There has been an incredible amount of criticism this week aimed at manager Sam Allardyce from some West Ham fans on social media, as well as masses of articles telling us how the club should sack Big Sam following the defeat to Crystal Palace last Saturday. Others have already been lining up all the possible replacements for currently the 3rd longest serving manager the Premier League clubs.
I think it is about time that those supporters calling for his head should take a step back and think about the logic of what they are saying. Too many times this week I have read phrases along the lines of ‘I’d take anyone but Sam’, ‘he needs to go now’ and ‘the last three years have been the worst football I have ever witnessed at West Ham’. Really?
Aside from the fact that Allardyce took us to the Premier League at the first time of asking, finished a highly respectable 10th place in the table in the first season back, and we are currently in the mid-table positions again this campaign, almost certainly out of relegation danger after an injury plagued season in which we also reached the Capital One Cup semi-finals. I think we all need a reminder of what things were really like before Allardyce in recent history, and bring some better perspective onto his reign.
What was it that was so much better about the years preceding Allardyce’s tenure? Avram Grant’s season in charge the year before Sam took over, where we were relegated after finishing bottom of the league after winning just seven games? Gianfranco Zola, who the year before Grant scraped survival with just 35 points after finishing in 9th place in the previous season? Or before him Alan Curbishley, who blew a huge budget on largely ageing and injury prone players, achieving a mid-table place after the memorable ‘great escape’ the year before that?
Then of course we come to Alan Pardew, who is still vaunted by much of the Hammers support. Apparently he to is so much better than Allardyce, after two seasons in the Championship when we just about scraped a place in the Play-offs, gaining promotion in the second of those. The next season was indeed memorable and exciting, finishing in 9th place and reaching the FA Cup final, where we cruelly lost to Liverpool.
The following campaign he was replaced halfway through, with a divided squad and turmoil caused by the bizarre signings of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano.
I don’t think I even need to describe the reign of Glenn Roeder before Pardew.
I have rather nerdily worked out that in the 11 years from the end of Harry Redknapp’s tenure to the start of Allardyce’s, our average Premier League finishing position is 13th place. This is from eight years of Premier League football, two of which ended in relegation, and the other three years spent in the Championship. From this, can we honestly say that any of those managers achieved more than what Allardyce has done in his time in charge?
Then of course, there is the argument that Big Sam plays the most boring football, and that the lack of entertainment on display is the real reason why he should not be in the job at Upton Park. Personally, I think that the football served up by the Hammers in Allardyce’s time in charge hasn’t been anywhere near as dull as some try to make us believe. There have been plenty of memorable matches of which I can remember. Of course there have been some very dull ones as well, but I find it strange that so many seem to think we all had such a wonderful time watching West Ham play in the years preceding Allardyce.
Was getting relegated and watching the side concede 70 – yes 70 goals in one season under Grant fun to watch, or conceding 66 the year before under Zola and finishing in 17th? Did Curbishley have us playing free flow attacking football during his reign? I must have missed that if he did. Did we have a great time watching academy players of the quality of Joe Cole, Michael Carrick, Glen Johnson and Jermain Defoe get relegated under Roeder?
I know what I prefer watching. At least now we have a team that always works hard, is well organised, has a good spirit about them and will generally compete against everyone we play against. The same cannot be said of all those eras I have just mentioned.
And if we did sack Allardyce, who exactly is it who going to step into the hot-seat, delivering all action free-flowing football as well as getting the results the club needs as many demand?
Is it wise to take a risk on a manager with no Premier League experience, like Slaven Bilic, or someone who hasn’t managed for a long period of time such as Glenn Hoddle? Or a Michael Laudrup, who had one good year – just like Glenn Roeder it must be added. Some now seem to be getting excited about the availability of David Moyes. He is a good manager, but since when has he been famed for his attacking style of play?
Allardyce has made his share of mistakes in his time at the club, but has ultimately achieved everything that was asked of him. This season has been a disappointment in many ways, but a lot of that has been down to injuries, and the fact that we did not strengthen the squad enough in the summer, mainly because of the huge sum spent on Andy Carroll, which was understandable. Yet we are 12th in the table and reached the League Cup semi-finals, as well as humbling Spurs twice on their own patch. So it hasn’t been all bad.
I say stick with him, back him in the transfer window, and give him the opportunity to build on the stability we currently have. Hopefully before long we will be in a better position to make the kind of signings to provide us with the results and football that we all so desire.
