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

[ShearMagic]

We've played two decent teams so far, Pompey and Man City, and both of them have embarrassed us.

 

Correct, which is worrying.

 

A run down of our season:

 

@ Bolton - W3:1 - Our first result of the season had us all thinking we were in for a good one, but Bolton really are terribly average and we wont be the only team to win there 3:1 this year.

 

Aston Villa - D0:0 - Pretty lacklustre performance, boring, boring match from what I can remember of it. Brought us back down to earth slightly. Villa are a decent side this year though, and I can see them finishing upper mid-table.

 

@ Boro - D2:2 - Played well in patches, poorly in others. Probably a fair result against a Boro team that will struggle to stay up this year IMO.

 

Wigan - w1:0 - We played very well in this match with no reward, until a late Micky O winner. If we failed to win it would've been a travesty. Again though, Wigan are a side that will be battling relegation this season.

 

@ Derby County - L1:0 - Pathetic peformance. Derby are probably the side that's going to finish bottom and we lost to them. Whats more, they deserved to beat us, no matter how good their goal was.

 

West Ham - W3:1 - Perfect way to reply to a defeat of Derby. Came out and played some exceptional football, all be it against a severly understrengthed West Ham side.

 

@ Man City - L3:1 - Wasn't too disappointed with this, we played well, but Man City just played better. They'll finish top 6 or 7.

 

Everton - W3:2 - Good, solid performance against a handy outfit. Deserved to win, and we delivered.

 

Tottenham - W3:1 - Looked very solid defensively, and threatened going forward. Tottenham, despite struggling this season, have been unlucky, and are a decent lineup. Very good win.

 

@ Reading - L2:1 - Very disappointing result/performance. Reading will struggle to stay up this season, and they dominated us.

 

Portsmouth - L4:1 - Very poor first 11 minutes, after that we settled and looked better, but you cant afford to give sides a 3 goal headstart. Didn't threaten going forward, deserved to lose (although probably not by as much)

[Yorkie]

Sorry Yorkie if I read your post wrong, I still think we should be doing better than we are considering who we've played.  How much was the limited  budget Allardyce had?

 

I think we paid out about £25m, and recieved about £14m through the Parker and Dyer deals. So that's only £11m, which compared to what the likes of Manchester City, West Ham, Portsmouth, Sunderland, and just generally in comparison to the crazy figures paid out this summer - it's quite limited.

 

Plus the players he got rid of are players the fans wanted rid of anyway, he spent £25 million and doesn't seem to have improved us much at all.

 

Total and utter bullshit, tbh. I honestly don't know how anyone can say that.

[Baggio]

Sorry Yorkie if I read your post wrong, I still think we should be doing better than we are considering who we've played.  How much was the limited  budget Allardyce had?

 

I think we paid out about £25m, and recieved about £14m through the Parker and Dyer deals. So that's only £11m, which compared to what the likes of Manchester City, West Ham, Portsmouth, Sunderland, and just generally in comparison to the crazy figures paid out this summer - it's quite limited.

 

Plus the players he got rid of are players the fans wanted rid of anyway, he spent £25 million and doesn't seem to have improved us much at all.

 

Total and utter bullshit, tbh. I honestly don't know how anyone can say that.

 

What big improvements have you seen on the pitch so far?

 

 

[Yorkie]

Sorry Yorkie if I read your post wrong, I still think we should be doing better than we are considering who we've played.  How much was the limited  budget Allardyce had?

 

I think we paid out about £25m, and recieved about £14m through the Parker and Dyer deals. So that's only £11m, which compared to what the likes of Manchester City, West Ham, Portsmouth, Sunderland, and just generally in comparison to the crazy figures paid out this summer - it's quite limited.

 

Plus the players he got rid of are players the fans wanted rid of anyway, he spent £25 million and doesn't seem to have improved us much at all.

 

Total and utter bullshit, tbh. I honestly don't know how anyone can say that.

 

What big improvements have you seen on the pitch so far?

