Sam Allardyce is a pragmatic man, he has made his career in the game as a sensible centre-back and he has continued his rise to the top by talking endless amounts of sense. He values the common sensical approach to the game as he values his data sheets and his ice-fridge. He has sensibly started building from the back, he talks a good game and he understands the motivational and communicative needs of the players, after all he has proper coaching badges - he even brings a glint to the eye of the FA when the England job is mulled. So as Toon supports we are just beginning to ask ourselves how and why he continues to mis-read the teams needs on the pitch away from home?

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Word is spreading like wildfire that the mini-maestro Deco (Eduard Gonazales Etudendiates Vasco de Gama Suarez Soduku) is heading for the toon for a medical this week. Phones have been ‘off da hook’ reagarding these developments and leading officiando sites are carrying the story. There is no smoke without fire they say and we all wait with baited breadth for fruther developments. As they say in Spain: “Primero fue Gudjohnsen, después Edmilson pese a estar lesionado, y ahora le ha tocado el turno a Deco.” Roughly translated in my Cerveza ordering Spanish that means that Earth God Ashley and his cohorts have reavealed their interest for these players of proven quality and although Deco is currently the talk of the toon, I wouldn’t discount the appearance of the Nordic warrrior Gudjohnsen either with Edmilson injury worries deferring any agreement till Janurary.

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Sam is sending out the unmistakable signal that solidity and firmness of will are his first priorities this summer and romance must take a back seat. The signings of Viduka and Barton are the heavy undercoat brushstrokes of his masterpiece. Big swathes of heavy mottled earthy colours applied first, the blue sky will have to wait.

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Over the last week as Big Sam has swapped his mobile for a desk phone and as N.O. can reveal a longish conversation with Mr Ashley, the strained links of the two dozen or so players said to be targets is beginning to solidify. The white melting heat of the shock takeover and the raised hopes of the toon faithful is about to start seeing some product with regard to signatures which I hear will be coming thick and fast.

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Freddy Shepherd will never be a ‘Horse Whisperer’ for it is a kind of art that involves adopting an intuitive and sensitive approach. It is a metaphor for leadership that is more in tune with uncertainty and slowly developing trust to overcome these variables. It is a skill that is as much based in knowing yourself as knowing the foibles of the animal.

The horse whisperer is in many ways at a huge disadvantage when attempting to control a horse; the animal is a huge beast, sometimes it is highly strung, its patience fragile, its wants ever changing.

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