James totally agree with your comments. But now wait to be slagged off by all and sundry !!!!
Me too. I would like to add thank you to the chairmen for sticking with him.
I think the main problem is the style of play. Currently there is no inspiration in the squad that sam has built and his tactics are fairly one dimensional. Apart from watching 3 back to back 4-0 defeats under (curbishley?) this season has been awful to watch. Previously we have played with passion and pride, even when we got relegated, we played football and ultimately that is the west ham way. I dont suppose we will ever achieve a top four finish in this lifetime or the next but as long as the players play with pride and passion, that is good enough for me regardless of how many times we float up and down. We have had some bad luck but the overall performances have been painstaking alot of the time. Pardew was a good manager, yes we got promoted by the playoffs but thats also how we got promoted with allardici. I still think given the time he would have changed things around. The main culprits during his tenure have to be the interfering icelandic board. Curbs is most similar to allardyce in that he played one dimensional football and had little knowledge of worldwide football outside his little bubble. Zola was just turning the ship around when he got sacked, He played good football. Avram grant from the minute he sold diamanti it was one bad decision after the next. He played horrible football and the team was rightly relegated. Ulimately we need some change.
Hi I would add that the style of play is systematic of the limitations of the quality in the 1st team/squad. In that we have to play at 100% to achieve any decent results! When we drop below that or we have to bring in players because of injury we suffer both in style and performance. However this still doesn’t excuse some of the truly woeful performances this season. But I still believe the club is on course for the OS, the reduction of nearly 100mil of debt is testimony to this. BS has largely done what he has been asked to do. It hasn’t always been pretty but he has succeeded with one hand tied behind his back. For all this he should get the benefit of the doubt.Next season will be different! He simply must step up and deliver! Everything is riding on BS getting it right and delivering a team, a squad and the style of play that are fit to grace the OS! COYI!
James I am not going to slag you but agree with you!!! The only thing I will caution against is that although we are far better off under BS some of the games this year have been terrible to watch! Unfortunately some of these were when we were on the up and fans were really looking forward to seeing us play, hull, toffees away spring to mind! This has led to some disappointed comments you might not have normally heard. Plus the usual rubbish from those who don’t like BS anyway! Lol. But apart from that you are spot on! We have had a torrid time this year, what with one thing and another but we are still premier league and should be looking forward to next year! Improving the team/squad and getting the club ready for the move to the OS is now of vital importance and something I for one are really looking forward too! These are exciting times ahead and I just don’t get those who can’t share in the excitement! COYI!
I think you are having a bit of a laugh playing devils advocate with the poor souls of the West Ham persuasion…..?
Now it’s true that BFS isn’t the worst manager West Ham have ever had, or the best, and I think you’ll find 99% of fans, real fans who watch the games, would agree with that.
However, you ‘argument’ leaves a lot of ‘details’ missing and opinion and conjecture stated as fact.
The facts are relegation under the hopeless and shambolic Avram Grant, was uglier than anything I’ve experienced as a West Ham fan.
Gianfranco Zola (And Steve Clarke of course, who was invaluable in that team) took on a job that had all the promises of funds for the squad, but then found the Icelanders had gone belly up and his best players were sold without his consent… leaving him to play the kids, giving debuts to such luminaries as Zavon Hines and Junior Stanislas
Alan Curbishley is probably the most unheralded West Ham manager in history, he took over a troubled squad and ‘saved’ them, but then his squad spent the virtually entire season injured, at one point he had 11 first team players injured, and managed a top ten finish!
OK you can argue he bought injury prone players, but what player hasn’t ever been injured??
He was unlucky, and a fairly healthy West Ham started the season 6 points from 3 games in 5th place, when the board again started selling his best players behind his back, making his position untenable. another shocking board decision….
Pardew did at least bring passion and excitement, and results were decent without being phenomenal. But he seems to out live his welcome pretty quickly wherever he goes?
Glenda, well again injured squad, no depth at striker, forced to start a Centreback up front for a crunch period, but he again managed a top ten his first year, and people were lauding his management and not harping on about ‘Arry Redknapp -Wheeler-dealer extraordinare!
Lets face it, the boardroom decisions have been largely to blame, the fact that football is more about money than anything else, and the introduction of numerous Billionaires into the game have all played their part against West Ham as a club.
So whilst BFS is not the worst manager of the last 11 years, he has not endeared himself to the fans or provided watch-able football (Just the Hull game tells us that?)
So that is my tuppence worth, take it or stick it!?