 

Firstly, in general, the squad has improved dramatically. The defense is the most obvious evidence of this. Our first choice back-line last season was Carr (shit) -- Taylor (alright) -- Bramble (shit) -- Babayaro (shit), with our back-up coming in the shape of Huntington, Ramage, Moore and Edgar. How can you not say that the defense has improved? They were crap for eleven minutes today, but i haven't seen a centre-back with the heading prowess of Faye in a Newcastle shirt in years - and Caçapa's tackling ability is second to none. Rozehnal, our back-up, is pacey and organised and Taylor is now fourth choice as apposed to first choice. How can you not say there is improvements there?

 

The defense does play as a unit, in my opinion. Faye and Caçapa, up until's today freakshow, have combined well together - two very experienced centre-backs who are both no nonsense and know each others games. I'll use the Spurs game as an example - Faye dominated the air while Caçapa patrolled the game on the ground. The Spurs strikers didn't have a sniff.

 

The wing-backs' quality is still in question, in my opinion, but i'm definitely encouraged by Enrique. Going forward atleast, i think he looks quite good. He can cross a ball and he has linked well with both Milner and N'Zogbia - who have both played infront of him this season. Defensively his positioning is questionable, same certainly goes for Beye, but there is masses of potential there. Who would you choose? Babayaro/Bernard, or Enrique?

 

I'm really not sure about Beye, if i'm honest. I don't think i've seen enough. But his positioning looks a bit poor and he doesn't seem to know when to tackle. But, instead of a flabby Irish waster trundling up the wing and offering absolutely nothing - Beye races up and down and is a pure athlete. Certainly an improvement on last season.

 

As for the midfield, again, we can talk about the squad. Best line-up last season was Milner (good) -- Parker (shit) -- Butt (decent, but not with Parker) -- Duff (shit) - i've excluded Emre from that because he was never in the team. That midfield was totally uncreative and just so inconsistent it was unbelieveble. We had only Milner who could provide anything from the wings, Matty Pattison, Albert Luque and an ageing Nobby Solano providing the only other real options. This season, yeah, it's been a bit uncreative at times - but atleast we've had decent options, and atleast we've actually got some drive and determination to actually play for each other in there.

 

We've kept possession better. People can criticise Geremi's involvement but i think he's been quite important - certainly off the pitch. He retains the ball and keeps the play balanced. It's not as if he's like Parker and charging forward, then stopping and turning when 30 yards from goal. He hasn't lived up to expectation but it's nice to have him in the squad. We've just got Barton back, too, who's done nothing so far but is clearly unfit. I think he'll be a mint signing.

 

The left-wing, Charles N'Zogbia. Jesus Christ, if you can't see an improvement here then i seriously question your footballing knowledge. Infact, i'm not even going to go into it. You're not stupid enough not to know that N'Zogbia's performances this season - piss and shit and regurgitate in every manner - those of Duff's last season. Milner's been crap but he's fucked. He needs to be out of the team.

 

The midfield plays with pace and drive, apart from when we play long-ball which, i agree - simply isn't working and needs to be forgotten about. But we've been supporting the strikers and playing for each other.

 

Striking department: Martins/Dyer/Sibierski, to Owen/Martins/Viduka/Smith/Ameobi. Say no more. We're yet to find the perfect combination, but the quality of goals and suchlike are just so, so much better than those bundled in last season. Viduka's against West Ham, to expert finishes imo. Martins has improved considerably this season, i don't care what people say, he's improved. His movement is much better - see Bolton/Man City/Spurs goals, and he plays for the team more. I've discussed Martins too much so i'm not going to do so anymore.

 

That's a fairly brief outline, cos it'd take me forever to go in-depth on our improvements this season, and i really can't be arsed. Sam has ripped the squad apart and started again and he's done very well so far. Have faith in someone who is actually a very good manager. He'll get it right eventually.

