TRon

I mentioned Robson because he was willing and able to change his style according to the players he had available. Keegan was no tactician but he only really got found out at a higher level. At least he knew that when you are playing against dross like Sunderland, Reading, Derby and other relegation candidates, you don't need to worry too much about what they are going to do. When Keegan last went to Roker Park he let Sunderland's mediocre players huff and puff and then sat back and watched as superior players like Beardsly and Ginola picked them off like snipers. Sam is going in against clogger teams and trying to out-clog them. We might not have Ginola now, but my opinion is that Sunderland would have been more worried if Enrique, Beye and Martins had been playing. They wouldn't have handled the extra pace too well.

I would say he's one of our best players for retaining the ball under pressure. Would have been invaluable yeterday, but then I thought Martins would have caused them problems as well with his pace.

"How the hell did we come to this?"

Heard he's been described as the poor man's Gerrard before. Seems quite accurate to me.

"just making the best of what he had." Have you forgotten what Allardyce had done in Bolton, with the resource available to him? He's got far better resources here. Right now I'm not sure he's doing anything different to Graham Taylor at Watford or Harry Bassett at Wimbledon in bygone years.

I think in August this year, having suffered the previous season under Roeder and the Souness bollocks prior to that, we would have all been wise to have put this season as a near write off anyway - on the assumption that come May 08, we could sit back and say "what a difference to this time last year". I still say we have to let things run until May and then take stock - although admittedly, it doesnt look like its going to be the most enjoyable time I don't mind writing a season off for long term gain, but the point is more related to getting the best out of what you have. Robson wasn't a long ball merchant but he was wise enough to play to his teams strengths until he got his own personnel. This is where I think Allardyce isn't really fulfilling expectations.

Why are you thinking about minor things like performances? Because it relates to what happened at relevant periods of the game.

Recalling the side Sir Bob inherited from Gullitt, when his strikers were fit, he played Duncan Ferguson and Alan Shearer together and hit the ball long and high and, not surprisingly it worked. The point being it, wasn't great tactics or his preferred style, just making the best of what he had. The fact he built an even better side playing great football is testimony to his flexibility and ability to make the best of his resources. I don't really see the same ability to adapt from Allardyce. Just an insistence on playing a certain way whether we have the players to do it or not. TRhis season is a write off as a result as far as I'm concerned. I hope it's all worth it in the end.

Because Sam was shitting himself worrying about what Sunderland might do. Miss the target mostly as it turns out.

It was another game where we went out with a fearful attitude against a side which barely deserves to be playing in the same division. What was interesting was that while we were on level terms and playing fearfully and defensively, they could have scored 6. When we went behind and were allowed out of our shells, they looked the second-rate buch of try-hards that they are. Someon mentioned Keegan's defensive weaknesses, and unlike Mick I recognise that this was a fact. But that was against top sides, also-rans like Derby, Reading and Sunderland were generally brushed aside without a second thought. Fancy worrying about these cloggers when they are the ones who would be cacking their pants if we played a team with pace and skill the likes of which they couldn't cope with.

Yes.

That must be why he's bumming jobs off old mates like Roeder then. Arsenal and Chelsea couldn't afford his expertise obviously. I'm not sure Wenger or Grant would want such an inexperienced coach like Clark as their assistant manager. BTW have you ever seen him taking part in a coaching session? What difference would it make if I had? Or if you have? The cream will always rise to the top, and maybe Clarkie will get head-hunted by bigger and better clubs down the line. But he's at Norwich right now and that's only because Roeder was appointed manager. Good luck to them both.

Just read on the Sunderland pre-match thread that Cacapa should be dropped. I don't see why really. He wasn't physically equipped to deal single-handedly with Pompey, but then it was probably a tactical mistake to play him against such a big, fast side to start with. I doubt he'll have the same problems with Sunderland's attack unless Allardyce has convinced the whole team we need to defend for our lives to avoid a beating. He managed it against Derby so who knows?

That must be why he's bumming jobs off old mates like Roeder then. Arsenal and Chelsea couldn't afford his expertise obviously.

Don't know if it's true or not but most of it sounds pretty close to the bone.

A lot of what you said was quite true, but the last bit about Pompey's passing being better brings up a whole load of other issues. Pompey's passing was probably better through better movement, better running, more pace.....you get my drift.