Well put James ! my sentiment exactly .
I see your not bothering to take account of transfer budget available to those managers mentioned. Perhaps you should try to consider more than one factor when spunking your half-baked opinions out into cyberspace.
Agree 100%, couldn’t have put it any better myself. Whether people like it or not, Big Sam is the best manager we’ve had in years. I cant tell you how bad we used to play, letting in laughable goals and just not turning up at times. Although we HAVE had some bad games, who was the last manager to beat Chelsea and then Spurs at WHL the following season? That alone is priceless
Thank you for the comments everyone. I’m very glad to hear there are plenty of us who can look at the wider picture of Allardyces reign rather than a few matches lately that Hes been getting so much stick for. He’s by no means perfect and can be very arrogant at times but I believe hes much better than we’ve had for a good while, and I certainly don’t see a better alternative at this moment in time. Lets at least see how he does after spending some money this transfer window. COYI
Because he’s spent so well in the previous windows…
It’s not a few games though is it? The majority of performances have been abject. We were lucky in feburary, we didn’t deserve to beat Norwich nor Hull. I personally think Southampton out played us as well. Great we are staying up. No one is questioning Allardyce’s ability to keep us in the prem but the football on show. He has had a fully fit squad for a few months now; he specifically said judge him when the squad is fit. Well the squad is fit and the quality of football is horrendous. You’ve glossed over why everyone is upset and thus haven’t addressed the actual issue.
Great stuff. Finally an article that is not just scaremongering journalism. Sam has steadied a sinking ship, and we all no the second season is harder than the first.
Add 3 quality first team players, have at least 2 centre backs fit over the christmas and new year period and we’ll have a much better season next campaign!
All sounds great…until Carroll gets injured. Or when we come up against a team that can keep him quiet.
No one is questioning what he has achieved with us. The anger comes from the style of football. There is no reason we couldn’t play better football and still achieve the same amount of success. How do you not see that as important?
The problem is I don’t enjoy watching my team play football anymore. I can’t live with that and certainly am not going to spend £1000 on a season ticket to watch the kind of football currently on show.
You also fail to recognise the amount of funds that have been made available to Sam during his reign, which is much greater than previous managers. The amount he has spent he should of put together a much better team that is at least capable of a plan B! I will always support my team but I used to be do proud of West Hams reputation…but unfortunately that’s not the case anymore.
So your argument seems to be that because we have had a succession of really poor managerial appointments (pardew aside), we should stick with “Sam the safe pair of hands” who were it not for some terrible teams in the league this year would have us in serious relegation trouble. Not to mention the fact that he has had a far greater transfer budget then previous managers including Curbishley, and these have by and large been failures. Were it not for Winston Reid, Mark Noble and James Tomkins this team would be in serious trouble.
FFS, is everyone forgetting the loyal hard working fans and there kids that spent there time and money going to the forest game, and what we were served up there by BFS , and did we as fans deserve that ? I think not i have no intention off going to another away game until BFS has gone.
I find it odd that, given the title of this post, only 7 lines are about Pardew. Let’s face it, Tevez and Mascherano were not the reasons that the squad was divided and he got the boot. However It’s not relevant to now so I’ll leave that there. What is relevant is that he took the reigns, got us up, finished ninth and did it by playing some decent football. But you can’t judge a manager purely on his achievements when he ran our team years ago. What he’s done for Newcastle, on a similar budget to ours, under the muppet that is Ashley, is remarkable. They are 9 full points ahead of us and their fans haven’t had to watch the desperate quality of football all season that we have been subjected to at the Boleyn. All Pardew’s problems appear to be in his personal behaviour. As a manager, he was great for us, great for Newkie and I reckon he could do it for us again.
Are you on glue? Pardew is the worst manager going. He has a squad full of top players who he has managed to turn into plodders. If he had Messi at his disposal he would play him as a centre back ffs. Please take the Muppet!
Agreed James…. Straight Facts and Common Sense don’t seem to matter to many of our finest. But my dad brought me up to realise actions speak louder than words and if some who call themselves supporters (Supporters….Encourage, according to the Oxford Dictionary) want to stay away, thats up to them. When Chelski play 19th Century football or park the bus…… You don’t hear those supporters complaining….Needs must at times.
Apparently 50M over three years is major money for a manager of West Ham (a fair bit spent outside of the premiership). For many premiership clubs 2 or 3 players cost that pre-season!!!
