we must.
We need a manager who can rebuild a team, revive the few good players we have, establish a style of play and buy the players who fit that style, build a good relationship with players and fans.
He's done what he was brought in for but I am also sick and tired of fans and pundits referring to how he has saved us as if we have to fall at his feet and remain there. It shows utter lack of ambition to keep him on. Never mind his style of play, but his character and manners leave a stink so far up my nose my brain will rot if he does not go.
22 Posted 24/04/2018 at 10:48:58
Sure, Allardyce came in during November, and his job was to sort out the mess and recover the side to a midtable position. but let's be realistic. The side have spluttered all season long, and every now and again we show a few signs of life and that we have better players than our immediate rivals. had we any consistency, then we could have reclaimed 7th. Here we are 3 games to go and the gap is just 8 points. We were terrible in both Burnley games, Had we beat them at home and drawn away, we'd be above them right now. I believe that if we played them on Saturday, at Goodison, even with big Sam in charge, that we would beat them. Burnley are limping home, and next season they will find out how much of a killer EL football is, and I would not be surprised if they go down. Dyche has done a good job this season with a side of very average players.
Leicester were easily beaten by us in the Seamus Coleman comeback game. Newcastle showed last night they aren't a match for us. Go on down the list and we're capable of beating them all easily, particularly at home, well maybe only at home.
So why, when after only 3 games we found ourselves in 9th, did our focus not change and everything be geared towards reclaiming 7th? Why did the board not foresee how easy it was for us to be removed from that relegation dog fight? It was pure desperation born out of panicking after pressure from the press.
Any half decent manager could have done what he did, and many would have surpassed it. We have a big squad of 38 players. We know because he regularly reminds us of that fact. A big squad means lots of choice, and he could easily have found a side from within that. Unsworth handed him a winning formula that he stuck to for the first few games and that got us out of trouble.
All we've heard since is self promotion and self serving comments, and nothing about promoting the club. Allardyce is doing a lot of damage.
23 Posted 24/04/2018 at 10:51:05
Style of play is dictated by the resources you have available. We have an aging squad combined with youth that is not consistently good or at the required level yet.
Here's what is emotional crap from Evertonians: Sam plays the same team and same tactics, criticised, plays different tactics criticised.
Best two players have been Walcott and Tosun. Nothing to do with Sam. God I could go on &or ever about how irrational Evertonians are its frightening.
Evertonians Moyes crap, Martinez Crap, Kidman crap, Allardyce crap. Who's next Silva, well we know he's crap. Fonseca Mickey mouse league manager.
So Joleen, sorry but I'm not joking and serious I'm becoming embarrassed to be an Evertonian after all these years. We have a fan base but not all are real supporters. Only an opinion. Long live Sam
24 Posted 24/04/2018 at 10:56:38
Eddie Howe has less resources than anyone in the league. Yet his style of play is up there with the best of them. He coaches his players well and they play a good style of football. Whether or not their style of play is effective is dictated by resources. But consider that yet again Bournemouth are comfortably safe and yet again Howe achieved that the hard way.
He's not the only one to do this. Martinez with Wigan, Swansea under various managers, Norwich always played good stuff despite limited resources, and I'm sure others can keep this list going.
25 Posted 24/04/2018 at 11:06:09
I to heard Dean Saunders ( yet another ex red pundit talking about Everton) he was asking a fellow Evertonian what did he want. He said you had Martinez playing a passing game and the same under Koeman, he went on to say but maybe the players they had were not equipped to play that passing game. He suggested maybe Allardyce recognised this and changed the style to get results.
Amazing I didnt hear any of these ex reds defend Rodgers or Hodgson when the fans turned against them. But just to correct his idea of how Everton played under Martinez and Koeman. Martinez took over a very well drilled back 4 from David Moyes, 3 of that back 4 are still first choice now. this allowed him to play a more expansive game than Moyes had, and in his first season it worked. But when he started to change things to his way of playing we became a team obsessed with possession without any penetration. We played more passes in our own half than in the opponents half, it became boring and predictable.
Then Koeman took over and we thought we would get a more pragmatic approach, which we did but sadly the football didnt improve under Koeman, he sold Lukaku and Barry and made it abundantly clear that he wasnt a fan of Barkley. He then proceeded along with Walsh our new DOF to purchase some very average players, some still havent played 10 games for the club a tough start saw him replaced. I don't think Koeman ever warmed to the fans or them to him which doesnt help.
Then we turned Goodison into the Pit of Misery by hiring Allardyce, and even though our home record is very good thank God because our away form is awful. But despite our good home record the football has been dire, and most fans who sit around me our convinced he will be sacked at the end of the season, I wish I could be as sure as they are. Because if he is still here for next season, I truly worry what direction our new owner has for us.
26 Posted 24/04/2018 at 11:10:53
I'm sure I'm not alone in finding some of the posters - who spout lack of class towards their fellow supporters and infer that anyone who doesn't measure up to their high standards as being inferior or lacking intelligence or worst of all not an Evertonian - a little insulting and tiresome.
