Comments on: N-O Panel: Post Match Liverpool (h)

By: Kifenaita

Kifenaita — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 23:21:59 +0000

I’d prefer reading in my native language, because my knowledge of your languange is no so well. But it was interesting!

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 17:38:59 +0000

Agree with Mike. Does anyone really think we could ever win the Premiership or Champions league playing Allardyce’s style of football and I dont care if he gets it right or not. The big sucessful clubs play the ball on the pitch with high speed passing, creative movement and blistering pace off the ball. If none of the aforementioned is there all you have is the long ball game and do you see Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool play this way NO !! It appears its all Sam knows so lets get rid and and make the transition with a top flight manager not a Roeder, Souness, Gullit, Dalglish, by the way who are they managing now, nobody any good thats for sure??

By: Marlon Dingel

Marlon Dingel — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 12:21:06 +0000

It all started to go wrong when we played pompey and lost 4-1. Why on earth did we play milner on the left and n’zogbia on the right?

According to people around me Sam doesnt know what he is doing and i agree. We shouldn’t be playing 4-3-3 at home and we surely can’t be leaving out the best crosser of the ball in the team on the bench in the form of milner. He was given money to purchase defenders of high standard and it hasn’t worked. We are playing another spanish mis-fit in the form of enrique at the back, although he is better than Babyaro. Stephen carr made his name on the team sheet and played for 20mins and he still looked like the brick carrying pie eater he was before.

We need to start balancing the team out a bit. The players need to start playing for the money they are earning and at least gain a respectable uefa cup postion.

The likes of Gerrard and Kuyt made newcastle look awful a few days ago and i would’t be suprised if blackburn play the same passing style liverpool played and have us run ragged. Is blackburn the end for Big sam and England could have their man? We will find out soon enough

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 11:11:20 +0000

well it looks like more fans - like myself - have seen the light and realised that again we’ve been screwed by shepherd.

sam allardyce is in NO WAY qualified to manage a big club and he is proving it now.

we were all deluded to think this man would get us organised, sorry to say.

at least under roeder, souness or whoever else we could play some football, create chances. with sam we are an embarrassment.

i’d go as far to say this is worse even than gullit’s mess at the start of the 1999-2000 season, and that’s saying something.

to hell with this back the manager nonsense - we’ve waited long enough - not just the past ten years but for 30 years or even more - to get a top manager in.

bar robson and keegan we’ve had to put up with under-qualified managers, big heads who think they’re special like allardyce, and complete jokes like charlton and souness.

why be patient this time? you know sam’s style of football. okay it isn’t all long ball, but his comparisons with chelsea and liverpool were obsolete. they play decent stuff and create chances. we’re doing neither.

if you honest;y think we should back this man and see this style as the future of NUFC then i despair for what lies ahead, i really do.

and shame on fanzines, websites and ex-players who constantly say “back him” when deep down they too know this man isn’t right for our club - his attitude, approach, tactics (or lack of them).

to lose to liverpool is no disgrace. to lose to liverpool like that is absolutely unforgivable. maybe if it had been 8-0 it would have woken more fans up.

sad times.

PS no more “transition” crap either. look at city. it all lies with the qualities of the manager. and our’s is sorely lacking.

By: stevem

stevem — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 09:15:25 +0000

Crikey this must be the worst performance I have witnessed for many a year - are things going to improve - short term I Doubt it, Big Sams Tactics and Team Selections are so baffeling that even his own players dont know(or care)on what role they are expected to perform.

Clearly the midfield is the problem - it offers no support to the strikers and no cover to the defence, Until that is sorted(I would play NZogbia/Barton/Butt/Milner for 10 games)we will get nowhere and any half decent team will be able to take us apart with ease.

The pressure is now on for ‘Big Sam’any more repeats of Saturday and Mr Ashley may be handing him is P45 in the very near future

The next two games will give us a clue on where we are going.

Still - at least the Mackams are still below us - for now.