[Yorkie]

Meh whatever. That's all a bit long-winded. General point - if you're calling for Allardyce's head, two and a half months into his reign here and after what he has done - then you're blatantly absolutley off your tits.

[Baggio]

So to sum up your long winded post we've improved the squad by signing better players.

 

What has improved on the pitch performance wise? Do we have more cutting edge? Or defend better as a team? Play with more flair?

 

The only thing you can point to as improving is the form of N'Zogbia, at the same time I could point out Milner and Butt performed better last season than they have so far this one.

[Razor]

I think communication is something thats really letting the team down, the number of occasions last night where two players ran for a ball or noone at all or there was a mix up in general was staggering, there were far far less by Pompey. Its a thing that will improve in time and once it is even at a decent standard will greatly improve performance.

[EthiGeordie]

    That was awesome Yorkie Geordie Keep the dream alive. 

 

 

Sorry Yorkie if I read your post wrong, I still think we should be doing better than we are considering who we've played.  How much was the limited  budget Allardyce had?

 

I think we paid out about £25m, and recieved about £14m through the Parker and Dyer deals. So that's only £11m, which compared to what the likes of Manchester City, West Ham, Portsmouth, Sunderland, and just generally in comparison to the crazy figures paid out this summer - it's quite limited.

 

Plus the players he got rid of are players the fans wanted rid of anyway, he spent £25 million and doesn't seem to have improved us much at all.

 

Total and utter bullshit, tbh. I honestly don't know how anyone can say that.

 

What big improvements have you seen on the pitch so far?

 

Firstly, in general, the squad has improved dramatically. The defense is the most obvious evidence of this. Our first choice back-line last season was Carr (s***) -- Taylor (alright) -- Bramble (s***) -- Babayaro (s***), with our back-up coming in the shape of Huntington, Ramage, Moore and Edgar. How can you not say that the defense has improved? They were crap for eleven minutes today, but i haven't seen a centre-back with the heading prowess of Faye in a Newcastle shirt in years - and Caçapa's tackling ability is second to none. Rozehnal, our back-up, is pacey and organised and Taylor is now fourth choice as apposed to first choice. How can you not say there is improvements there?

 

The defense does play as a unit, in my opinion. Faye and Caçapa, up until's today freakshow, have combined well together - two very experienced centre-backs who are both no nonsense and know each others games. I'll use the Spurs game as an example - Faye dominated the air while Caçapa patrolled the game on the ground. The Spurs strikers didn't have a sniff.

 

The wing-backs' quality is still in question, in my opinion, but i'm definitely encouraged by Enrique. Going forward atleast, i think he looks quite good. He can cross a ball and he has linked well with both Milner and N'Zogbia - who have both played infront of him this season. Defensively his positioning is questionable, same certainly goes for Beye, but there is masses of potential there. Who would you choose? Babayaro/Bernard, or Enrique?

 

I'm really not sure about Beye, if i'm honest. I don't think i've seen enough. But his positioning looks a bit poor and he doesn't seem to know when to tackle. But, instead of a flabby Irish waster trundling up the wing and offering absolutely nothing - Beye races up and down and is a pure athlete. Certainly an improvement on last season.

 

As for the midfield, again, we can talk about the squad. Best line-up last season was Milner (good) -- Parker (s***) -- Butt (decent, but not with Parker) -- Duff (s***) - i've excluded Emre from that because he was never in the team. That midfield was totally uncreative and just so inconsistent it was unbelieveble. We had only Milner who could provide anything from the wings, Matty Pattison, Albert Luque and an ageing Nobby Solano providing the only other real options. This season, yeah, it's been a bit uncreative at times - but atleast we've had decent options, and atleast we've actually got some drive and determination to actually play for each other in there.

 

We've kept possession better. People can criticise Geremi's involvement but i think he's been quite important - certainly off the pitch. He retains the ball and keeps the play balanced. It's not as if he's like Parker and charging forward, then stopping and turning when 30 yards from goal. He hasn't lived up to expectation but it's nice to have him in the squad. We've just got Barton back, too, who's done nothing so far but is clearly unfit. I think he'll be a mint signing.