We are not an homogenous group, we are as diverse a breed as any other group of supporters and therefore we have to accept that there are many differing opinions. expressed in many different forms. Please defend your point of view by all means but use a good argument to do so and refrain from emotive language that pours scorn on your fellow Blues.
27 Posted 24/04/2018 at 11:12:12
Remind me where are Norwich and Wigan are... and where Swansea are likely to be next year.
Really, exactly my point: emotional.
Keep your list going mate. I don't want Everton to go the way of Wigan or Norwich have or Aston Villa, Newcastle (did), Bolton etc.
Oh, let's not forget West Bromwich not happy with style of football look where they are. What nonsense, it's a sport winning 1st nice football 2nd. God I despair at Evertonians like you.
28 Posted 24/04/2018 at 11:13:10
Although I have been going to Goodison since 1956 I cant remember the Kidman era, pity it wasnt Nicole Kidman mind she probably knows more than Allardyce about attacking football. You really think Tosun is one of our better players, then we really are in trouble.
29 Posted 24/04/2018 at 11:19:18
Let's get a young manager in, and with him some hope. Failing that I'd go after Benitez! The guy is a serial winner.
We've been shite since Martinez's second season (was it QPR at home when we all realised we were going nowhere?). Five years of shite breeds apathy. We need to halt that, at the very least.
30 Posted 24/04/2018 at 11:20:10
Nice try mate. Yes there many different opinions and I have expressed mine and stated it only my opinion. Diverse, that's a nice liberal view of the world. We are a tribe mate and stick together.
I find fans like tiresome and insulting.
31 Posted 24/04/2018 at 11:21:01
Having said that, Allardyce, and this squad, are actually out-performing most of the PL. If you look at the results since he took over, starting with the victory over Huddersfield, we're actually the 6th best team in the league. I am happy for statisticians out there to tell me I'm wrong, but looking at the table after the WHU game and the table after last night, we've taken more points since then than everyone except the two Manc clubs, the Shite, Chelsea and Spurs. We've taken more points than Arsenal and Burnley.
I hate the atmosphere around this club, and I think we're dreadful to watch, but Allardyce has done a decent job in terms of points won and our position in the league.
Like I say, I'm happy for someone to tell me I've got my sums wrong, but if we do sack Sam - and I hope we do, just to lance the boil - he can honestly say that he's left the club in a much better position than when he took over.
32 Posted 24/04/2018 at 11:22:46
33 Posted 24/04/2018 at 11:30:42
34 Posted 24/04/2018 at 11:33:20
35 Posted 24/04/2018 at 11:34:28
Does that mean Sam is better than Rafa, especially as his team beat them at St.James' too?
I don't think it does, but I am fearful of the calamity that unfolded at WBA this season following the departure of Pulis.
Having the RS marauding as they are is falling but I do wonder if we would be quite so anti Sam if they were doing worse than we are.
I am very proud of our record of top flight football and losing it could scupper then stadium plans maybe.
Tosun and Walcott seem good buys, if Sam can add further quality in the summer while shifting out the dross, could he improve us next season. I suspect he could, and would have no excuses if he did not. A safer choice than risking on a newbie to the prem too.
I really don't know what his the best thing to do, hopefully the Mosh gets divine inspiration.
36 Posted 24/04/2018 at 11:40:50
If I could have dragged them through the radio I'd have strangled the lot of them.
37 Posted 24/04/2018 at 11:43:18
I love my club and want it to stay in the top division and win trophies. I believe this possible if we keep our heads and don't panic like we did with Koeman. (Probably Moshiri listen to the fans). We live in a nihilistic and impatient world unfortunately so I think we will go down the wrong road with this one.
38 Posted 24/04/2018 at 11:45:05
Another point to be made is that we were plain lucky in many of those games under Allardyce. The shite away, Newcastle away on top of my head were games we easily could have lost.
It's simple, really. If we want midtable and play boring football, keep Allardyce. If we want to be higher we must get a new manager. I know what I want.
Allardyce out now!!
39 Posted 24/04/2018 at 11:52:42
Hmmm and what's he done to make you think that then?
Please elaborate.,"I do think he is better than people think."
Hmmm and what's he done to make you think that then?
Please elaborate.,,michael.kenrick@gmail.com ,1,11:46:01,,82.132.245.48,ok,856,04/24/2018 11:46:01,Brizey,reader,,
912585,36550,toffeeweb,24/04/2018,Michael Lynch,fla@lineone.net,"Johan - under Sam we've played the Red Shite twice, Chelsea, Man U, Man C, Spurs and Arsenal. Naturally, most of them have spanked us, but we've still accumulated more points than all but five clubs in the league under Allardyce.
40 Posted 24/04/2018 at 11:54:51
41 Posted 24/04/2018 at 11:56:32
In my opinion, if Sam stays we will lose thousands of fans as we are unlikely to play decent football and the results will be very mid-table for as long as he is with us.
Tosun and Walcott are very expensive acquisitions and not top quality. (I like Walcott but my Arsenal mate has warned me ) so what top players will come and play for him??
Sam has already divided the support and that's with half decent results. The future with him will divide us more.
