Sam Allardyce

[blue61]

Alright fess up, who here has grown sexually attracted to Allardyce?

I'd like to polish his medallions, but that's as far as I'm willing to go.

 

[rochdaleblue]

I always preferred the Moyes style of football to the Martinez kind. The latter had its merits, but I never enjoyed it as much as watching Baines, Pienaar and Arteta/Fellaini just play possession drills between themselves up and down the wing all game. Moyes was badly underrated by some for the quality of some of our football. Obviously it wasn't always like that under Moyes, there were some turgid performances too, but the good ones were better than anything else we've seen this century, in my opinion.

Anyway, my point is that we seem to be moving back to that Moyes style under Allardyce, which is fine by me. Yeah, we've hoofed it at times, but we hoofed it way more last year with Koeman in charge (at least this season we have a striker who likes challenging for headers). Most of our goals in the last three weeks have come from good passing moves. Sure, it'd be nice to do that more often, and I'm sure that's what the manager would say too, but a month ago we were losing 5-1 at home to a mid-table Italian team and 4-1 at a non-scoring Southampton. Soooo, you know, Viva Allardyce and all that.

Moyes appreciation by Everton fans has been tainted by the last 18 months of his time here and his subsequent public pursuit of Baines and Felliani. However I agree with you fully, 06-09 saw some some great football from some very good players at the peak of their career. Baines, Jagielka, Lescott, Arteta, Cahill, Piennar and Yakubu.

 

[trueblue10]

Four seasons ago we spent minus £13M one summer and reached 5th.

Finances are important but so too is the ability to put a bold plan of action into place and have players stick to it...and not just for one season and then tiring of the demands on them.

I read Sam's book last summer.

His take on the West Ham thing is pretty balanced.

He said something along the lines of the fans demanded this exciting, on the deck football, but weren't happy if Andy Carroll wasn't playing.

They wanted all of this passing out from the back stuff, but simply put they didn't have the players to do it or the resources to get it.

He then goes on to say that the 'West Ham way' is nonsense, because the only thing they cared about was winning games.

It's the same for us.

We had three years of style over substance under Martinez and it left us having to rebuild.

We've shown glimpses in Sam's first five games that we can play decent stuff. But the confidence of the squad was low when he took over and first and foremost we needed to get back to getting the basics right.

That doesn't mean hoofball, and we haven't seen hoofball. We've seen less long balls played in the last few games than at any point under Koeman this season or Unsworth - and under both of those our attack looked clueless and defence worse.

This 100%

Day 23 of Sams reign today, 5 games, no losses.

Any other clubs manager who had achieved that would be lorded by their fans.

Some of our fans still want to beat our manager over the head with a big stick.

He's come in, and along with his backroom staff, has concentrated on getting us not to concede.

If you don't concede then you have more chance of winning football matches.

And i want Everton FC to win football matches.

I don't care who the manager is as long as we aren't loosing football matches.

 

[Stuartisitc1878]

This 100%

Day 23 of Sams reign today, 5 games, no losses.

Any other clubs manager who had achieved that would be lorded by their fans.

Some of our fans still want to beat our manager over the head with a big stick.

He's come in, and along with his backroom staff, has concentrated on getting us not to concede.

If you don't concede then you have more chance of winning football matches.

And i want Everton FC to win football matches.

I don't care who the manager is as long as we aren't loosing football matches.

It's our way mate. Rooney is in double figures for the season and leading the team by example but there are still some (though far less than when he first signed) who claim he's passed it. We aren't happy unless we're unhappy god bless us.

 

[Kev The Rat]

Always said Sam was the best option available. Silva would have been a complete car crash, and clearly Unsworth was not fit for purpose.

Thankfully the board did the right thing for a change.

 

[ijjysmith]

Always said Sam was the best option available. Silva would have been a complete car crash, and clearly Unsworth was not fit for purpose.

Thankfully the board did the right thing for a change.

Well done mate

 

[Chris O'Connor]

It's easy to forget just how desperate and dire the situation had become before Sam, the players looked drained of any confidence, scared to look forward, devoid of ideas and the defence a disorganised shambles.

Fortunate results against Watford and Palace couldn't mask over the downward slide and woeful decline that depressing defeats vs Leicester, Lyon and latterly Atalanta and Southampton had set in motion, at that point relegation was more probable than possible.

The fact that since then the football hasn't undergone some sort of miraculous transformation and we haven't suddenly become a side full of attacking intent with pace to burn or even one showing such signs, isn't really important. Stop losing and stop losing very badly, get off the deck, repair the mess at the back and get points on the board are all that mattered. The rest is just wishing for the stars at this stage, one step at a time, get to the next stage and move on

 

[COYBL25]

Alright fess up, who here has grown sexually attracted to Allardyce?

Sorry mate, seems to be just you.

 

[Prevenger17]

Stop losing and stop losing very badly

Aye, you have to crawl before you walk. The first priority for any manager coming in was to make us stop looking like a drunk conference team

 

[Stanley Parker]

But that's the same with literally any manager. The ridiculous thing about the Sam appointment is that it took six weeks to do.

But he's got us organised and disciplined at the back and that's given us a platform to build from. Stop whinging. It's Christmas.

Unfortunately, Sam isn't just for Christmas.

Since he arrived, we've beaten Huddersfield, Apollon, Newcastle and Swansea. On current form, none of these could be called difficult opponents - though it's hard to say whether the wins owed more to Dame Fortune or to Sam Allardyce. But our escape from Anfield with a draw was miraculous. Do miracles ever repeat themselves?

