Fat Sam and his Fat Head

[BillClinton]

Changed the flippin' subject man! All I could see was "Sam Allardyce Leaves..." from the main page, so assumed he'd been sacked/walker from WHY

 

It's fooled me twice already, maybe cause I want it to happen so badly

[Guest Haris Vuckic]

It will cost £4m for West Ham to sack him. I doubt he cares...

[NG32]

It will cost £4m for West Ham to sack him. I doubt he cares...

 

Crazy money for the football he produces.

[Guest Haris Vuckic]

Crazy money for the results he produces too.

[Dave]

The classic Freddie Shepherd lurch from one extreme to the next.

 

I'd say this was a pretty logical appointment for where we were at the time tbh. Certainly made more sense than most of his other ideas.

[Disco]

The classic Freddie Shepherd lurch from one extreme to the next.

 

I'd say this was a pretty logical appointment for where we were at the time tbh. Certainly made more sense than most of his other ideas.

 

You're right there. I can't remember whether I was a pro/against the decision but on the face of it the decision made sense however I think the majority of supporters he would evolve with the additional resources he had to hand rather than morphing us in to Bolton mkII.

[Beren]

I remember the forum, generally, receiving the appointment quite favourably (my memory being lots of avatars of him popping up - including JH's of Fat Sam in shades outside SJP?). I didn't want him, personally - but I've been wrong about many other things (eg. I thought Jonas would be huge for us).

[NG32]

I think I was pro the appointment as we needed organising after the shambles of Souness and Roeder.  I thought he would bring some decent cheap players in and start rebuilding.  Obvisouly Ashley took over and didn't give him any money to spend and his football was minging.  I was still annoyed when he was sacked in Jan.  Thought they should have just seen the season out with him and made a fresh start.

 

I remember the press conference, he was going tomeet Ashley and Mort to discuss players...ened up sacked. 

[Interpolic]

The classic Freddie Shepherd lurch from one extreme to the next.

 

I'd say this was a pretty logical appointment for where we were at the time tbh. Certainly made more sense than most of his other ideas.

 

You're right there. I can't remember whether I was a pro/against the decision but on the face of it the decision made sense however I think the majority of supporters he would evolve with the additional resources he had to hand rather than morphing us in to Bolton mkII.

 

Massively, as that's what he always said in the press and for some reason it seemed believable at the time.  Also we looked an amateur outfit under Glenn Roeder, lots of injuries and often looking ill-prepared for games which appeared to be in stark contrast to Allardyce's meticulous approach with his army of nutritionists, physiotherapists, psychologists, etc.  Seemed Bolton were always in prime condition for their game at 3pm on a Saturday or whenever.

 

In other words, I think I fell for a lot of the Allardyce fanfare in the press.

[Guest Haris Vuckic]

 

I think the majority of fans recognised it as a good appointment at the time.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

From what I remember I couldn't believe we were going for him and disliked him from day dot. Saying that, now someone will find a post saying he's brilliant!

[AyeDubbleYoo]

 

I think the majority of fans recognised it as a good appointment at the time.

 

You mean 'wrongly thought it was going to be good' right?

[KaKa]

Sam was a mess. If he doesn't have his big lummox upfront he doesn't know what to do.

 

Our best strikers at the time were two midgets, and it scrambled his brain.

 

I remember Oba being shunted out wide of a 4-3-3, and I can't even remember what he did with Owen. It was just silly.

 

All these years later, and it's the same at West Ham. Pining away for Carroll to come and save him.

[Guest Haris Vuckic]

 

I think the majority of fans recognised it as a good appointment at the time.

 

You mean 'wrongly thought it was going to be good' right?

 

There's an incredibly simple message there.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Sam was a mess. If he doesn't have his big lummox upfront he doesn't know what to do.

 

Our best strikers at the time were two midgets, and it scrambled his brain.

 

I remember Oba being shunted out wide of a 4-3-3, and I can't even remember what he did with Owen. It was just silly.

 

All these years later, and it's the same at West Ham. Pining away for Carroll to come and save him.

 

Totally agree, he's just not a very good manager at all.

[sempuki]

Must be odds-on for the boot after the last two results.