He will blame players for bad results but take all the credit for good results. He is a multi-millionaire mercenary who does not care about the clubs who employ him. He has no respect and hence what happened with England.
Eddie Howe has virtually the same team that he brought up 2 divisions so his players respond to his orders and what he has done for that tiny club is amazing. I personally think he deserves a crack at the big time.
If Sam stays then it will prove Moshiri to be Another false dawn for this club. Worst person to ever manage this club of ours.
42 Posted 24/04/2018 at 11:57:43
43 Posted 24/04/2018 at 11:58:10
44 Posted 24/04/2018 at 12:04:15
45 Posted 24/04/2018 at 12:06:08
I've supported the club for nearly fifty years and sacrificed plenty in doing so, I was also present in most of the lowest crowds seen at Goodison prior to the glory days of the 1980s. I'm sorry that you find fans like me tiresome and insulting. If your definition of Evertonians as a tribe is correct, perhaps you can explain why those who attended the Burnley and Swansea matches displayed their displeasure towards Sam, or was that not truly representative of the tribe?
I only ever want what is best for Everton and therefore Evertonians and whilst you think that Sam may be able to offer some hope of progress, should he be kept on beyond this season, I can't see how he will change his methods to suit the majority of the fans, in fact if he does stay, I can see many Blues staying at home, preferring to watch paint dry, regardless of how many points he amasses.
We've had nigh on sixteen years of safety first, unadventurous football, with the odd glimpse of exciting play, nihilistic we may be but impatient never.
46 Posted 24/04/2018 at 12:11:17
Then he arrives at Finch Farm to tackle a mediocre squad with glaring deficiencies in various positions, all deliberately "organised" by the club itself, and an overload of no.10's, and not much left in the kitty for him to splash out on his own choices come January. Factor in that the board with its 18-month contract made it as plain as could be that he was short-term at best/worst, with six months quite likely to be all he was gonna get.
"Go try and inspire the lads with that, Sam lad, and good luck" might have been Kenwright's lame attempt at spelling out Allardyce's mandate and, if so, the only part that seems to have happened is the "good luck" bit, in that we've somehow scrambled points from games where we were so undeserving.
The owner/board need to now, repeat "now", provide a manager with a three or four year contract in order to make it clear to one and all in football that we are, to coin a phrase, a professionally run football club and then support him with a root and branch transformation of the coaching staff and squad in order to have a hope of prising our way into the top echelon.
47 Posted 24/04/2018 at 12:22:10
If you're that old you will remember the Bolton team that broke into Europe. That's what I think Sam can do given the chance.
If you think they were a poor footballing then you don't know football. He had a limited budget but still brought in me great players with skill. Go and check them out Jay Jay Okocha for one. What a player.
48 Posted 24/04/2018 at 12:22:33
Look at the facts of the situation, not what the media tells you to think. Under Allardyce, we have gone up the table and picked up points. We are in a better position than before he arrived and he saved us from a relegation battle. If people are now saying that is not true, you obviously missed the first half of the season until he came in.
We now are hard to play against and hard to beat with some team spirit. This was not the case before he accepted the job. But no, let's ignore all that just so we can make childish jokes about the size of his head or his weight.
The last thing we need now is another managerial change. We need stability and Allardyce has earnt the right to build on this season for the next few years. We will gain nothing from getting rid of him now and undoing all the good work that has happened under him.
Seeing the unwarranted personal abuse dished out constantly to the man, whether he wins or not, is embarrassing. I know it's not everyone but those who are doing it should be ashamed of themselves. We won last night for god's sake but still, all some can do is moan. I think some would prefer to lose every game as long as we played 'nice' football.
James is right – with the players we have, Allardyce has done the sensible thing in finding a way to play that gives them a chance in games. Even Guardiola himself would lose with this group of players if he tried playing like Man City here. It is about winning and getting points – not about how pretty you look while you're doing it
What is even funnier is that all the whingers have shot themselves in the foot anyway. Do you really think any manager of note would come to Everton now after seeing the way the club and some supporters have treated Allardyce?
Not a chance! Why would they come and manage a club where a lot of apparent fans will hurl daily abuse at them, whatever they do? The next time we're in trouble and need help, why would anyone come near us when most fans can't even say thank you for that?
49 Posted 24/04/2018 at 12:28:29
The Premier League has changed massively since Allardyce found success, the playing styles of the top teams have changed massively, but Allardyce is still managing in the same way he did back then. He will never be any higher than midtable, because he simply is not good enough these days...
50 Posted 24/04/2018 at 12:49:31
The general consensus of people with no axe to grind is that Allardyce has pulled us out of the shit.
They don't endure having to watch us every week, but nonetheless their opinion is worth a mention whilst the majority of blues express a near-pathological hatred of our present manager.
For me he has done exactly what it says on the tin and should now be replaced by A N Other, but who that is, god only knows and he/she is going to take on an enormous task to make this lot of unbalanced, lethargic players perform to our expectations/aspirations..
51 Posted 24/04/2018 at 12:54:32
What that says to me, and you can't argue with figures, is that he has deteriorated over time.