 

The left-wing, Charles N'Zogbia. Jesus Christ, if you can't see an improvement here then i seriously question your footballing knowledge. Infact, i'm not even going to go into it. You're not stupid enough not to know that N'Zogbia's performances this season - piss and s*** and regurgitate in every manner - those of Duff's last season. Milner's been crap but he's f*****. He needs to be out of the team.

 

The midfield plays with pace and drive, apart from when we play long-ball which, i agree - simply isn't working and needs to be forgotten about. But we've been supporting the strikers and playing for each other.

 

Striking department: Martins/Dyer/Sibierski, to Owen/Martins/Viduka/Smith/Ameobi. Say no more. We're yet to find the perfect combination, but the quality of goals and suchlike are just so, so much better than those bundled in last season. Viduka's against West Ham, to expert finishes imo. Martins has improved considerably this season, i don't care what people say, he's improved. His movement is much better - see Bolton/Man City/Spurs goals, and he plays for the team more. I've discussed Martins too much so i'm not going to do so anymore.

 

That's a fairly brief outline, cos it'd take me forever to go in-depth on our improvements this season, and i really can't be arsed. Sam has ripped the squad apart and started again and he's done very well so far. Have faith in someone who is actually a very good manager. He'll get it right eventually.

[Mick]

 

I think we paid out about £25m, and recieved about £14m through the Parker and Dyer deals. So that's only £11m, which compared to what the likes of Manchester City, West Ham, Portsmouth, Sunderland, and just generally in comparison to the crazy figures paid out this summer - it's quite limited.

 

That's not a limited budget, it's what he and others spent.  How do you know he didn't have more money to spend if he wanted other players?

[Guest elbee909]

Portsmouth are a team full of big, strong, fast, black men.

 

That's just had me laughing so much that I'm practically crying through laughing.

[Guest Pie]

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 fucking helps though. We were shite 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 fuck 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 shit 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?

[Parky]

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 fucking helps though. We were shite 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 fuck 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 shit 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?

 

Personel wise we need to get a couple of 'special midfielders' and quickly. Ideally with pace and vision.

[Guest BooBoo]

I think communication is something thats really letting the team down, the number of occasions last night where two players ran for a ball or noone at all or there was a mix up in general was staggering, there were far far less by Pompey. Its a thing that will improve in time and once it is even at a decent standard will greatly improve performance.

 

I think the fact that they cant all speak a common language is a problem.

[Robster]

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 fucking helps though. We were shite 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 fuck 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 shit 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 fuck he was

[Guest Brazilianbob]

Meh whatever. That's all a bit long-winded. General point - if you're calling for Allardyce's head, two and a half months into his reign here and after what he has done - then you're blatantly absolutley off your tits.

 

Well I was calling for Souness's head 2 and half months into his abortive reign and I was proved right, so I will say here and now that Allardyce is just not the man for the job.  He is a clone of Souness, he has no idea regarding tactics and when you look at the format of his sides it is exactly the same as Souness's teams,  ie 433 so he can protect his defence, then when the fans demanded attacking football with wingers he reverted to 442 but played a left sided player on the right wing.  All I am seeing is a rehash of everything that Souness tried to do but ultimately failed.  Allardyce is even doing what Souness did and is blaming the players.

 

He is also chopping and changing the side too much, he changes the side not because it will make us play better, but because it means the opposition have to adapt to a different format and so they then have to change their style to counter.  The problem is that most sides do so with ease, hence the defeats we are suffering.

[Lotus]

Quick question:

Would those people who would like to see Allardyce replaced be happy with Redknapp coming in?

[Parky]

Meh whatever. That's all a bit long-winded. General point - if you're calling for Allardyce's head, two and a half months into his reign here and after what he has done - then you're blatantly absolutley off your tits.

