Not sure why people are in shock. (We must stick with SA).

[TRon]

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.

 

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.

 

 

[Guest BooBoo]

From what i've seen so far we'll be finishing anywhere between 8th and 13th. I dont think we 've got enough to make the UEFA Cup this year. Hope i'm wrong.

[Mick]

From what i've seen so far we'll be finishing anywhere between 8th and 13th. I dont think we 've got enough to make the UEFA Cup this year. Hope i'm wrong.

 

8th to 13th was my prediction under Roeder, I would hope for better under Allardyce.

[Robster]

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.

 

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.

 

 

 

Would agree with all of that. I just think we have to try and think back to those early days of summer and remember it was never going to be a quick fix

[DJ_NUFC]

My favourite moment - one which actually made me smile during those gutwrenching opening minutes - was when the third goal went in and they cut to BS and Mort, and Mort just looked at his watch as BS sat there stonefaced.

 

[Guest Texasmag]

I noticed that too. Did anyone see Harry take a swig out of hip size bottle of Gin/Vodka in the second half? I couldn't believe what I was seeing, as I thought they only swigged water on the sideline.

[ohmelads]

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 s**** 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.

 

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.

[matta]

We need to stick with him and get through this period.

 

anyone thats want to change manager after newcastle past few years surely cant be in their right mind.

 

Sam is the man for Newcastle, and we wont get any better.

[Mick]

 

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 that. Until that time comes (if it does) 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.

 

I'm not sure that the job Allardyce has today is the same job as he took on, he took on a job that was with a club hindered by debt.  I would say most fans understood this and were willing to give him longer than they probably are willing to give him now. 

 

Expectations have changed because our circumstances are not the same as they were when he came.  I expect more from him now than I did when he was first appointed and I'll not apologise for that.  He has more to work with and should be able to produce more because of that.

 

[ohmelads]

We need to stick with him and get through this period.

 

anyone thats want to change manager after newcastle past few years surely cant be in their right mind.

 

Sam is the man for Newcastle, and we wont get any better.

 

I agree with the sentiment, but our last two managers would have left this club in a worse state if they were given any more time, while the one before that was into his 70's and sadly needed to call it a day sooner or later.

[Mick]

 

anyone thats want to change manager after newcastle past few years surely cant be in their right mind.

 

Sam is the man for Newcastle, and we wont get any better.

 

Some people might want change because of what we've had in the past and who is to say that they are wrong?

 

I've seen nothing to suggest that Sam is the man for Newcastle and seen nothing to suggest we can't get better.  I doubt we'll change him soon and I also doubt we'll get rid before having a replacement ready to come in, I don't think we're that daft, I hope we're not.

 

[ohmelads]

 

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 that. Until that time comes (if it does) 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.

 

I'm not sure that the job Allardyce has today is the same job as he took on, he took on a job that was with a club hindered by debt.  I would say most fans understood this and were willing to give him longer than they probably are willing to give him now. 

 

Expectations have changed because our circumstances are not the same as they were when he came.  I expect more from him now than I did when he was first appointed and I'll not apologise for that.  He has more to work with and should be able to produce more because of that.

 

 

Fair points and I agree with all that.

 

I meant that he knew what he was getting himself into when he agreed to take on players like Owen and Martins. Surely it occurred to him that Bolton-inspired tactics would not work with these players and that he, Sam Allardyce, would have to change tack. We don't seem to be playing to the strengths of our best players, we seem to be playing to Sam's Bolton-esque tactics regardless of the effect it has on our most influential players. We have seen some evidence that his tactics can work and we know what he did with Bolton, but where does that leave Owen, Martins et al in the meantime?

[Mick]

 

Fair points and I agree with all that.

 

I meant that he knew what he was getting himself into when he agreed to take on players like Owen and Martins. Surely it occurred to him that Bolton-inspired tactics would not work with these players and that he, Sam Allardyce, would have to change tack. We don't seem to be playing to the strengths of our best players, we seem to be playing to Sam's Bolton-esque tactics at all costs. We have seen some evidence that his tactics can work and we know what he did with Bolton, but where does that leave Owen, Martins et al in the meantime?

 

Agreed and I said the same before a ball was kicked this season.

[80]

 

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 that. Until that time comes (if it does) 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.

 

I'm not sure that the job Allardyce has today is the same job as he took on, he took on a job that was with a club hindered by debt.  I would say most fans understood this and were willing to give him longer than they probably are willing to give him now. 

 

Expectations have changed because our circumstances are not the same as they were when he came.  I expect more from him now than I did when he was first appointed and I'll not apologise for that.  He has more to work with and should be able to produce more because of that.

 

 

Aye. I still think it's too early to demand significant success, it was a disrupted Summer afterall and all managers need some time. He does, though, need to be showing signs that's there is reason for us keeping our faith in him - bearing in mind he has to achieve more, to be able say his position here improves the club, than he once would have done.

[Parky]

 

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 that. Until that time comes (if it does) 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.