So he did something good a long time ago, so did I but I couldn't do what I did now, and neither can he.
52 Posted 24/04/2018 at 13:05:44
He hasn't changed his style since he first became a manager and anybody who thought the 63 year old would change his spots was clutching at straws. So it wouldnt matter how much money he his given to spend in transfers the style wont change, because he cant change. Just like Guardiola his teams always play brilliant high tempo football which is a joy to watch, and whatever team he manages in the future his teams will play the same way as thats what he believes in.
53 Posted 24/04/2018 at 13:08:45
54 Posted 24/04/2018 at 13:19:27
I'm fortunate in that I don't have to watch what he passes off as football but no doubt things will improve as he gets more of ' his own' players in for next season.
From far away Cyprus you all have my sympathy !
55 Posted 24/04/2018 at 13:21:13
I think it's more to with guaranteed bonus payment 6m when he inevitably gets a thank you for your services and sacked in 3 weeks time.
56 Posted 24/04/2018 at 13:33:33
Would a better fan totally support his team as it freefalls down the Divisions like Portsmouth? Or would a better fan be vocally criticising the club and trying to do something about it? When is it ok to criticise the club and still be a good fan?
For me, Allardyce is harming this club. I made it clear from before he came, I don't like the man, and I don't rate his abilities. He's been worse than I expected. My biggest fear was that he would come in, play a load of games in the way he did last night and easily reclaim 7th off Burnley. Then we'd have a full season of him doing that again, and coasting to 7th again. But not challenging the top 6, not doing well in the cups, and not going far in the knockouts in Europe. All the while signing dodgy Africans in questionable deals and selling off our best youth prospects and damaging the long term future of the club.
Allardyce has fallen far short of what I expected. He's not even got the defence sorted. Not his squad people say. The squad is crap people say. Well it cost £250m. It's a far better squad than anyone outside of the top 6, far better than Allardyce has ever had. I would expect a top manager to come in and get this squad back to 7th without a signing. Not all of the players will be to everyone's taste or standards, but there's enough quality there to build a side to win that best of the rest competition easily.
Allardyce has never won more games than he's lost in the Premier League. Not even with Bolton. And his Bolton side were dreadful to watch and played terrible football. So what if they had all those has-beens, did you actually watch them play? It was not champagne football. It was a war of attrition. Allardyce took Campo, a cultured centre half and made him into a defensive midfielder. So he went from a cultured footballer, to a clogger. Stelios was a decent winger on the highlights reels but he spent a lot of his time scrapping and kicking people. Okocha was frustratingly inconsistent and struggled to get into games. Djorkaeff was 34 when he joined and well past his best. he scored a handful of goals each season and it was hardly the French international we all loved watching in the 90s.
Last night was as good as you get from Allardyce. Hardworking, hardfought win. Solid at the back. Little going forwards, but got the job done. If that's enough for you, fair play to you.
I want to see Everton build to being the very best. I want to see us develop players, and play good football. Everton has always been a good footballing side. We aren't quite Spurs and their level of style over substance, but there's been quite a few times in our history when we've lost out to a worse team than us, and if we'd been more pragmatic we would have won a bit more. Surely then, you can forgive Evertonians for being Evertonians and wanting to hold the current lot to the standards we've always set?
57 Posted 24/04/2018 at 13:37:41
I was worried I'd developed altzeimers there trying to remember Bolton playing attractive footy!
Fucking yard dogs mostly!
58 Posted 24/04/2018 at 13:47:41
If you think people on here are rewriting history to make their own points, then why not go back, read the match reports from the Allardyce glory years. The match previews tell you what Michael and Lyndon think of Bolton. They don't know Allardyce will be our manager. They have no axe to grind, no agenda in what they write.
Even the year Bolton have Allardyce's best season, they are still viewed as a relegation fighting side having an excellent season, but still ultimately a side with negative tactics and unable to play good football. But sure, let's dismiss that and rose tint it all and watch a few skills and highlights and pretend Sam Allardyce really was the '90s Guardiola.
59 Posted 24/04/2018 at 13:56:05
I didn't want Allardyce in the first place, when we appointed him I didn't believe he would be good enough for us, but I was willing to give him a chance. He has now shown what I knew all along, he is a shite manager with dated tactics, not by a million miles good enough for us.
He needs to get out of our club, every day he stays is declining the club. He should absolutely have NO say in any transferdealings in or out of our club. Him even talking about potential moves out (Garbutt, Lookman etc) of the club is harming us.
Allardyce out now!!
60 Posted 24/04/2018 at 14:06:56
Team =======P W D L F A Win%
Bolton -----------226 80 66 80 275 301 35.4%
Newcastle -----21 7 5 9 27 33 33.3%
Blackburn ------76 26 21 29 86 108 34.2%
West Ham ------114 35 28 51 129 151 30.7%
Sunderland ----30 9 9 12 40 44 30%
Crystal Palace--20 8 1 11 21 30 40%
Everton ----------21 8 6 7 23 26 38%
TOTAL ---------508 173 136 199 601 693 34%
Note Allardyce is one game away from being the first manager to lose 200 Premier League games. He's also lost the most games in the Premier League and conceded the most goals.