 

Well I was calling for Souness's head 2 and half months into his abortive reign and I was proved right, so I will say here and now that Allardyce is just not the man for the job.  He is a clone of Souness, he has no idea regarding tactics and when you look at the format of his sides it is exactly the same as Souness's teams,  ie 433 so he can protect his defence, then when the fans demanded attacking football with wingers he reverted to 442 but played a left sided player on the right wing.  All I am seeing is a rehash of everything that Souness tried to do but ultimately failed.  Allardyce is even doing what Souness did and is blaming the players.

 

He is also chopping and changing the side too much, he changes the side not because it will make us play better, but because it means the opposition have to adapt to a different format and so they then have to change their style to counter.  The problem is that most sides do so with ease, hence the defeats we are suffering.

 

Have to disagree with most of that. The main bit about tactics is wrong imo. SA has a clear set of priorities in all the adjustments he's making. You can see he has been working on the def (there have been lapses yes) and as a unit the whole back line is man for man better than last year. He has made tactical errors with the high line at Man City and too deep against Pompey yesterday. But frankly we had nothing to counter thier pace and power and imo Happy Harry isn't tactically better than SA, he's just gone out and purchased a truckload of players every window since he's been at Pompey and whittled them down to the ones that work...We haven't had that luxury and imo it was also totally correct to address the debt before spending £30-40m on players.

 

SA knows better than anyone that he needs someone to play the first phase out ball (not Butt or Geremi) and someone to recieve such a ball, ideally Anelka or another mobile type with pace and ball retentions skills.

 

If you have trouble retaining posession 433 is better if you are going to dominate and have better players (Reading, Derby) 442 is better.

[Guest Brazilianbob]

Meh whatever. That's all a bit long-winded. General point - if you're calling for Allardyce's head, two and a half months into his reign here and after what he has done - then you're blatantly absolutley off your tits.

 

Well I was calling for Souness's head 2 and half months into his abortive reign and I was proved right, so I will say here and now that Allardyce is just not the man for the job.  He is a clone of Souness, he has no idea regarding tactics and when you look at the format of his sides it is exactly the same as Souness's teams,  ie 433 so he can protect his defence, then when the fans demanded attacking football with wingers he reverted to 442 but played a left sided player on the right wing.  All I am seeing is a rehash of everything that Souness tried to do but ultimately failed.  Allardyce is even doing what Souness did and is blaming the players.

 

He is also chopping and changing the side too much, he changes the side not because it will make us play better, but because it means the opposition have to adapt to a different format and so they then have to change their style to counter.  The problem is that most sides do so with ease, hence the defeats we are suffering.

 

Have to disagree with most of that. The main bit about tactics is wrong imo. SA has a clear set of priorities in all the adjustments he's making. You can see he has been working on the def (there have been lapses yes) and as a unit the whole back line is man for man better than last year. He has made tactical errors with the high line at Man City and too deep against Pompey yesterday. But frankly we had nothing to counter thier pace and power and imo Happy Harry isn't tactically better than SA, he's just gone out and purchased a truckload of players every window since he's been at Pompey and whittled them down to the ones that work...We haven't had that luxury and imo it was also totally correct to address the debt before spending £30-40m on players.

 

SA knows better than anyone that he needs someone to play the first phase out ball (not Butt or Geremi) and someone to recieve such a ball, ideally Anelka or another mobile type with pace and ball retentions skills.

 

If you have trouble retaining posession 433 is better if you are going to dominate and have better players (Reading, Derby) 442 is better.

 

You can bury your head in the sand if you want but I will be proved right

[Parky]

Meh whatever. That's all a bit long-winded. General point - if you're calling for Allardyce's head, two and a half months into his reign here and after what he has done - then you're blatantly absolutley off your tits.