 

I'm not sure that the job Allardyce has today is the same job as he took on, he took on a job that was with a club hindered by debt.  I would say most fans understood this and were willing to give him longer than they probably are willing to give him now. 

 

Expectations have changed because our circumstances are not the same as they were when he came.  I expect more from him now than I did when he was first appointed and I'll not apologise for that.  He has more to work with and should be able to produce more because of that.

 

 

Fair points and I agree with all that.

 

I meant that he knew what he was getting himself into when he agreed to take on players like Owen and Martins. Surely it occurred to him that Bolton-inspired tactics would not work with these players and that he, Sam Allardyce, would have to change tack. We don't seem to be playing to the strengths of our best players, we seem to be playing to Sam's Bolton-esque tactics regardless of the effect it has on our most influential players. We have seen some evidence that his tactics can work and we know what he did with Bolton, but where does that leave Owen, Martins et al in the meantime?

 

We don't really have enough mf creativity/pace/intuition to play to our forwards strenghts, that is becoming clear. How SA tackles this inc using the Jan window will be the first test.

[The College Dropout]

Portsmouth are a team full of big, strong, fast, talented black men. Much like Arsenal were when they won the league and remained undefeated. Just not quite at that level.

Seem some nonsense about pace not being the be all and end all. Certainly f****** helps though. We were s**** going forward never mind defensively. We must have the slowest midfield in premiership history right now. Sadly, theres not much talent there to hide it. Glen Johnson sauntered past Milner every time. It was embarrassing to see. Zog was leaving gaps everywhere but at least closed his man down. Taylor thought he was captain courageous whilst leaving holes in the sieve like back four. The front two were given f*** all to feed on. Barton had a stinker but heyho. Everytime they got the ball they had the drive, purpose, pace and skill that we have been lacking for 3 or 4 years. Piece of piss for them. Thats without mentioning a stinker from a bloke who has dug us out of the s*** often enough this season.

Harper will get flak but it would be harsh to blame him for anything that happened out there. We need something better than we have. The wide players from rival sides are way better than ours - Arteta, Utaka, Petrov are a mile better than we have. Obviously there are those at the top 4 who would piss on ours too. Ronaldo seems to use that 'pace' quite effectively doesnt he?

 

Ronaldo also happens to be one of the most technically gifted players in the world at the minute.

 

Remember Wayne Fereday anyone... fast as f*** he was

 

Wayne Fereday doesn't play Premiership football in 2007.

 

Ronaldo doesn't seem to play as well when he comes up against top quality, pacey left backs.

[NE5]

Portsmouth are a team full of big, strong, fast, talented black men. Much like Arsenal were when they won the league and remained undefeated. Just not quite at that level.

Seem some nonsense about pace not being the be all and end all. Certainly f****** helps though. We were s**** going forward never mind defensively. We must have the slowest midfield in premiership history right now. Sadly, theres not much talent there to hide it. Glen Johnson sauntered past Milner every time. It was embarrassing to see. Zog was leaving gaps everywhere but at least closed his man down. Taylor thought he was captain courageous whilst leaving holes in the sieve like back four. The front two were given f*** all to feed on. Barton had a stinker but heyho. Everytime they got the ball they had the drive, purpose, pace and skill that we have been lacking for 3 or 4 years. Piece of piss for them. Thats without mentioning a stinker from a bloke who has dug us out of the s*** often enough this season.

Harper will get flak but it would be harsh to blame him for anything that happened out there. We need something better than we have. The wide players from rival sides are way better than ours - Arteta, Utaka, Petrov are a mile better than we have. Obviously there are those at the top 4 who would piss on ours too. Ronaldo seems to use that 'pace' quite effectively doesnt he?

 

Ronaldo also happens to be one of the most technically gifted players in the world at the minute.

 

Remember Wayne Fereday anyone... fast as f*** he was

 

Wayne Fereday doesn't play Premiership football in 2007.

 

Ronaldo doesn't seem to play as well when he comes up against top quality, pacey left backs.

 

just saw this, and I have to agree with almost everything Pie says.

 

You can harp on as much as you like about defensive mistakes, etc etc, but at the end of the day, it all starts with having talented players who can win, keep, move and use the ball well. We lack sufficient players of this quality. Pompey played good possession football, and they have physical strength and athleticism in all departments.

 

As for Ronaldo, he is as near the perfect wide man as you will find. Pacey, gets to the byline and cross with both feet, on both sides [very underrated quality ] and gets into the box and scores goals.

 

Harper did nothing wrong at all yesterday, he is completely blameless.

 

Allardyces honeymoon is over, and the club should have replaced Solano and Dyer, not doing it has proved to be a costly mistake this season. We could have got back into europe, but we won't now.

 

 

 

 

[Baggio]

Funny how things change, I was one of the few banging on about how he hadn't replaced Dyer and Solano properly yet was shot down by plenty on here.

[NE5]

Funny how things change, I was one of the few banging on about how he hadn't replaced Dyer and Solano properly yet was shot down by plenty on here.

