Sam Allardyce is growing on me

[Giraffe]

I used to hate the man with a passion, thinking him a disgusting loathsome sort of Steve Evans man. However since he has been appointed England manager I have listened to him speak on a number of occasions and he is growing on me. Talks a lot of sense, has a certain way about him that suggests there is a lot more to him than the big bravado that he is generally seen as. I also think he is a lot more intelligent than most people give him credit for (me included).

What is also clear is that he has a massive passion for the job, and was clearly hurt and disappointed when he missed out before.

I think he may do very well.

 

[Stat Brother]

like a gravy stain at an all you can eat carvery.

 

[Icy Gull]

I used the hate the man with a passion, thinking him a disgusting loathsome sort of Steve Evans man. However since he has been appointed England manager I have listened to him speak on a number of occasions and he is growing on me. Talks a lot of sense, has a certain way about him that suggests there is a lot more to him than the big bravado that he is generally seen as. I also think he is a lot more intelligent than most people give him credit for (me included).

What is also clear is that he has a massive passion for the job, and was clearly hurt and disappointed when he missed out before.

I think he may do very well.

His teams are fighters and he takes no shit, what's not to like?

 

[The Sock of Poskett]

You can get ointment for that.

(Actually, I think he'll do OK)

 

[scooter1]

Alladerdyce may galvanise the players, but to a man they're still not good enough

 

[moggy]

Mike Bassett eat yer heart out

 

[beorhthelm]

ive never understood the dislike for Allardyce. been a major innovator and adopter of sport science in football, covering game analysis and food.

 

[Me and my Monkey]

His teams are fighters and he takes no shit, what's not to like?

Well, if he can turn an England team into a team of fighters, I'd be astonished and be first in the queue to demand his knighthood.

 

[dazzer6666]

I used the hate the man with a passion, thinking him a disgusting loathsome sort of Steve Evans man. However since he has been appointed England manager I have listened to him speak on a number of occasions and he is growing on me. Talks a lot of sense, has a certain way about him that suggests there is a lot more to him than the big bravado that he is generally seen as. I also think he is a lot more intelligent than most people give him credit for (me included).

What is also clear is that he has a massive passion for the job, and was clearly hurt and disappointed when he missed out before.

I think he may do very well.

Absolutely loads of ex pros, fellow managers etc coming out and saying he's a great choice - very few I've heard saying otherwise. He can't be any worse than the last half a dozen.

 

[Mackenzie]

ive never understood the dislike for Allardyce. been a major innovator and adopter of sport science in football, covering game analysis and food.

Yep he was one of the first to use these methods. I guess lots of people have never got past his fat northerner looks or actually listened to the things he says.

Still he's got a new platform now.

 

[Hillian1]

He will fail.

Not because of his passion, knowledge of the game, his foresight to introduce sport scientists.

But simply because our players are not good enough.

 

[Me and my Monkey]

He will fail.

Not because of his passion, knowledge of the game, his foresight to introduce sport scientists.

But simply because our players are not good enough.

But they are good enough. Sadly, no matter how much they deny it, they simply don't care enough.

 

[Easy 10]

I used the hate the man with a passion, thinking him a disgusting loathsome sort of Steve Evans man. However since he has been appointed England manager I have listened to him speak on a number of occasions and he is growing on me. Talks a lot of sense, has a certain way about him that suggests there is a lot more to him than the big bravado that he is generally seen as. I also think he is a lot more intelligent than most people give him credit for (me included).

What is also clear is that he has a massive passion for the job, and was clearly hurt and disappointed when he missed out before.

I think he may do very well.

I think there's been a phenomenal amount of snobbery shown by some fans when it comes to Allardyce getting the England job. People sneering at the fact he's never won anything (like he was ever going to have a chance of that at the clubs he's been at), labeling him as nothing but a hoof merchant, which is lazy nonsense. He was absolutely my no1 choice for the job after muddled old Roy toddled off to his bathchair. He's exactly what our thicko footballers need - a man with a clear plan, and with the nouse to firmly drill it into their dense, carefully coiffeured heads.

We still won't win anything, but we have a far better chance of getting balls-deep into a tournament now.

 

[Whitley Bayster]

But they are good enough. Sadly, no matter how much they deny it, they simply don't care enough.

And there's the chink of hope. Is Sam the man to inspire that pride and passion. He might just have the right blend of blood and glory and tactical astuteness to break the cycle of failure. Fingers crossed as watching England has become heartbreaking

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

He will fail.

Not because of his passion, knowledge of the game, his foresight to introduce sport scientists.

But simply because our players are not good enough.

You base that on history I presume. But we *ought* to not fail, not relentlessly so, decade after decade. I don't blame the players particularly. It is more the whole set up; the national sense of entitlement, the cynical or hysterical media, the suboptimal managers (the last one looked like a rabbit caught in car headlights) - except for Venables - and the self-regarding top-heavy FA.

Hopefully Sam, with all the hard work and need to earn a crust behind him, with his skill set, relaxed yet determined . . . there is a chance..

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

Big Sam and I have a mutual friend (a resident of Florida who grew up in Bolton and got to know him when he played there) so I knew from a while back that there was a bit more about him than most people suspected, but what convinced me of his football brain is what he did in (I think) a League Cup tie just after the new offside law had come in, with all the nonsense about phases of play.

At the time, Bolton had several similar-looking players, and Sam had spotted that the weak link in the whole 'phases of play' system was the linesman. So for every attacking free kick, he put two or more of these guys on the goal-line. Defenders didn't mark them, because they felt they must be offside. By the time the ball was flicked on, they had rushed back onside, while others had now taken their places. But of course the linesman had to try to remember which of these big blokes in white had been onside in which phase - an almost impossible task. I think they got a couple of goals that way.

One thing's for sure - England will never go into a game without a plan under Sam.

 

[GT49er]

I used to hate the man with a passion, thinking him a disgusting loathsome sort of Steve Evans man. However since he has been appointed England manager I have listened to him speak on a number of occasions and he is growing on me. Talks a lot of sense, has a certain way about him that suggests there is a lot more to him than the big bravado that he is generally seen as. I also think he is a lot more intelligent than most people give him credit for (me included).

What is also clear is that he has a massive passion for the job, and was clearly hurt and disappointed when he missed out before.

I think he may do very well.

Welcome to the club. Some of us have recognised for years that despite appearances he is a progressive, intelligent and resourceful manager, well up to the level of some of the continental superstar managers that now populate much of the PL. That Bolton team of his, with Jay-Jay Okocha and co. in was way ahead of its time, and it is one that I'd have paid good money to go and watch, had that been practical for me at the time.
Some of the vitriol he gets from some people is just pathetic.
As an England manager, of course, he will ultimately fail - but it won't be all down to him when that happens!

 

[Wilko]

I predict he will do pretty well to start with and we will qualify for the WC pretty well. Then we will be utter crap in the tournament failing to beat mediocre teams. It does not matter who we put in charge of England it is the same result time after time.

 

[Hampster Gull]

Dont succumb to the "it'll be better this time"

 

[fleet]

In a results business he has nothing to beat in tournament football! He was my choice from the day Roy departed. I think he can do well.