The MAJOR thing that has upset me at times over the last 45 years is the fact that we were ALWAYS a Soft Touch, always the charge of the light brigade, style over substance, win 3 – 0 one week and get beaten 4 – 2 the next week. BS is building a firmer base that will (with additions) give us style as well as steel. The same hypocrites that spout the nonsense about our kids are good enough “Why doesn’t he give them a chance!” are there screaming that he let the kids down by playing them against Forest (and throughout the cup rounds, they forgot that part) . They’re also the same faceless hypocrites, who probably stood with banners saying Lyall out!
West Ham managers notoriously NEVER have the funds to do a proper job, but our current chairmen are trying to change that by moving our club to the next level.
This isn’t Chelski or Citeh, Don’t be hasty and try to calm down. Patience, common sense and understanding is required right now!
COYI
Hey Cat, you are just wasting your time trying to reason with these people. It’s like banging your head against a brick wall, so why bother. Let them just go & lay their eggs somewhere. Stuff the pretty play for the time being, that’s what I say. I too have watched charge of the light brigade stuff at West Ham & for what (Since the mid 60s I might add. This is no spring chicken talking here)? Up one week, down the next. With our opponents, who we play tomorow, we tried open play with them just after Xmas, & yeah sure, we scored 3 goals but they opened us up & also scored 3 goals & very nearly won. All that effort & just 1 point (very nearly no points). I’m telling you now, Sam won’t be playing that same way tomorow. He’ll shut up shop, and there’s agood chance we’ll get a result. I don’t care how much poxy negative football he puts out tomorow. If he gets a result, we’re on course for the OS & he’s my man. If you don’t like it everyone then stop your whinging whinging & bore the pants of someone else, OR change your nappies, take 2 aspirins & take yourselves of to bed. Get off of Sams back, because your whinging is boring me shitless!!!
Hey Cat, you are just wasting your time trying to reason with these people. It’s like banging your head against a brick wall, so why bother. Let them just go & lay their eggs somewhere. Stuff the pretty play for the time being, that’s what I say. I too have watched charge of the light brigade stuff at West Ham & for what (Since the mid 60s I might add. This is no spring chicken talking here)? Up one week, down the next. With our opponents, who we play tomorow, we tried open play with them just after Xmas, & yeah sure, we scored 3 goals but they opened us up & also scored 3 goals & very nearly won. All that effort & just 1 point (very nearly no points). I’m telling you now, Sam won’t be playing that same way tomorow. He’ll shut up shop, and there’s agood chance we’ll get a result. I don’t care how much poxy negative football he puts out tomorow. If he gets a result, we’re on course for the OS & he’s my man. If you don’t like it everyone then stop your whinging whinging & bore the pants of someone else, OR change your nappies, take 2 aspirins & take yourselves of to bed. Get off of Sams back, because your whinging is boring me sh*tless!!!
Well you’re easy to please JB. Aim low get LOW. Same old pathetic argument from the Sam noshers. ‘Things have been worse before’ ‘we have had worse managers’ etc etc etc ….. yawn.
Its about time we move forward as a club. Sam did well to get us promoted, did well with a comfortable finish first season back in the prem (all achieved with some pretty cr@p football I might add) but that is when he should of parted ways with west ham. Has us playing probably the worst football in the prem and will take us nowhere apart from just surviving and you support the ignorant w@nker. It beggars belief.
Thanks JB, I’m glad I’m Not the only one that can see things in their true perspective. All we all want is safety tomorrow…… Thats all. But it’s not just under BS’s reign, many supposed supporters seem to be willing disaster on the team and club JUST to be proved right. In my eyes they are Not supporters and they can trundle off to join the spuds for all I care, because it’s a well known fact that spuds supporters are BITTER supporters of their club and probably the reason that their chairman Levy (?%@!) follows their lead and with the repeated dismissals at the club the reason why they are ALWAYS in a state of flux……….NO STABILITY!
3 points tomorrow would be a great start.
I’ve got nothing against younger supporters but I realise adults shouldn’t argue with children as it’s understood that you should be aware that they haven’t got the depth knowledge and to get into an argument just makes us codgers look foolish. Remember their names and read their comments when this club starts moving forward!
COYI
Yeah that’s right Cat, the kids are fickle allright & at Fulham they’re onto No 3, & they were even gonna sack him until they got a couple of wins on the bounce. It takes time to make a fine wine. Oh & I remember up until the last few weeks of last season, these same so called West Ham fans had the knives out for Sam then as well. All the same dramas were going on with everyone thinking we were doomed, but Sam held his nerve, got us up to 10th, & then all of a sudden he was everyones hero. Short memories people have, that’s what I say.