Good post. The fears when he arrived were that he only knows how to play one way and the type of players he has signed and the type of football we're trying to play suggests this is true. He can only play the Bolton way and that's what he has in store for us. If we give him time he will set us up the same way and will do reasonably well, but it'll take a couple more transfer windows at least to achieve a total squad overhaul. I'm not sure I'm totally comfortable with that, as someone (think it was Shak) said yesterday his style of football leaves very little room for error. The wheels were coming off at Bolton before he left, his run of results after christmas last season were as bad as Roeder's and their form plummeted. Until the time comes (if it does) that he has an entire squad he can call his own then he must find a system that gets the best out of players like Michael Owen and if he's incapable of doing that he will walk. He knew what he was getting himself into when he took the job on. When people talk about how well we are doing compared to last season, I think they are missing the point. Allardyce did a marvelous job at Bolton over a sustained period of time and no one should forget that. I think what we all hoped was that given a bigger club with better resources he could go even further. Creating another Bolton will only get you so far at the top level. Man U's, Arsenals and Chelseas operate on another level and there is no way we will be able to swim with the big fishes unless Allardyce is capable of operating beyond his Bolton blueprint. Given how he's used his squad so far that looks more and more unlikely each day although I hope he proves me wrong.

I think most of us have forgotten that in the summer, when SA first joined us, no one had any great expections for this summer - just to consolidate and to get the whole structure of the club correct. When did we suddenly assume European qualification was the least we would expect I thought the signings for the most part were pretty good so while I wouldn't say it openly, I thought we'd be competing for Europe without any problems. Despite the fact we have got a few points on board, some of the results and negative tactics have made me revise that view. I don't mind not picking up great results, and I understand it's early days. But what I'm seeing just doesn't look like progress or utilising players to their best abilities. That is the worrying part.

I have pretty much given up any expectations this season. As far as I'm concerned Allardyce only knows one way to play and until he's got the players in who will fit that style we can pretty much write off this campaign as a re-building exercise. Not that I think it's excusable because we clearly have good enough players to be beating shite like Derby, Reading and boro. I don't doubt Allardyce is capable of turning us into another Bolton but the suspicions that he couldn't go any higher are starting to look well founded, IMO at least. I don't think we even competed with Pompey yesterday and that was at home. It will be intersting to see if there is any sign of cohesion or improvement over the course of the season, because I haven't seen much so far.

Another one of the 'Jobs for the Boys' club leaves and good fucking riddance. Clarkie's credentials as a coach were basically that he is a local lad. On that basis you could give the job to Biffa Bacon.

If we were playing basketball I'd sign Crouch like a shot. As a footballer though, Michael Owen could probably do a similar job to better effect.

Well, FWIW, I think that Zogs and Milner should have started, but having said that I thought that Emre and Geremi had both played wide at their previous clubs? (I picked that up from what others have said, not really sure how accurate it is) Anyway, if it is true it would explain tactical justification, even if it was the wrong move. If not then obviously it proves nowt. Someone else can look it up and find out! Emre is wasted out wide, has he ever played well out there for us? he thrives on interchanging with those directly ahead of him, not running into space, he doesn't have the outright pace for that. geremi played wide right for Boro but that was yonks ago and when he played right-wing against spurs he looked even worse than milner. Exactly Johnny. Emre just doesn't have the physical attributes to play wide. I don't like seeing Alan Smith out wide but at least he can run up and down the pitch so making him useful in a stopping role. Geremi wide isn't the best, but he's like Smith, able to run the pitch and can put in decent crosses early and in the right areas so that I can understand.

It depends on the opposition. If it's Man U or Arsenal, fair enough try and stifle them with a defensive line up as they'll probably out-gun us in a shoot out. If we are playing palpable dross like Derby, Reading or Scumderland then just play our best attacking players and watch them cack their pants. I recall Lee Clark was used in the holding role for Keegan during our promotion season, because despite Keegan not being a tactical genius, he realise shit teams rarely did much with the ball when they had it. The reverse side of this is, good teams generally cause far more damage so in a shoot out with Derby's, Readings, Sunderland etc, we should adopt the Man U/Arsenal approach and go for the throat rather than play them at their own game.

I said after the Derby game that teams like them should be beaten away and steam-rollered at home, and got slated for it by HTL, NE5 and HTT to name a few. It wasn't arrogance as some tried to make out, just common sense and logic. Now that an opposition fan has said much the same thing maybe those people will see where I was coming from even though they probably won't admit it.

Allardyce did amazingly well at Bolton but that style of play could be more suited to smaller teams punching above their weight. It's not necessarily going to translate into anything much better and whether that will be good enough for Ashley long term I seriously doubt. There's still plenty of time to go this season, but not many good teams get beat by relegation fodder too many times in a season.