You can see that Everton is now actually doing much better than most of his other clubs, so this really is vintage Allardyce!
61 Posted 24/04/2018 at 14:23:41
Like many, I have been calling for Allardyce's dismissal and it just can't come quickly enough for me. If Newcastle had any sort of finish last night we could well have come away with nothing. What stands out for me - apart from the dross - is the players appear to have no motivation whatsoever. One could pick out 3 or 4 with some self pride in their game but as a team there wasn't any collective pride whatsoever. That's down to one man.
62 Posted 24/04/2018 at 14:40:48
He knows how to get a team to defend, but I'm not sure Sam, knows how to get a team to attack though? He said himself it's down to the players, and the 60 yard diagonal ball, we kept hitting last night, definitely came from the Koeman style of anti football. (Pass, pass, pass? And these people get paid to offer us opinions?)
My own view, is that the league is poor. The top five have had it easy this season, because more and more teams, are starting to learn off our manager, and most are targeting certain games?
More money = less entertainment, and how many people could seriously take another season of not even being entertained for 15 minutes a game?
63 Posted 24/04/2018 at 14:47:14
This is a very poor Premier League. Best League in the world my arse. Many people who panicked in October did so for good reason. We were shockingly poor.
I just don't think people realised just how bad everyone in the bottom half is. It was obvious to everyone else that Everton would find 3 wins in a row from somewhere and jump out of the relegation fight into midtable. Just ask the bookies, we were never worse than 11th favourites for relegation.
So if they didn't think we were going down, and their businesses relied on this being right (imagine if they lost that bet at the odds they were offering?) so surely this was accurate. Of course the bookies were right and we've been 11th worst for most of the season since, in other words sat in 9th.
64 Posted 24/04/2018 at 14:59:20
Not everyone would agree with that, but I remember reading that we had conceded the most goals, and this usually means, you are one of the worst teams!
Just watched Benitez, getting in his little dig at Allardyce, but if I was the Everton manager, I would actually take it as a compliment, because Rafa, said that you usually get a chance in a game, but it's difficult against this type of opposition. Contradictions? Life, like football, is absolutely full of them!
65 Posted 24/04/2018 at 15:04:48
I think lots of fans are re-writing history so they can continue to have a go at our manager. We were terrible until he arrived, we were getting sucked into a relegation battle we probably would have lost and he has saved us from that. To be where we are now from where we were when he arrived is a miracle in all honesty. Let's not forget, however bad the other teams were then, we were widely seen as the worst. and that was even by many of our own fans!
I think why fans like me are so disappointed in what is happening is not to question other Evertonian's support. It's simply disgust at the manner in which it is being done and with no real basis in fact.
I could understand it if we had lost every game since he took over and we had already been relegated, but guess what – we haven't. so for people to continue to make out he's a terrible manager is just plain wrong. the table doesn't lie and it shows he isn't the worst manager in the Premier League.
Interestingly, enough everyone's favourite plucky loser Eddie Howe sits below us with his Bournemouth team. strange that when he is apparently so much better than our manager. if he was that good he would be above us.
Let's get behind the team and manager for once and stop moaning about everything.
Mark my words – if all the people who want Allardyce out get their way, they will regret it. We will be in for another season of freefall next year playing too open and too easy. only this time we won't have someone like Allardyce to come and save us. but hey at least we might pass it 50 times inside our own box in nice patterns.
66 Posted 24/04/2018 at 15:07:00
Supporters who criticise Allardyce have expectaions of Everton that far exceed yours. That's fine, but it's not right to criticise them for having standards.
67 Posted 24/04/2018 at 15:32:53
The point that I am, and others are, trying to make, is that Allardyce has not failed in his mission here. Sure, any other manager might have achieved the same results, but we will never know that. You can only go by the games he has taken charge of while he's been here. And his record beats the likes of Burnley, Leicester and, yes, Arsenal in that time period. In fact it beats everyone except the Shite, the two Manchester clubs, Chelsea and Spurs.
Did I want him as our manager? No. Do I want him as our manager next year? No. But I do find the over-the-top attacks on him slightly embarrassing. Especially when people use his win record in 1959 or something to back up their own prejudices.
He's a bit of a twat, but he's done what he was asked to do in difficult circumstances. The poor fucker must look at where we are in the table and shake his head at the abuse he's getting. It's no wonder he's taking the piss out of us. The way he's been treated by the fans has set down a clear marker to other managers who may otherwise have been tempted to come here. We're going to have offer a huge amount of cash to get a decent manager after the way we've hounded out Allardyce.
68 Posted 24/04/2018 at 15:36:18
1. that Bolton played dreadful football. I agree up to a point - having Nolan standing on the goalkeeper's toes while Jaaskelainen launched balls into the penalty box was indeed neanderthal but I do seem to remember Bolton playing some quite attractive football the season that they finished sixth.