Now is not the time to change a manager anyway. If West Ham’s owners want to change the manager, then let them do that when we are in the OS. It is always a knee jerk reaction to do that if the club are at a low point. I like the timing Fergusson used to hand over to Moyes. He handed over when the club were at the top. You could see that this modern age of players had even stopped playing for Fergusson. That’s why he got out, because he could see that his players thought that they were more important than the club, and so his successor had the almost impossible job of trying to bring these players into line, but they wouldn’t, no they wouldn’t play for David either, so it’s alway the manager who gets the sack & not his unruly players, & even then David scored a 50% win ratio. Even Sir Alex only scored a 60% win ration. Matt Busby only got 49%. No, it’s this Premier League status which leaves every club’s owners & their fans expecting too much. You look at all the once mighty clubs that West Ham are now over. Out of 92 proffessional clubs West Ham currently sit 12th. When West Ham hand over to the next manager, it should be on good terms, when the club is doing well, when we are in a 54,000 seater arena & in a much better possition financially to restructure. It wasn’t so long ago that the footballing world accepted that West Ham were an established top 8 or top 10 side. Yes, back in the 60s & 70s. There were only 4 top established London sides, being Arsenal, Tottenham, West Ham & Chelsea, yes in that order. Chelsea only won their 1st FA cup in 1970, sure they were one off Champions in 1955, but up untill 40 or so years ago West Ham were up there with, or just below, the Manchester clubs, The Liverpool clubs, the top 3 London clubs & a couple of other Northern clubs. For 20 years from 1958 untill 1978, West Ham were never in any danger of relegation UNTILL MONEY became too important. WE are going to re-take our rightfull place back up in the higher echelons of the footballing community & we are not gonig to shoot ourselves in the foot by treating Sam like a piece of discarded rubbish after he has showed total devotion to our club by dropping down to the pits of the Championship to drag us back up. Damned well show him some respect will those of you with yours knives out!!!
We can still be relegated Cat, how is that an improvement? how is that stability?
Same old condescending b0ll0cks I see, ‘I am old’, ‘I have supported West Ham for longer than you’… bore off will you
You stay stuck in the past, accepting sh1t football because historically that’s the West Ham way. There will be no progression if everyone thought like you.
So can Villa & Lambert. Is he to be sacked as well, don’t give us your crap mate!!! What does it matter if you became a fan when Allison was captain or Moore. We are not talking senority here we are talking common sense. Sam is better than half of the managers in this league. I couldn’t see Pardew being recommended for the England job, now blo*dy well deny Sam wasn’t being touted for it. If everyone acted like you we’d be down in League 1
DF deluded???……You bet!
More importantly the responsible owners of the club would never listen to deluded nonsense like the kind that your spouting. In fact I know one football club where the owner not only listens to nonsense like the kind people like you spout, this owner also acts upon this sort of nonsense, his name is Daniel Levy! Maybe that club would be a better fit for you.
Look, all’s we’ve got to focus on, is getting a win tomorow. If we do that & Norwich fail to win at Old Trafford, then it’s over, we are safe. Now with playing a team that has only won 6 games all season, then I’d say there is a fairly good chance of that happening, and yes, I was keen on Alan Pardew before, but after all of his latest antics, then in comparison to Sam, then Sam will do a lot better than Pardew thanks very much. Pardew himself admitted that once Dean Ashston started getting injured, he was finished at West Ham. West Ham’s main problem this season was Andy Carroll being injured, but even so, it’s looking like we have a very good chance of surviving that. In that regard Sam has done a really good job, so keep your spirits up folks & cheer the lads home tomorow eh, COYI!
