Nick Hornby once described George Graham as a wise father-figure. Whilst many Arsenal fans pleaded for brighter football, and were baffled by his decisions, George calmly imposed his own ideas, knowing full well that the road to success was often an ugly one, and there was no point in trying to please people along the way. Arsenal ground their way to two league titles, and of course no-one complained. Our relationship with Big Sam may be on similar lines.

The 1-0 win on Saturday mirrored the other performances that have brought us two wins, two draws and no defeats. The defence is solid, the midfield is organised and while the football is hardly spectacular, the players have the relaxed air of playing to a plan that they believe in.

Like German teams of old, we kept to our pattern from first minute to last, and patience was rewarded. It was very much the sort of game that we could have lost. Complete domination, no goals, and everyone can start to think that it’s just not our day. Someone then takes an unnecessary risk, and the game is lost. If nothing else, Allardyce has instilled some real composure and professionalism into the team.

It looked to me like a typical Michael Owen performance. He missed a couple of fairly easy chances, but that’s par for the course. I’ve always felt that his conversion rate wasn’t that good, partly because anything falling on his left foot is liable to be scuffed. But he has always been great at reading the game and getting into the right position a split second before his marker, and so it proved. He darted to the near post at just the right time to nod in Martins’ inviting cross.

Cacapa looks like a great signing. He looks quick and strong enough to deal with most situations, and most importantly, he has an air of calm authority about him. Since the departure of Woodgate, we’ve lacked a real leader at the back, but he really seems to fit the bill.

The midfield looked as dogged as ever, but lacked pace. That was supplied by Zoggy, who produced a number of surging runs that took him through the Wigan midfield. He does look good attacking from full back, where he has the time to take the ball without pressure, spot a gap and accelerate into the space beyond. He wasn’t really tested in defence, but it’s clear that he’s growing in confidence and may yet hold down his place despite the signing of Enrique.

The midfield trio of Geremi, Butt and Smith has been criticised for a lack of creativity. Well, that may be true, but does Allardyce have better options at the moment, in the absence of Barton and Emre? I’d say no. Rather than complaining, perhaps we should be thinking that if Allardyce can get results with that trio, how much better will it be when Barton supplies that extra bit of attacking threat.

Judging from this and our previous games, we’re becoming a side that other teams don’t particularly want to face, rather like the old Bolton. We’re prepared to give the opposition a hard time, and look much more mentally strong than previous teams, going right back to the Keegan days.

It’s clear that Allardyce has convinced his players that his way is the right way. I’m certainly not going to argue.