2. It was obvious to everyone that we would put three wins in a row from somewhere - not to me it wasn't. In 57 years of watching Everton, I thought we were clearly heading for the drop and couldn't see where the next win was coming from let alone three. Bookies usually get things right but not always. Besides the bookies were probably basing their odds on Everton changing their manager!
3. Had we beaten Burnley at home and drawn away we'd have finished above them. True but we didn't. If Newcastle had drawn twice against Everton, they'd be above us - what's your point?
4. Burnley did indeed have a dodgy spell before they beat us but they then won four league games on the trot, so they're hardly limping home
5. We easily beat Leicester at home - no we didn't, we were hanging on after Vardy's penalty, if I remember correctly.
My view on Allardyce, for what it's worth, is that irrespective of his reputation and what one thinks of him, he was brought in to do a job – which he has done successfully. So now we should thank him, part company and move on. No recriminations, just move on.
69 Posted 24/04/2018 at 15:39:47
Tony, at the risk of crushing whatever tiny kernel of doubt remains, I saw this earlier today:
Since Allardyce took over, we rank:
19th in the league for total shots 19th in the league for shots on target 19th in the league for chances created 19th in the league for number of dribbles
No wonder the crowd has less life in them than those arl fuckers at the beginning of Cocoon.
70 Posted 24/04/2018 at 15:49:10
Sam has kept us in the top flight, guaranteed us 𧴜million... so stop knocking him! You might not like him but, for God's sake, get a life, all you knockers. I'm sure the Hierarchy are relieved
71 Posted 24/04/2018 at 15:51:25
No need to attack absolutely everything he says. The guy is constantly on the defensive and has been from the start. He has been treated unfairly. It's as if some fans are angry at him for having the audacity to take the job in the first place. The frustration should really be directed at those who employed him. He's simply doing the best he can in an impossible situation. He is what he is. What did everyone expect?
Martinez and Koeman were all slaughtered by some for their press conferences and post match comments. Now Allardyce is getting the same treatment but worse. These guys are ex-footballers not politicians.
He did his job to the best of his (fairly limited) ability and can leave now. No need for such personal abuse.
72 Posted 24/04/2018 at 16:00:22
73 Posted 24/04/2018 at 16:02:10
Sorry, not true, as the Echo has pointed out.
“David Unsworth was the Everton caretaker-manager on the November night The Hammers were hammered at Goodison Park, while Sam Allardyce sat in the Main Stand, a day before being formally appointed Blues boss.
Unsworth selected the side. Unsworth delivered the tactics. And Unsworth coached the team from the touchline, proudly taking the plaudits from the Gwladys Street End.â€
He had not become manager yet, he was not managing the team, it is not a win in for him in the record books. He inherited a team 13th in the table.
74 Posted 24/04/2018 at 16:16:49
And, yes, he does want to stay so he can have a go at a season with his own squad. Or so he says. And I get that too. From his perspective he's kept his part of the bargain - we're sixth in the table on form - so he should be allowed a crack at a full season.
It's a problem for Moshiri. Allardyce has clearly lost the fans, but he's probably hit any targets that might have been agreed before he took over. Probably surpassed them. Still, if Arsenal can sack Wenger, I'm sure Moshiri can thank and sack Allardyce. But, like I say, Allardyce can confidently state that he's kept his part of the deal.
75 Posted 24/04/2018 at 16:26:18
76 Posted 24/04/2018 at 16:33:15
Let me think about that one. Do I want to have Allardyce here another season and continue the 20+ years without a single trophy and 30+ years without a league title, and allowing Kenwright to stay Chairman despite his decades of failure.
Or do I want to demand things of my club, see us win multiple trophies and compete for many others, preparing for a Champions League semifinal. Do I want to demand Rodgers is sacked after what was deemed a disappointment of a draw in the derby away from home and get Klopp in, to put in place an exciting brand of attacking football?
Nah, we don't want any of that. We need to be nice, plucky little Everton. No banners and no mean words. Just thank everyone for their fine work and understand that we at Everton must know our place. Definitely.
77 Posted 24/04/2018 at 16:39:53
78 Posted 24/04/2018 at 16:40:57
Worst football I've seen from Everton in living memory.
79 Posted 24/04/2018 at 16:41:27
The football has, however, for us season ticket holders and more so for those who I admire that travel away all over the country, been mind numbingly boring, unadventurous, and basically shite.
So while he may deserve some respect Allardyce also deserves to be moved on with the minimum of fuss after the final game against West Ham. Tell him now if that'll make him feel better, but just make sure you tell him Mr Moshiri ffs!
80 Posted 24/04/2018 at 16:48:49
Anyone giving Lardiola anything and suggesting he should stay on is either Bill and his gang or deluded.
81 Posted 24/04/2018 at 16:51:18
Sam will take the first option, in my opinion, and laugh, dance and sing all the way to the bank, being honest he'd be a fool not to, being further more honest, Sam is not interested in plaudits he just can't get enough money, even at his age,
82 Posted 24/04/2018 at 17:05:32
Don't get me wrong, I'd like him to leave, but I just don't think he's been the worst manager we've ever had. The football has been no worse than it was under Unsworth or Koeman, and we've picked up more points. This season could have been an unmitigated disaster, instead it's just been a depressing shambles.