I dont agree at all.. the football served up by alladyce has been too negative many of times this season, especially at upton park we see to just asorb pressure for 75% of the game, on the hope to nick a goal. This means on only FOUR occasions we have had more possesion in game than the other team, averaging 42% possion all season. Ive seen too little football this year, How are you ment to be excited as a fan when I pay good money to watch my team defend for long periods of the game, then lump the ball up field. I hate to say this but the atmoshere at Upton Park has become dull we dont sing as much because of what we are witnessing its hard to get excited watching our players give up possesion game after game. Okay maybe our recent mangerial appointments havent been brilliant but you have to agree things were much more exciting under redknapp, pardue, curbs and zola. I just wanna wake up on a saturday morning excited to get to ground walk in to a loud joy filled upton park, watch players with flair and passion for the shirt. Maybe I ask to much but I just cant see mr allardyce serving me this up. COYI
Naïve piece of writing and predictable nonsense from the Allardyce lovers. Comparing past managers with BSF is pointless; its the here and now that counts, and right now we have, without any shadow of doubt a quality and level of football that is basic in the extreme, functional, dour, insipid, thoughtless, one dimensional…how much time do you have ? If surviving year after year with defensive intent is what you want, then good luck. If you want a little more guile, thought and skill from your team, like me and thousands of other unhappy Hammers, then its time for a change and quick before the goodwill that has been built up over generations at Upton Park is lost for good. Don’t underestimate the anger and frustration as to the garbage we have been served up this year in the name of “consolidation”.
To ALL of the negative posters on here spouting TOSH, look up the word SUPPORTER in the English dictionary…… Then have a look in the mirror.
IF you aren’t doing what it says on the tin, then kid yourself that you have the right to abuse the club and spout negative nonsense.
ME…. I’ve been around too long to be sucked in by this nonsense, because I’ve seen worse. This time round the club have a plan, are heading in the right direction, trying to give us stability and move this club forward. You’re either with it or you ain’t, and if you’re NOT with it…. Try to find a more fulfilling hobby and some inner calm.
Things HAVEN’T been perfect but, hey thats life. To ALL of those perfect in their lives whether at home OR work hold your hands up as you deserve a medal…….for lying.
Get behind the Team and Club tomorrow as we NEED 3 points. The manager and chairmen have grown this season and Next season WILL be better.
COYI
Check this site. I’ll just comment on 4. Harry is good for sure, but we’ve been there done that, he may be happy to just sit & get QPR back up, he’s having fun. The Terry Brown affair is probably still bitter with him & hey, isn’t he pushing 70?
Zola, well after these new owners sacking Zola, do people think he’ll want to come back here? and David Moyes, yes a good manager, but what makes people think he’d want to come here? He’s a Scot, he’s even played for ROI, so he’s Celt as well. I don’t think he’d choose to base himself in London.
Michael Laudrupp, yes he did well getting Swansea into Europe, only because they won the League Cup final against inferior opponents, but when the chips were down & a fight to stay away from the relegation zone was required, he just wasn’t quite up to it eh? Things have changed in the top flight. It is not as easy as it used to be to hold your position in this league. I can’t see West Ham being consistently established in the top section of clubs any time soon. No, Sam is very level headed. He’ll work away, keep us where we are & work on getting us up amongst the top elite clubs later. We at least need a bigger stadium 1st. The days of being in the top half while based in the Boleyn are gone, AND yes, as you all would know, there’s a poll going around all of the West Ham fan based websites about should Sam be here next season? What are people wanting Sam out, going to do if the owners just say HEY!, we own this club, not you & we want Sam to stay. What are you going to do then walk? because if you do, I can tell you, there wll be a lot more people waiting to snap up season tickets after you lot have walked. This club is in demand & is going places & Sam is taking us there. If we get safety today, then it’ll be thanks to Sam getting the most out of a below average squad for Premier League standards. Here’s the site. COYI!!!
http://westhamworld.co.uk/ten-possible-candidates-to-replace-sam-allardyce-at-west-ham/
Well, 4 losses in a row is certainly not a very good reference for Sam to continue. I must say, it has been an almost unbelievably unenjoyable season. What happens with Sam being at West Ham now is anyones guess, but I totally understand people making their feelings heard. Amen
I understand where you are coming from, and the importance of being in the premiership for the olympic stadium move but when it comes down to it, the fans pay their ticket money to be entertained when they watch, and hopefully to see us win. If you paid 60 quid for a meal that tasted rubbish would you go back? I wouldn’t.
How sam sets his teams up to play is seen as great when it works, and he was seen as a manager who could get teams to grind out results and overachieve. I think this season has shown that he’s starting to lose his touch with that. You cant blame 19 defeats and no clean sheets in 10 games on bad luck and poor individual mistakes every time. The fact we’ve only scored in 17 of our 36 league games this season says a lot as well.
Plus what is it with playing Downing and Jarvis on the wrong side so they have to cut back in all the time, as well as taking them both off before putting another striker on for us to then lump the ball up to them if we’re losing. Surely when chasing a game you want your best crossers and best ball players on the pitch..