I'm really sorry to talk about he who must not be named (SAM ALLARDYCE) but I made the mistake of listening to TalkSport this morning and heard the belter on the Alan Brazil show, by way of additional support to Marco Martinez, (whom I think we should keep for at least 2 seasons before judging) and also OH MY GOD HOW DID WE EVER HAVE SAM ALLARDYCE AT OUR CLUB???!!!!
I had to vent because I can't believe it and it spoiled my morning listening to him and I have to get it off my chest.
That feeling people have that he has some privileged position in the media, it is surely because he pays for it, I just don't get it otherwise. Funnily enough though, on the show this morning, he was mentioned as if he was a sponsor, and they said 'Alan Brazil breakfast with Sam Allardyce and Arnold Clark' and it almost felt like he was a show sponsor.
The fact that he's held up as an expert manager, and as a saviour of football clubs has inflated his ego, and he's a bit like a Mourinho of the bottom half of the PL and top half of the Championship.
I think the hatred for him is not personal, it's just the fact that we HAD to hire him, and then how he made out like he was a hero, and that he resents being fired and talks as if we should have kept him on.
Not a well written post because I'm venting.
Back to Marco:
One lesson we can learn from Roberto Martinez in his 2nd and 3rd season, is that an intervention by the board may have helped him. If he had, for instance, got a better coach than Graeme Whatshisname, and Denis Lawrence, or had bought or invested better, had changed his tactics a bit, we might have done better. I hope that part of the agreement with being line managed by Brands is that he can be given feedback and direction on the first team
What he needs is to tighten up the defence, and recognise that Gana is not playing as a true holding midfielder, and perhaps the full backs are a little too open..some of the goals seem to come from Coleman or DIgne being exposed, I think.
We would all welcome a period of stability, and would accept a few 1-0 or 0-0 against the top 6, if we can just manage to stay in 7th place.
If next year we are also in 7th, but within 5 points of 6th at the end of the season, that's progress, and then in 2020/21, I would expect to be firmly finishing in the top 6, and in 2021/22 firmly in the top 4. That's a difficult, but balanced, achievable target.
Look at Spurs, and before they get carried away, after their last 20 years, qualifying for the CL 3 years in a row, and progressing 3 years in a row, is excellent. If they do that for 5 years, then they can think of winning EPL or CL
We should think that first we need to command 7th place, then command a top 6 place, then move from there. Marco Silva can do it, but I hope he has the plan to stay here for 5 years, and that we back him, his boss criticises or improves him, and we progress in a steady, sustainable way.