83 Posted 24/04/2018 at 17:27:52
Editorial Team
84 Posted 24/04/2018 at 17:42:26
We don't verify account owners but I have to wonder about your thinking on that score. When we did our survey, 93% wanted Allardyce gone. that means 7% were happy to see him stay for next season.
Do the maths... that was out of 12,094 votes, so 845 or thereabouts would be okay seeing Sam stay.
If you read posts on these threads, there are probably around 7% that are actually in support of Allardyce. Why would that mean they come from "Bill and Co" or are deluded???
In fact, how deluded do you have to be to believe that everyone actually thinks like you do on this score? Are people really so one-eyed that they cannot see there will be others taking a different view from them – no matter what the topic at hand?
85 Posted 24/04/2018 at 17:45:41
During the pre Christmas games at Bournemouth and WBA and the home game v WBA I started having grave doubts about his ability to change from the way he had always managed, further games away to Watford and Burnley made me realise he wouldn't / couldn't change.
I honestly believe he will be happy to go now or at the end of the season.
86 Posted 24/04/2018 at 17:56:54
The issue is and always was will he be the right person to take us forward, if we avoided relegation. Then, as now, I thought not. The reason for that is for the first time in my memory- well since the 80's at any rate- we now have a (part) owner prepared to flash the cash. Granted not in the Russian crook or Arab mafia's league but in a way that is a dramatic contrast to the desperate days under Moyes. And here I will give Gollum his due credit. He had two brass farthings to rub together, maybe one if teary Bill was in a particularly tight mood and still managed to deliver an average position of around 8th including the now near unthinkable of breaching the top 6 no fewer than six times. We even got into the CL.
So if we can manage that under what many think is a mediocre manager on little more than hot air, reasonable expectation is that we should be doing so again, given the cash being spent. But we currently look like having no chance of getting near to closing the gap and I personally find it hard to imagine that changing under Allardyce because there is no evidence of that being possible, however keen he may be to be in charge of a club with some money. His line of business is mid table at best.
That is why we need change, new and different expectations based around this new status. And perhaps we could fully move on by unclasping Kenwright's remaining grip on the club and let him follow big Sam and Walsh out the door.
Who to get in? If we discount Simeone as unrealistic and that the Tuchel bird has flown the nest, either Fonseca, Nagelsman or Jardim who seems to want out of Monaco or maybe even Villas Boas who I think had a bad rap in the PL last time around. If it is to be British, I think Howe deserves a chance.
87 Posted 24/04/2018 at 18:01:23
Clearly, the vast majority of us don't want to give him that chance. But I still think he'd stay if he could, rather than take the money and run.
My guess is that Moshiri will bite the bullet and give him the push, but it will be dependent on the response from managers currently being sounded out. I have nothing to back this up (but that never stops us on ToffeeWeb eh?), but if Wenger or someone of that stature said they'd come, Moshiri would throw Sam overboard. But I don't think he'll sack him if he gets a negative response from the top two or three on his list. I'd be surprised if someone like Eddie Howe were at the helm at the start of next season.
88 Posted 24/04/2018 at 18:06:17
I clearly stated that Sam did not preside over the WHU game. What I said was - that he was formally appointed before the WHU game. Therefore, when he states that he inherited a squad 5th from bottom, he is correct, even though he then sat in the stands for the WHU game.
It was made official the following day, but he was sitting next to the owner and had met all the players. It was already announced before the WHU game.
Anyway, doesn't really matter.
89 Posted 24/04/2018 at 18:06:17
I clearly stated that Sam did not preside over the WHU game. What I said was - that he was formally appointed before the WHU game. Therefore, when he states that he inherited a squad 5th from bottom, he is correct, even though he then sat in the stands for the WHU game.
He
90 Posted 24/04/2018 at 18:06:27
I often disagree with you on here, I sometimes agree with you but I will tell you this.
You are 100% spot fucking on with your post.
Them twats across the park would have rioted a long time ago if they had to put up with the suit we have been served up for 20 years.
Watch them tonight, ignoring the bluff from Merseyside Police "anyone using flares will be arrested"
Same warning v City = no action.
They don't accept it and I can only hope we could show Moshiri and co that we are not having it.
I would advocate a mass walk out on 85 minutes of the last home game.
They can walk around an empty stadium on their "lap of honour"
91 Posted 24/04/2018 at 18:51:26
The way some of you go on, it was March and we were in the bottom 3, not October and we were 5th from bottom (and I will agree with Allardyce on his position when he took over – though I will not credit him for getting us to where he was at the start of his first match).
Surely, we could've held Allardyce in reserve, he was not going anywhere, and waited until March until getting into bed with him. We could have strengthen our position. Moyes took a 6-month contract to manage West Ham, why did we have to give Allaryce 18 months, it made no sense to me.
If the board could have given Unsworth until Christmas, or made an announcement that he had the job until the end of the season, then they could have done some behind the scenes wheeling and dealing and tried to get an ideal candidate in.
