Allardyce wants to extend his 3 year deal already

[Guest Alan Shearer 9]

 

But to simply say "Let's have it low key and let's grow, finish above where we finished last year, get more points and get higher in the league. Any more than that I see as a bonus", is unacceptable imo.

 

 

Sack Sam!

[Optimistic Nut]

Nah, he just needs to stop treating us like some sort of small-time pattisons. It's similar to the comment where he said, "I don't care if we lose every friendly 3-0".

[Alberto2005]

If Sam thinks it will take 5 years then i'm all for it, i trust the guy completely and i think he's earned that respect from his job at Bolton. It's about time we started doing things differently and the time to start is now.

[Mick]

People seem to think it'll take a miracle or something. All our squad needs is someone to organise and motivate them. Allardyce is easily that man. Even before the transfer activity I'd have tipped him to get us around 8th, with his own players top 6 has to be the target, 7th-8th would at least signal steady improvement.

 

But to simply say "Let's have it low key and let's grow, finish above where we finished last year, get more points and get higher in the league. Any more than that I see as a bonus", is unacceptable imo.

 

 

I sort of agree to a certain extent, we're already stronger up front with Viduka coming in and Owen and Ameobi being fit.  The only area where we are weaker is at the back and that is open to debate as we haven't lost any good defenders and our new addition could improve on what has gone.

 

We're down on squad numbers which makes us weaker but we have plenty of time to address that.

 

I don't think we should aim too low as that is accepting a poor season and we should never be doing that, we shouldn't have a comfort zone of finishing low as a target, we should aim for Europe and see how it goes.

 

We need to at least beat the teams coming up when playing them at home, that alone would give us extra points.  We were beaten by Sheff Utd at home, drew against Charlton, were beaten by Blackburn and Man City drew with Boro and West Ham.  They are all games which Newcastle and Allardyce should be looking to improve on.  I know some of them were relegated but we should be looking to do better against the teams who replace them.  That adds up to 15 points on top of what we achieved, if you can call it an achievement.

[Optimistic Nut]

It's easy for everyone to agree with it now, but come May, and we've finished 11th with 50 points, I think there'll be a lot of disappointed people because that means we've lost a helluva lot of sh*t home games again.

[Alberto2005]

It's easy for everyone to agree with it now, but come May, and we've finished 11th with 50 points, I think there'll be a lot of disappointed people because that means we've lost a helluva lot of sh*t home games again.

There definitely would but i still think we must give him time, before we had Roeder and Souness who hadn't proved them self before the appointment so there was reason for the sacking as i for one didn't feel they could take us foward but with Sam he's achieved so much at Bolton over a period of time. Secondly, despite these comments from Sam i still think he believes we'll make the uefa cup, he's just trying to put everything into perspective.

[Yorkie]

Bare minumum for me is nine/ten home victories (preferably with more draws than losses too) and top half. If we finish 9th/10th and look a far better outfit, with a lot to build on and a decent push for Europe, i'll be very content. Said it before, i'll say it again, it's not like clicking a lightswitch.

 

That's only the expectation though, and what Sam says - improving on last season - is only the expectation. That's only his bare minumum. They're just words. Admittedly, my bare minumum is probably higher than his, but i don't really care. He's the professional, he's the expert and he knows more than me. We'll probably finish 7th anyway.

 

Have faith.

[NJS]

If by success he means a "proper" challenge to the top 4 then fair enough. If he means 5 years to get to 5th or 6th with an occasional good chance of a cup if we're lucky then he can sod off.

 

Gradual progress is one thing and of course I want that but it has to be tempered with some "instant" excitement. If he doesn't understand that then he hasn't understood the job yet.

 

 

 

 

[JH]

Gradual progress is one thing and of course I want that but it has to be tempered with some "instant" excitement. If he doesn't understand that then he hasn't understood the job yet.

 

There is no way we'll get that much "excitement" with Big Sam, it'll be about winning games, not entertaining people sadly

[Yorkie]

Gradual progress is one thing and of course I want that but it has to be tempered with some "instant" excitement. If he doesn't understand that then he hasn't understood the job yet.

 

There is no way we'll get that much "excitement" with Big Sam, it'll be about winning games, not entertaining people sadly

 

I'll take being a fucking good team at the moment.

[Rich]

I have to say I think Allardyce has adopted a fairly sensible line on this one, at least until he gets more bodies through the door and has his backroom staff in place as well. High expectations saw the end of Bobby Robson and we all know how the story goes after that and I would love it if we were able to give Allardyce the time of day to sort things out from top-to-bottom before we start criticising him for some media comments that are probably nowt more than PR from his side of things. I can see what people are saying and I completely agree that finishing 12th with an extra point to last season will not represent much forward motion at all! But howay lads, put the brains in gear and realise that Sam is saying what he has to in order to make sure the dunce element don't get daft too quickly. Do you really think he'd be satisfied with this, really? Not a fucking chance - the bloke has a record for over-achievement.