[Guest neesy111]

I supported the appointment to a degree, we needed someone to build some foundations after 3 farcical seasons before and thought he'd maximise the resources of the squad he had.

 

Quickly saw through him though.

[Interpolic]

From what I remember I couldn't believe we were going for him and disliked him from day dot. Saying that, now someone will find a post saying he's brilliant!

 

Nee worries.

 

Just done a one on one interview on SSN stating that he hopes to have the vast majority of transfer activity complete by the 2nd July, yet another positive thing he's said today.

 

 

First read it as 2nd June.

 

He's good, but he's not that good

[Beren]

Unlike Ian to be on the fence about a manager.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I was hardly a poster back then, great days! Can't remember what I meant by that, maybe just that he makes a lot of signings.

[Incognito]

Sam was a mess. If he doesn't have his big lummox upfront he doesn't know what to do.

 

Our best strikers at the time were two midgets, and it scrambled his brain.

 

I remember Oba being shunted out wide of a 4-3-3, and I can't even remember what he did with Owen. It was just silly.

 

All these years later, and it's the same at West Ham. Pining away for Carroll to come and save him.

 

Totally agree, he's just not a very good manager at all.

 

To be fair he did a good job at Bolton.  Obviously a hand in glove type fit there. Similarly Moyes at Everton and then going to Manchester United.  Different type of job.

[NG32]

He is basically a small club manager on small resrouces.  Once he gets given a bigger budget or expectations are higher, he cant raise his own brand of football to match.

 

Small time clogger who has had some good results and a couple of good seasons with Bolton.

 

 

[tmonkey]

In a pointless bid to justify why many of us wanted him appointed at the time (i.e. save face), in addition to the earlier point raised that we had appointed Fat Sam a few months after his Bolton side had finished 7th (whilst playing OK football for that era), I'd like to add:

 

1) That given how tiny Bolton were, he was essentially unproven from our point of view. He had done well with very little money in some seasons, having to work with Bosmans and players in the twilights of their careers, so it was only natural to assume that he might do even better if given a solid transfer kitty, which he duly received when appointed. Unfortunately the bellend thought the likes of Smith would be great purchases.

 

2) It's also easy to forget that one of the main arguments in favor of his appointment was his "scientific" approach to fitness. At that point in time iirc we were the worst club in the Premiership for players picking up injuries, something that had gotten out of hand given how often key players and first teamers were on and off the treatment table. I remember newspaper articles at the time giving us theories about why our players were frequently picking up injuries, and iirc Souness a few years earlier had tried to do something about it by installing an artificial pitch or something along those lines. Given how advanced Allardyce came across with his "War Room" and mini army of tacticians, the training and diet regimes he boasted about in his interviews, on that front alone appointing Allardyce did seem like a sensible step forward.

[Interpolic]

In a pointless bid to justify why many of us wanted him appointed at the time (i.e. save face), in addition to the earlier point raised that we had appointed Fat Sam a few months after his Bolton side had finished 7th (whilst playing OK football for that era), I'd like to add:

 

1) That given how tiny Bolton were, he was essentially unproven from our point of view. He had done well with very little money in some seasons, having to work with Bosmans and players in the twilights of their careers, so it was only natural to assume that he might do even better if given a solid transfer kitty, which he duly received when appointed. Unfortunately the bellend thought the likes of Smith would be great purchases.

 

2) It's also easy to forget that one of the main arguments in favor of his appointment was his "scientific" approach to fitness. At that point in time iirc we were the worst club in the Premiership for players picking up injuries, something that had gotten out of hand given how often key players and first teamers were on and off the treatment table. I remember newspaper articles at the time giving us theories about why our players were frequently picking up injuries, and iirc Souness a few years earlier had tried to do something about it by installing an artificial pitch or something along those lines. Given how advanced Allardyce came across with his "War Room" and mini army of tacticians, the training and diet regimes he boasted about in his interviews, on that front alone appointing Allardyce did seem like a sensible step forward.

 

Aye the 2nd point is what I was getting at, was definitely a major reason for the appointment seeming sensible at the time.

[Yorkie]

After the Souness and Roeder travesties I was delighted when we got him, got to say. When we won 3-1 at Bolton I was just about as optimistic as I've ever been.