All the while, Allardyce would have sat on his lounger in Dubai awaiting our call. And don't deny it, he would have answered our call in March, if we were well, and truly desperate and the situation was real.
I wanted Koeman out. I think he was doing a terrible job and was making a complete mess of things. I envisaged a short caretaker period for Unsworth (much shorter than he had) and an appointment of another box office name manager who could right the wrongs done by the Koeman tenure.
Had I known then, what I know now, I would not have called for Koeman to go. I believe we would still be around where we are now. However, we would be playing better football, and maybe, just maybe, he'd have got his plan to start to work and we'd have a team with some of the flops in it and playing reasonably well.
Whoever the new guy is, I'll make sure I learn the lessons:
- don't get too carried away by a great start (Martinez);
- don't get too carried away by spending money (Koeman);
- be careful what you wish for (Allardyce).
92 Posted 24/04/2018 at 18:53:40
They are only being boisterous hahaha.
93 Posted 24/04/2018 at 18:55:21
In Moshiri I have got a wonderful "partner"
Oh ohh
94 Posted 24/04/2018 at 18:58:20
95 Posted 24/04/2018 at 19:06:19
96 Posted 24/04/2018 at 19:06:43
If he's here next season, I'd have money on us finishing 7th/8th. The questions are, will he improve us, will he make us more attractive/exciting to watch? The evidence screams no to me.
If Moshiri regards this as a project, it can't include Sam.
97 Posted 24/04/2018 at 19:21:33
If you had told me at the start of the season that we would possibly be finishing in 8th position then I would have been delighted. My opinion was that the Europa League and our initial fixtures really put us in the mire.
It will be interesting to see how Burnley cope given their squad restrictions. To not have to go through that again may sound unambitious but that is how I personally feel about it.
These days managers must have instant success and follow it up with a solid second season.
Can you imagine if TW and social media had been around for the 2003-04 season where we finished 17th on 39 points. Moyes would have not even lasted 2 seasons.
I think Martinez could have taken us on to greater things had he been given the same backing as Moyes and had the benefit of living without Social Media. I for one hope he wins the World Cup!!
98 Posted 24/04/2018 at 19:23:19
99 Posted 24/04/2018 at 19:23:19
I believe that we did offer Allardyce a six-month contract, but his being in the driving seat, refused it. I can't blame him for that – he was calling the shots. Would he have still been around in March if we'd have waited until then? I doubt it – some other relegation-haunted team would have snapped him up meanwhile. Besides why potentially wait the last minute to apply urgent treatment? Think of the uproar on here if we'd walked the tightrope until March.
No, I believe appointing Allardyce at the time was probably the correct decision. Now that he's achieved what he was asked to do, it's the right time to move on with another appointment. No histrionics, no recriminations, no insults – just action.
100 Posted 24/04/2018 at 19:23:21
101 Posted 24/04/2018 at 19:28:29
102 Posted 24/04/2018 at 19:29:57
103 Posted 24/04/2018 at 19:36:49
Whoever we get next has to have a positive mindset, has to do is on us winning rather than stopping the other team. That's what we've been lacking the past three years.
104 Posted 24/04/2018 at 19:37:48
He probably did it as he got quite a bit of stick in his first season due to his yellow chompers.
105 Posted 24/04/2018 at 19:41:17
It would be hard to do after a lifetime following The Blues, but I honestly don't think I could watch another season like this one and I'm absolutely sure that's what will be in store for us if Allardyce is still here.
106 Posted 24/04/2018 at 19:42:04
107 Posted 24/04/2018 at 19:50:49
We deserve better.
108 Posted 24/04/2018 at 19:52:48
Not three years, try three decades (apart from a short spell with Big Joe when we had Limpar and Kanchelskis, and we actually won a trophy).
109 Posted 24/04/2018 at 20:19:37
https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/950727/Liverpool-fan-stabbed-Anfield-Champions-League-Roma
110 Posted 24/04/2018 at 20:54:20
111 Posted 25/04/2018 at 00:24:57
1) Played better football?
2) Looked like a team who play for one another?
3) Achieved a result beyond reasonable achievability? (I will concede a point at the other lot was a surprise...)
4) Trained and motivated players with his extensive backroom staff?
5) Seen a large improvement in any player already at the club when he arrived?
Well, for a reported ٤M a year, we could have got any number of Managers in who have never won anything and probably paid them a lot less.
There is not even a glimmer of hope if the Allardyce reign does not end pretty soon.
112 Posted 25/04/2018 at 00:30:53
113 Posted 25/04/2018 at 05:47:19
I'll tell you this, we can very well cut this cancer out of our belly quickly, but the illness it has brought and the wreckage it has wrought will take a miracle to cure and may kill us yet.
116 Posted 26/04/2018 at 08:11:35
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1 Posted 23/04/2018 at 22:57:07
A poor performance from a group of people who are for the most part better players than we are seeing. I will not name the players who disappointed me tonight because the coach was again the biggest problem.
It's almost time to go, 3 more games then cheerio.