 

Well I was calling for Souness's head 2 and half months into his abortive reign and I was proved right, so I will say here and now that Allardyce is just not the man for the job.  He is a clone of Souness, he has no idea regarding tactics and when you look at the format of his sides it is exactly the same as Souness's teams,  ie 433 so he can protect his defence, then when the fans demanded attacking football with wingers he reverted to 442 but played a left sided player on the right wing.  All I am seeing is a rehash of everything that Souness tried to do but ultimately failed.  Allardyce is even doing what Souness did and is blaming the players.

 

He is also chopping and changing the side too much, he changes the side not because it will make us play better, but because it means the opposition have to adapt to a different format and so they then have to change their style to counter.  The problem is that most sides do so with ease, hence the defeats we are suffering.

 

Have to disagree with most of that. The main bit about tactics is wrong imo. SA has a clear set of priorities in all the adjustments he's making. You can see he has been working on the def (there have been lapses yes) and as a unit the whole back line is man for man better than last year. He has made tactical errors with the high line at Man City and too deep against Pompey yesterday. But frankly we had nothing to counter thier pace and power and imo Happy Harry isn't tactically better than SA, he's just gone out and purchased a truckload of players every window since he's been at Pompey and whittled them down to the ones that work...We haven't had that luxury and imo it was also totally correct to address the debt before spending £30-40m on players.

 

SA knows better than anyone that he needs someone to play the first phase out ball (not Butt or Geremi) and someone to recieve such a ball, ideally Anelka or another mobile type with pace and ball retentions skills.

 

If you have trouble retaining posession 433 is better if you are going to dominate and have better players (Reading, Derby) 442 is better.

 

You can bury your head in the sand if you want but I will be proved right

 

Do you think when we get the 2/3 more players we clearly need our problems will continue?

[Andy]

Well I was calling for Souness's head 2 and half months into his abortive reign and I was proved right

 

To be fair, I think most people were calling for Souness' head two and a half minutes into his abortive reign and were proved right.

[Parky]

Well I was calling for Souness's head 2 and half months into his abortive reign and I was proved right

 

To be fair, I think most people were calling for Souness' head two and a half minutes into his abortive reign and were proved right.

 

mackems.gif

[Dave]

Bob also claimed the season was wasted on August 23rd. Forgive me if I ignore him tbh.

[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.

[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

[NE5]

I expected the result today and predicted a 2-4 loss.

 

 

We have to realise that Pompey are far further down the road in their building than we are and today was really a tin shack against a 6 bed detached. There were other permutations but that is now academic, we have to accept where we are and outside the top4 imo Blackburn, Man City and Pompey are clearly ahead of us. Pomey have a power game and have players who multi-role easily and we don't. They also have a creative MF in Kranjcar who is slotting into the side beautifully after early injury. The Pompey back 4 are solid hence no flim flam and long passes are tolerated and most of our stuff was fly swatting material.

 

Allardyce I'm totally sure is aware of our limitations and this partly gives a clue to his fears away from home, but doesn't excuse them. Our def is developing understanding and positon sense as a unit, but were overwhelmed today by a strong side with also touches of intelligence about it. The defence is part fixed and now for me anyway the midfield needs working on in the sense that he really needs to make his mind up regarding who plays where and the best formation and stick to it for a run of games regardless of results.

 

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

 

I agree, I don't like Redknapp in fact I think both him and his son are a couple of tossers, but he can put together decent little teams. We didn't help ourselves by trying to play into Smith and Owen with their backs to goal, but Campbell and Distin are 2 of the most powerful - if not the most - central defenders in the premiership. They can play against such tactics till the cows come home.

 

Sam has to take the blame for trying to be a clever dick and playing Milner and zoggy on the wrong sides for most of the game. When I see managers trying to be like this it pisses me off. Also, Taylor should have started at centre back against that team yesterday, who themselves have strong players. Cacapa has been found wanting a few times in the physical confrontations.

 

It was woeful. Zoggy was the only player who threatened anything. Milner can surely be seen now to not be good enough. Barton looked like what he was, a player feeling his way back from long term absence. Emre should have came on for him earlier, and Martins should have came for Milner instead of enrique.