By: Pedi

Pedi — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 19:32:49 +0000

I was embarrased with what I saw on saturday, the chosen formation was never going to work. The defence were all over the place, nobody was on the right wing at all and the strikers might well have not bothered being out there. I dont have any coaching badges but I could have picked a better balanced side. I fear there is not enough flair/creativity in the squad to be able to play attractive football even when everyone is fit! We have too many similar defensive players, no one in central midfield (like a gerard/lampard…as much as i dislike them) that will get forward and has the killer pass.
In milner and zogbia we have 2 decent wingers, one is on the bench the other a left back, why? Not 1 shot on target either, I find martins very frustrating, gets the ball gets tackled or tries to pass it, normally finding the oppostion. I do feel sorry for him, our top scorer warming the bench while Owen automatically gets picked on no merit. None of our strikers gets stuck in (except smith) but he is now a defender. I agree with Dave, none of our players charged the ball when we were out of possession yet Liverpool did, why?
I thought that big sam was a good appointment at the time but playing players out of position and leaving the better players on the bench is slowly changing my mind. I dont want another manager coming in as we’ll be back to square 1. Who would want it anyway? We’d probably get mclaren.
BS should have more time but be aware that the type of performances we’ve had in the last few games is simply no where near good enough! The long ball over the top is pub team stuff not premier league, its a 1 dimensional attack. Other teams know we have noone that can create goals through the middle or score regular from midfield so mark the strikers out of the game and thats us done! Its a good job other teams are scoring in their own net for us otherwise it’d be even worse!

By: Matthew

Matthew — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 12:28:32 +0000

PS - I think Blackburn away and Arsenal at home will be thrashings. Arsenal especially. They will not be as wasteful as Liverpool in front of goal.

By: Deaco

Deaco — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 12:19:19 +0000

it is clear (like most managers) that Sam feels he has to play his buys especially those that he has talked up (Smith, Geremi). I like both of these players but where they fit into any team I’m not entirely sure. Smith won’t get his game up front and is a good bench player as is Geremi.
The problem lies with the usual and so concisely obvious not to place square pegs in round holes. We have a squad that doesn’t need to do that. Injuries aren’t like they were last season and the squad is bigger. We have players for each position of a 4-4-2 then lets play 4-4-2. Not 3-5-2 or anything else. The players know what they are doing in a 4-4-2.
The reason that people are on Sam’s back is that we should not be expecting to beat Liverpool but surely put on some sort of challenge. It appears that this was purely down to tactics. Where the players poor, yes. But they could’ve been a lot better playing in their normal positions.
It is so obvious that it must be wrong! I don’t know!

By: Matthew

Matthew — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 10:51:53 +0000

When Sam was appointed I was all in favour of it.

I forgave the Derby match as a one off. I forgave the Man City game as an inevitable away defeat at a very good team.

When Sam started commenting that a draw at Reading would be a good result, and the way he set the team up for that, a few questions were provoked in my mind about if he had it right for this game. The result confirmed this.

Then to follow it by thrashings at home to Reading and Liverpool sandwiching a “blush saving” draw at Sunderland…

I eventually forgave the Portsmouth match as the opening 10 minutes were, frankly, a fluke. And a 1-1 draw against Sunderland was a result I would have taken before the game.

But the Liverpool match… I expected to lose this game. But the way we lost it. My god.

The starting formation was a bewildering suicide note. The tactics and substitutions were a total mess and a joke. Now there’s rumors of player discontent.

In short, after how he behaved and what he did on Saturday I have lost confidence that Sam is the man to turn us round. The squad is playing way beneath the sum of its parts as Sam makes one baffling choice after another. Was his work at Bolton a fluke? Is he now being found out?

Sam couldn’t have done things much differently if he actually WANTED to lose. Apart from put an outfield player in goal. Is that next, Sam?

I shall stop short of suggesting “he’s just a fat Makem spy”. For now.

By: Orangina

Orangina — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 10:07:44 +0000

I don’t know why Allardyce bought Smudger. He has to play as a striker or not get picked at all. Mucking about with him because he’s a “utility player” is nothing short of ridiculous, hes no better off than when he was collecting splinters on the bench at Man U at this rate. Allardyce’s football is boring, lacking invention and proving to be a square pegs in round holes exercise most of the time. I am Smudger’s biggest fan, have followed his career, but I do wonder mentally whether somethings not right because he just isn’t doing the business and I fear its like the whole situation with Ferguson all over again, getting shoved in the deep end in positions he shouldn’t even be considered for which slowly eats away at his confidence. A great pity. Mr Allardyce should watch his back!!