 

He'd be making a noose for his own neck if he came out and said "we're going for the top 4 this season, top 6 at the least!" and then we suffered another horrendous injury crisis or if we just missed out on it - we shouldn't forget that we're not the only team with new money and a new manager in place as well. It would be nice to see another barnstorming Keegan-esque era where there's money to burn and where we make our big intentions perfectly clear (although that fell flat on it's face last time around as well) but we need to start being more realistic, especially with the fact that the club is being gutted and changed from top-to-bottom this season as well.

 

Like everyone I suppose, my expectations in my heart would be a European spot for next season at the very least - so either a cup final appearance or a top seven finish in the Premiership and I'd be fairly satisfied with how he's done for his first year in charge. I know it's easy to get carried away, especially when improvements seem to happening all around the club and when it looks like we'll have more money than we've had for years (but will we be as well-placed financially as we were under Keegan/Robson now that so many billionaires are involved?) but I'm battling to keep my feet on the ground and I hope others can as well.

 

For me, I'd be amazed if we don't see major strides next season after suffering over 2 years of utter dross under Souness and Roeder and I hope that this alone will be enough to keep people on his side even if we don't do as brilliantly as we perhaps could. If the injuries are kept down, there are no major off-field incidents like there have been, if the squad are playing for the shirt and if we start winning more away from home as well then I'll be delighted. Obviously SJP is our bread and butter and last season was utterly atrocious there, I'm like Yorkie in thinking that 10 wins from 19 home games should be the bare minimum for a club of our stature when you consider some of the shite still in this league.

 

People shouldn't forget that next season's PL has the potential to be the most competitive it's ever been because of the moolah flying around, over half the teams in the league have new-ish owners and money behind them and we're still playing catch-up with a lot of them in regards to our set-up behind the scenes in regards to fitness, diets, tactics, facilities, etc. While we've got a lot of the key ingredients in place to take-off already and while a part of me thinks we'll do great next term, my head keeps telling me that due to Shepherd, Roeder and Souness and the lack of foundation/planning within the club before this summer we'll still not be able to reach our full on-pitch potential for at least another full year.

 

I keep saying it, but we'll wait and see. If Allardyce manages a "proper" assault on the top-four next season while improving everything else I've mentioned, this place will be buzzing going into next season and then we can start thinking big again. For now we have to support the new blokes in charge, the manager and his staff and all of the players and just hope that things "click" immediately for us. Let's see what he can do with something like 2 months of time before the season kicks off first of all and then if the improvements can be seen, let's start getting excited about what he can do with even more time/facilities/money/equipment behind him with his first season under his belt.

 

(Sorry about the length of that, you can tell I don't get much chance to post these days!)

 

Summary for the lazy sods: we can do nowt but support him at the minute, especially when he's simply trying to lower the expectations of the fans who don't know any better (who can be dangerous to a manager's job - the mindless majority and all that) and we should remember that he's going to have had about 2 months of time to fix the gash caused by Shepherd, Souness and Roeder prior to his arrival. While we do have a head-start on a lot of teams in regards to playing staff, money, ground-size and all that we're still playing catch-up when it comes to our approach to all things scouting/tactical/technological, etc. As Jon said earlier, the bloke has an awful lot to change in an awfully short amount of time.

[ohmelads]

I think most fans would consider a top 8 finish satisfactory, a top 6 finish a job well done, and a top 4 finish fantastic.

 

That is to say that I think most fans want top 6 would would accept top 8.

 

Personally I think top 6 is a totally realistic target. If we've got Owen playing most of the season, a good manager and we buy a defence, we've got the tools to do it certainly. We've already got a good manager in and I believe the money is there for the reinforcements we need.

[NSG]

I think most fans would consider a top 8 finish satisfactory, a top 6 finish a job well done, and a top 4 finish fantastic.

 

That is to say that I think most fans want top 6 would would accept top 8.

 

Personally I think top 6 is a totally realistic target. If we've got Owen playing most of the season, a good manager and we buy a defence, we've got the tools to do it certainly. We've already got a good manager in and I believe the money is there for the reinforcements we need.

 

Spot on.

 

Waffa cup qualification in any form is the main aim next term.

[Guest Dev]

While I understand why Sam is trying to lower expectations I agree with everyone here who is saying that he has to understand that a bottom half finish is unacceptable to nufc fans, with the wages bill we have. If he improves to 11th with a new billionaire owner and a 40mil transfer kitty... why bother?

 

He isn't managing Bolton anymore. This is his big step up and I am sure he is smart enough to realise that. His canny signings are well and good but if not this year then in a years time when he has a decent base he's going to need to start making a splash in the transfer market. Canny bosmans and sub 5mil bargains won't get you top 4, not this year, not next year and not in 20 years.

[Guest teepee]

we need to see progress this season - no excuses. top 8 should be realistic!