Sam Allardyce New England Manager

[Easy 10]

Oh come on, that is such a red herring. In this day and age, coaching staff can get access to all manner of TV and video reruns of matches that would have pointed out Iceland's strengths on set plays. England's failure to deal with those in the Iceland match had precisely nothing to do with Hodgson and Lewington being on a boat at the time Iceland played Austria.

Sorry, but I don't buy that for a second. Watching a rerun on TV is nothing like actually being at the game and PROPERLY scouting an opponent. Its not just about watching the game and following the ball (as thats all the TV coverage does), there's a multitude of little off-the-ball details that any coach worth his salt should be looking out for.

The fact that he was actually in the same city as them when they were playing, but didnt actually deem it worth his time to personally go and scout them, just spoke volumes for Hodgsons overall level or preparation for this tournament. But then he arrived without knowing his best team, his best formation, or his best system, so I suppose we shouldn't be surprised.

 

[Raleigh Chopper]

Depressingly he is just what we need.
But Sam should never have got the job because the blazer will look absolutely ridiculous on him, everyone knows that a well fitted blazer with matching badge and tie is a prerequisite for the job, Alladyce will look like Les Dawson.
The FA have got it all wrong again.

 

[joeinbrighton]

But then he arrived without knowing his best team, his best formation, or his best system, so I suppose we shouldn't be surprised.

The main problem was Hodgson was too easily swayed by who the press seemed to suggest should be playing. Invariably if Alan Shearer said a change should be made for the next game, Hodgson seemed to make that change. You can't manage the England team like that. Not least because the press are fickle and always want whoever the latest flavour of the month is in the team. That is one area where Allardyce won't be susceptible you feel. He's thick-skinned and will go with the courage of his convictions, for better or for worse.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

what a bunch of complete f********g clowns the FA are.

I agree. But tell who else they could have picked? The most worrying thing for me, is that I can't think of anyone better.

 

[Coldeanseagull]

I'm on the yes side of the fence. He may not win anything but it should at least be more entertaining

 

[Icy Gull]

I'd have preferred Hoddle but I can't think of anybody else who might do better than Allardyce.

 

[joeinbrighton]

I'd have preferred Hoddle but I can't think of anybody else who might do better than Allardyce.

Yes, I would've preferred Hoddle myself for the following reasons:

a) He set England up well tactically in his first spell and generally gets his teams to play decent passing football,
b) I think he feels he has some unfinished business from his 1st spell in charge and he is now far older and wiser for the experience and the mistakes he made, and
c) Giving him the manager's job would at least mean not subjecting my ears to him abusing the English language in the ITV commentary box

 

[Easy 10]

The main problem was Hodgson was too easily swayed by who the press seemed to suggest should be playing. Invariably if Alan Shearer said a change should be made for the next game, Hodgson seemed to make that change. You can't manage the England team like that. Not least because the press are fickle and always want whoever the latest flavour of the month is in the team. That is one area where Allardyce won't be susceptible you feel. He's thick-skinned and will go with the courage of his convictions, for better or for worse.

Hodgson got into a muddle. He lacked clarity of thought on tactics and selections. After 4 years in the job and 3 tournaments, to still have no clearly defined core group of players, or a system, was pathetic. It all comes back to preparation - if he had the strength of his convictions, built a team and a system and stuck with it then we'd have had a fighting chance. But he was clueless, and that inevitably meant the team was clueless too.

Allardyce isn't perfect by any means, but he's the best we've got available. And I do believe he is capable of drilling our cossetted thicko footballers into an organised team at least, which is exactly what we need right now. It still probably won't be enough, but I'm confident we WILL see an improvement in our performances and results under him.

 

[Raleigh Chopper]

Yes, I would've preferred Hoddle myself for the following reasons:

a) He set England up well tactically in his first spell and generally gets his teams to play decent passing football,
b) I think he feels he has some unfinished business from his 1st spell in charge and he is now far older and wiser for the experience and the mistakes he made, and
c) Giving him the manager's job would at least mean not subjecting my ears to him abusing the English language in the ITV commentary box

d) He's a basket case.

 

[Doc Lynam]

Exactly. Allardyce is known for his meticulous preparation. He certainly would not have been out on a cuffing BOAT TRIP in Paris while Iceland (only our potential opponents) were playing Austria down the road in that final group game.

The sheer snobbery surrounding the Allardyce appointment from some people is astonishing. Considering the series of tinpot basketcase clubs he's been in charge of in the PL, a win ratio of 33% and zero relegations deserves respect. But no, lets get some random Carlos Fandango in, who won a Copa America once, or something. Yeah THAT'LL work.