I agree that we are playing better - but we could hardly have played any worse. Which of these games could you say we actually played well in?

It seems that we will rise towards the 'best of the rest' without too much difficulty. Sam should not have too many sleepless nights. We are certainly not in a position to challenge the Top Six - but that is not Sam's fault.

I wonder when we can expect to enjoy the way we play. Or is there no point in making my trips to Goodison in the hope of seeing some educated football?

 

[Neiler]

It's easy to forget just how desperate and dire the situation had become before Sam, the players looked drained of any confidence, scared to look forward, devoid of ideas and the defence a disorganised shambles.

Fortunate results against Watford and Palace couldn't mask over the downward slide and woeful decline that depressing defeats vs Leicester, Lyon and latterly Atalanta and Southampton had set in motion, at that point relegation was more probable than possible.

The fact that since then the football hasn't undergone some sort of miraculous transformation and we haven't suddenly become a side full of attacking intent with pace to burn or even one showing such signs, isn't really important. Stop losing and stop losing very badly, get off the deck, repair the mess at the back and get points on the board are all that mattered. The rest is just wishing for the stars at this stage, one step at a time, get to the next stage and move on

I agree with the spirit of that mate. But i have a different slant on it.

I will qualify it by saying i wasnt against Sams appointment, in fact for me he is underrated as a manager and despite his experience hasnt been given his corn or rather the opportunity to manage a club of this stature. In the context we found ourselves and the market open to us i think he was the best appointment, we can all name different managers we would have liked but the reality was the market was limited. I was worried, i can honestly say the performance against Southampton was one of the worst i have ever witnessed from an Everton team and i have seen a few. That result was a turning point i think in terms of decision making on our next manager.

In terms of the team, i know that Allardyce has gotten results since he came in, but for me a lot of the credit goes to Unsworth and Royle the West Ham game turned the tide in my opinion in terms of confidence. I think it created a better environment for him to come into or a baseline standard set. For me he is getting a lot of credit for the turn around and results have been good but the green shoots were there, so i dont buy into the miracle worker tag. I think he himself to be fair has acknowledged as much seeming bemused about the position this team found themselves in just before he arrived.

Certainly results have improved, the team are more functional, pragmatic and organised. The style of play hasn't really changed we just execute it better and more orderly and its nuts and bolts and results orientated. Development is required in terms of style and identity being proactive on our strengths instead of being pragmatic or focusing on others weaknesses. That is key for his success here in the long term and a challenge for him, it will ultimately be demanded by supporters when fear subsides and ambition kicks in.

We expected what we are getting at the moment and we shouldn't expect anymore just a few games into his tenure. The real challenge for him gong forward is that there will be a point of expectation, it wont be enough just to be at this level and be happy with it for to long. Everton and all associated need and crave, progress both in term so for identity as a team, club, style of play and in terms of footballing success, the sheen of improvement and getting results will wear of and we will look for progress.

That progress is the challenge and question that Sam has to answer, certainly he can keep us at this current level as he has historically. But when you look at what ended him at West Ham it was the fans wanting more, in terms of progress and challenging the glass ceiling. That will ultimately happen here and that is the measure of success or failure he will be judged on. This season is a honeymoon period in my opinion and i'm sure we will bloody a few noses and finish close to the European spots maybe even sneak one. But the bigger challenge for him lies in the development of this club, rather then threading water and actually challenging for the champions league, that is the standard he will succeed or fail on and the developmental pathway of getting there or not.

 

[davek]

This 100%

Day 23 of Sams reign today, 5 games, no losses.

Any other clubs manager who had achieved that would be lorded by their fans.

Some of our fans still want to beat our manager over the head with a big stick.

He's come in, and along with his backroom staff, has concentrated on getting us not to concede.

If you don't concede then you have more chance of winning football matches.

And i want Everton FC to win football matches.

I don't care who the manager is as long as we aren't loosing football matches.

4 games. He wasn't in charge against West Ham.

 

[BlueToff]

Pretty black and white statement that. I presume you have the facts at hand to back that claim up?

Well I've watched with my eyes and can see we're playing better and not just hoofing as you seem to think so.

We played 46% of our passing 'long' on Monday night.

In the game at S'ton the long pass rate was 65%

In Koeman's last game the long pass rate was 68%

They're from Opta. I can't share it as I have access because of the company I work for.

I have nothing against a 'long pass'. A long pass can be a 40-yard throughball like Rooney's at Anfield that opens up a team.

You seem to have a pre-conceived opinion that Sam is a hoofball manager. I can tell you categorically that many people who work in football say that is nonsense.

Now, I'm not saying Sam isn't a pragmatist or even a bit negative at times, but there's nothing wrong with that when it's needed.

 

[BlueToff]

Well I think in the wider sense it's generally the prettier football the better the players you have and the better manager you have and the better league position you take. You can't aspire to play in the CL playing percentage football, same as you can't play tiki-taka in Swansea's position.

Horses for courses, what do you aspire to be?

We've had tippy-tappy pretty stuff which got a manager sacked.

Everton are at their best flooding forward getting crosses into the box to a big centre forward.

Always have been, always will be.

There's nothing wrong with 'direct' football. City play the most direct football in Europe at the moment.

 

[LouReedwalkonthewildside]

4 games. He wasn't in charge against West Ham.

Didn't you hear the rumours from some of our fans dave? Supposedly Allardyce would have spoken to the players before the game, and this would have had some influence on them.Then he used a Jedi mind trick on the players from the stands, and these were the reasons we beat West Ham, so it's 5 games without loss for Allardyce mate.