 

You have said that he bought Smith to replace Dyer, if I'm not mistaken. I think - or hope - this isn't the case, as Smith is not a midfield player.

 

I think he has been brought primarily to replace Ameobi in the long run.

 

The worrying thing is that it would appear the club said that after buying Smith, there was no money to replace Solano and Dyer.

We will never challenge the top 4 clubs with such a mentality.

 

However, as i said, if this was Allardyces decision, then I would be worried by his poor judgement.

 

 

 

 

[Lotus]

Funny how things change, I was one of the few banging on about how he hadn't replaced Dyer and Solano properly yet was shot down by plenty on here.

 

You have said that he bought Smith to replace Dyer, if I'm not mistaken. I think - or hope - this isn't the case, as Smith is not a midfield player.

 

I think he has been brought primarily to replace Ameobi in the long run.

 

The worrying thing is that it would appear the club said that after buying Smith, there was no money to replace Solano and Dyer.

We will never challenge the top 4 clubs with such a mentality.

 

However, as i said, if this was Allardyces decision, then I would be worried by his poor judgement.

 

 

 

 

Maybe none of the players he wanted were available.

[ChezGiven]

Funny how things change, I was one of the few banging on about how he hadn't replaced Dyer and Solano properly yet was shot down by plenty on here.

 

You also said Faye and Cacapa were our best central defenders 

[johnnypd]

Utaka would've been a good replacement for Dyer. cost only £1m more than Dyer was sold for and can play up-front and on the wings. also seems ideal for Allardyce's beloved 4-3-3. Muntari was the most impressive though, we should go for him next summer, but i imagine bigger sides than us will want him too.

[Baggio]

Funny how things change, I was one of the few banging on about how he hadn't replaced Dyer and Solano properly yet was shot down by plenty on here.

 

You have said that he bought Smith to replace Dyer, if I'm not mistaken. I think - or hope - this isn't the case, as Smith is not a midfield player.

 

I think he has been brought primarily to replace Ameobi in the long run.

 

The worrying thing is that it would appear the club said that after buying Smith, there was no money to replace Solano and Dyer.

We will never challenge the top 4 clubs with such a mentality.

 

However, as i said, if this was Allardyces decision, then I would be worried by his poor judgement.

 

 

 

 

 

He did sign Smith as a replacement for Dyer, he said so himself on Setanta after one of our friendly games yet anyone who knows anything about football will tell you Dyer will offer more over the course of a season than Smith. How many goals did Dyer score last season? 7? I'll be shocked if Smith scores that many for us over the length of his career.

 

When did the club say there was no money to replace them? As I said Allardyce said himself that Smith was replacing Dyer, he also said he signed Beye because Solano was leaving so he must of viewed Nobby as a right back.

 

 

[NE5]

Funny how things change, I was one of the few banging on about how he hadn't replaced Dyer and Solano properly yet was shot down by plenty on here.

 

You have said that he bought Smith to replace Dyer, if I'm not mistaken. I think - or hope - this isn't the case, as Smith is not a midfield player.

 

I think he has been brought primarily to replace Ameobi in the long run.

 

The worrying thing is that it would appear the club said that after buying Smith, there was no money to replace Solano and Dyer.

We will never challenge the top 4 clubs with such a mentality.

 

However, as i said, if this was Allardyces decision, then I would be worried by his poor judgement.

 

Maybe none of the players he wanted were available.

 

I can accept that.

 

However, when we brought in those last minute players last year ie Sibierski and Rossi, I disagreed with people who labelled them "panic signings". I think the same thing was necessary, these things happen in football. A couple of short term signings and/or a loan signing should have been made while he waited, thats what football is about, building and improving. You can always get better players when they become available, and moving the replaced players on.

 

Setting standards is one thing, but just one player with pace to play wide right, was an absolute necessity. Far better than nobody, or someone out of position, which is what he's been doing.

 

 

[Lotus]

Funny how things change, I was one of the few banging on about how he hadn't replaced Dyer and Solano properly yet was shot down by plenty on here.

 

You have said that he bought Smith to replace Dyer, if I'm not mistaken. I think - or hope - this isn't the case, as Smith is not a midfield player.

 

I think he has been brought primarily to replace Ameobi in the long run.

 

The worrying thing is that it would appear the club said that after buying Smith, there was no money to replace Solano and Dyer.

We will never challenge the top 4 clubs with such a mentality.

 

However, as i said, if this was Allardyces decision, then I would be worried by his poor judgement.

 

Maybe none of the players he wanted were available.

 

I can accept that.

 

However, when we brought in those last minute players last year ie Sibierski and Rossi, I disagreed with people who labelled them "panic signings". I think the same thing was necessary, these things happen in football. A couple of short term signings and/or a loan signing should have been made while he waited, thats what football is about, building and improving. You can always get better players when they become available, and moving the replaced players on.

 

Setting standards is one thing, but just one player with pace to play wide right, was an absolute necessity. Far better than nobody, or someone out of position, which is what he's been doing.

 

 

Think he expected more from Milner and Geremi.