I think some people want different things from an England team, for me it should be the best expression of the beautiful game that we can muster and if we click we should do well. Sam will make us click but the football will be so myopic and redundant it'll make us question whats the point of winning if we play like that! I fear we have taken two steps back, just imagine playing Spain with Sam at the helm!!!
This appointment shows no forward thinking and path for the future.

 

[joeinbrighton]

d) He's a basket case.

The England job makes a basket case of everyone eventually.

 

[gregbrighton]

What a crap appointment.

 

[dejavuatbtn]

He won't take shit from players, the press nor the FA. Although I haven't been his greatest fan, I think he has more about him now than lumping it, and he's probably just what we need at the moment.

 

[Easy 10]

I think some people want different things from an England, team for me it should be the best expression of the beautiful game that we can muster and if we click we should do well. Sam will make us click but the football will be so myopic and redundant it'll make us question whats the point of winning if we play like that! I fear we have taken two steps back, just imagine playing Spain with Sam at the helm!!!

We've been trying to out-Spain Spain for years now. We've never had the players who are comfortable enough in possession to do that. Our domestic game is built around intense 100mph physical football. To expect Englands players to show up at tournaments be able to slow that down and stroke it around like the best sides on the continent is naive and fanciful. We're not Spain, or France. We should play to our own strengths, not try to mimic others. And that doesn't just mean "hoofball" - Allardyce will recognise that he has some players with skill and guile - its his job now to devise a system whereby they can operate and flourish within a defined system of play. Thats what we've been lacking.

 

[fleet]

If he can get the team spirit like he has in club football and then adapt tactics to the player strengths and not adapt players to fit a system - he may do OK.

 

[joeinbrighton]

We've been trying to out-Spain Spain for years now. We've never had the players who are comfortable enough in possession to do that. Our domestic game is built around intense 100mph physical football. To expect Englands players to show up at tournaments be able to slow that down and stroke it around like the best sides on the continent is naive and fanciful.

I actually think England have, on the whole, made quite good progress in recent years in terms of keeping possession. The problem it seemed at the Euros was that they didn't seem to quite know when to play the killer pass that would create a clear-cut chance and so this meant the tempo was too pedestrian, perhaps not helped by a shortage of genuine pace and width on the flanks. Then against Iceland when they were closed down, even making a simple 5 yard pass seemed beyond them, which was no other reason than panic setting in.

If England had a Luka Modric style lock-picking midfield playmaker at their disposal who can pick passes from deep, that would make a whole lot of difference to them and would enable them to be more effective playing a passing game.

 

[Stato]

I'm not sure that comparison works. He is used to getting the best out of limited groups of players, getting them to play above the sum of their parts. He isn't needing to fire fight with England at all as he has the opposite problem. Talented players who underachieve when the pressure is on as a group who seem to freeze mentally. That's not to say that Allardyce isn't capable of sorting that, but it is a different scenario to the one he has mainly been faced with as a manager up to now.

Teams get into relegation trouble for different reasons. Newcastle in 2015/16 could be seen as being talented players who under achieved when the pressure was on. They definitely were the last time they were relegated. They wouldn't have been relegated either time with SA in charge. They were eleventh when they sacked him.

Whatever reason a team finds itself in trouble, I would imagine that Allardyce's response would be the same: work as a group, have team goals, ensure that players know their jobs and expect them to take individual responsibility, find a way of playing and the players that suit the style, but be tactically flexible where circumstances require it. Achieving this would improve England.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

d) He's a basket case.

e) he hasn't managed anything for years.

 

[Raleigh Chopper]

We've been trying to out-Spain Spain for years now. We've never had the players who are comfortable enough in possession to do that. Our domestic game is built around intense 100mph physical football. To expect Englands players to show up at tournaments be able to slow that down and stroke it around like the best sides on the continent is naive and fanciful. We're not Spain, or France. We should play to our own strengths, not try to mimic others. And that doesn't just mean "hoofball" - Allardyce will recognise that he has some players with skill and guile - its his job now to devise a system whereby they can operate and flourish within a defined system of play. Thats what we've been lacking.

I could not agree more with that.
I have been saying for years that if we can play our domestic game on the international field there are not many that could live with it.
Trouble is that we would need to control the speed of the game from the start and if the opposition slow it down when they have possession we would need to pick it up again, not an easy thing to do over 90 minutes especially against great passing sides who know how to hold possession for large parts of the game.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Why do we import so many players, and so few English players play abroad? - it can't only be that foreign players are cheaper. how come they are more skillful and adaptable?

The theory that the English game is so much more physical and fast doesn't hold water, as if that was the case few foreign players would survive.

If it just that English players are generally crap by comparison?

(JFK was playing reasonable regularly for the Engand U21s but can't hold a place in a Championship side)