Big Sam & AVB are worlds apart in almost every sense.Villas-Boas, a dashing, suave young coach with a preference for style over substance. Allardyce, a gruff, traditional northerner from Dudley who just wants results.
This considered you won’t be surprised to hear that player and match analysis is another area in which the two’s philosophy’s differ, although not in a way you might imagine.
Are you on Facebook? Excellent, so are we http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/ForeverWestHamcom/200938616608282
Whilst the ‘progressive’ Villas-Boas has been quick to dismiss analysis software such as ‘Prozone’ as useless, the ‘backwards’ Big Sam has been an advocator of the platform for the last decade.
Although ‘pioneer’ isn’t a word you would often associate with Big Sam, he has for a long time been pushing the boundaries of sport science within a footballing context. Having never been with a top 4 side, Big Sam has often had to look at other ways he can gain an edge on opponents with greater resources.
He claims his managerial career has been heavily influenced by his brief time in America. Allardyce played 11 games for the Tampa Bay Rowdies in 1983 who at the time shared facilities with the American Football side the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“Seeing the Buccaneers was the start of my philosophy and evolvement as a manager” he said back in 2011.
“It was the amount of technology and backroom staff they used to service the players and to deliver the best.”
“I enjoy the game, I enjoy watching the tactical side of it and the great detail they put into trying to win a game at that level,” he added.
American Football clubs have for long been using innovative approaches such as video analysis and this insight into uses of technology and science and their application to another sport inspired Allardyce in his first big managerial role in English football with Bolton.
Looking for experience? Just want to be heard outside of the Boleyn? We are currently looking for writers, drop us an email at foreverwestham@snack-media.com for more details
With greater resource than at his previous clubs, Allardyce was able to experiment with the likes of Prozone which he first used with Bolton Wanderers at the start of the 2000/01 season and shortly after achieved promotion to the Premiership after a three-year absence.
“The system provided a vital source of information for our coaching staff to draw upon including a mass of statistics and the unique animation, which means nothing is missed during the game.”
“I have been using and helping Prozone to develop over the last nine years. It is without doubt one of the most important pieces of information in modern day football. We simply can not do without Prozone to help us be the best we can be.”
But Prozone isn’t the only tool he’s examined to gain an edge and he has often had a background staff of up to 20 members for different areas of interest. He team at Bolton included Mike Forde, who helped formulate ideas from American sport, (now at Chelsea) while Mark Taylor, who helped bring in the club’s cryotherapy room where players recover in temperatures of minus 120 Celsius, is now at Fulham.
Injury prevention has often been at the forefront of his thinking – especially with a small or ageing squad and has picked up the Zamar treatment used on injured horses where ice-cold solutions are pumped round muscles under a bandage to aid recovery.
Ice baths are compulsory in all of Allardyce’s changing rooms, something some players have rather avoid and taken fines for (Abdoulaye Faye claimed to have racked up five figure fines during his time with West Ham last season). Then there was the Chinese doctor using herbal remedies, acupuncture and Tai Chi.
Allardyce said: ‘It’s not a perfect science. But you’ve got to get as close as you can. I might tell them we are going to go for a walk. It’s called dislocated expectation. Doing something beyond the norm can be good for morale.’
In a changing footballing environment where the ‘Moneyball’ approach seems to be to be a bigger part of CEO’s thinking process for their club’s future, Big Sam has always been one step ahead of the competition and has been pushing the boundaries for over a decade now.
Forever West Ham is now on Google+, so be sure to find us on there by quite simply (and rather unsurprisingly) searching ‘Forever West Ham’
sam will always be a hoofer and crap manager
It ain’t space exploration. Its bloody football.
Think BFS just got himself a new 2 year deal today,those 3pts will keep us up,but we were in big trouble if we hadn’t won and results went against us.My personal view is that Sam has taken us as far as he can with his type of football,I think we need to move on and up with a new manager,I think we’ve outgrown Sam,and with the OS on the horizon we need to change.
No use being an expert on fitness, training, nutrition and sp0rts psychology if you cant make sensible or logical substitutions !!!
yor right he has got to go.
What about them two not sensible or logical substitutions he made yesterday. Vaz Te to Collison goal. A win and clean sheet against a team who had previously lost just once at home in the league all season. Joint tenth on our first season back. What a crap manager.
Think before you spout garbage…he has a HISTORY of ridiculous substitutions that have cost us badly this season. Any idiot with a grain of football knowledge can see that trying to hold a lead with 15/20 minutes to go by bringing on defenders in place of midfielders invites trouble…and trouble weve had. Spend a bit more time thinking about things instead of predictable knee-jerk reactions.
Good god! Give the man some respect, promoted at first chance, pretty much mid table in the premier, higher than ALL the promoted teams, and sitting comfortably in the league. No better manager for us. We need stability not to change every 5 min
Exactly. Doesn’t always get it right but we were the scalp last season and already the same points as grunt with 10 gsmes to go. Bring back grunt/curbs/pards/roeder. That eas when we played great footy!!!
get sam out or we will be known as the academy of hoof ball,he his a dynosaur living in the past,his tactics terrible,how the hell does taylor get on the team sheet before collinson and vaz te man loves his ex bolton players thats why if he is in charge next year i wont be going to anymore games i can see that dross over the park sunday morning go sam.
I have a message for all those moaners who say that they will stop going to games – WHO CARES? we sell out every game – you won’t be missed you bloody moaning bitches! We’re a newly promoted club who still have a lot of debt to clear. This year and the next few are about staying up. Nothing else matters when you consider the long term of West Ham. If the moaners get their way, we’re follow Leeds, Notts Forest, Coventry, Wolves etc into oblivion.
Not interested in actually enjoying a game of football Dave? when I pay my £800 plus season ticket it would be nice to see the quality players at the club (J Cole, Jarvis, Chamakh) actually getting involved in playing some proper football like we know they can. Sam has kept us safe (I think) but time to move on next year. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, that’s yours and the “moaning bitches” as you call them are entitled to theirs.
The appointment of Sam Allardyce has left us all with a clear and stark choice fellow Hammers…Accept that for as long as he is in charge the quality of football will be uncomplicated route one stuff just as he used at Bolton Newcastle and Blackburn…Big lone guy up font, packed scuffling, snapping midfield, tough no nonsense defenders ordered to find the front man early from deep, or via wingers where possible and the match allows. Thats it in a nutshell. We will not get quick, snappy, clever interplay/passing football thats pretty on the eye. Its just not in his make up, and you only have to see the way he puts his teams together (height, strength, power, packed with 6 footers) that nippy ball players are not on his radar.
BUT, and here is the dilemma chaps, Sam will keep us in the Premiership, mid to lower regions, probably for as long as he is here because although he doesnt have a clue how to win pretty, he sure knows how to battle and scuff around for points here and there, and thats what hes done this season.
So, take your choice…Ugly, crude but ultimately effective football in The Big time, or prettier, fluent Hammers “style” footie but at the risk of bouncing up and down between leagues like the bad old days. Bit of a depressing situation really isnt it !!! COYI !
To all the moaners, be careful for what you wish for. I agree that at times the tactics and sunstitutions seem strange. The point is we do not know what is going on in the background. The interesting thing to consider from now on is, if we continue winning and Nolan recovers what will Sam do? For instance should the team that won yesterday be the team that faces Man U? We need 7 points, so clearly there will be games that are targetted as must win and others that could be targetted as draw at best. Or does he set up to draw every game? Who would be a manager, because whatever happens fans will always diagree and they could always do better, however that is not the way the board looks at things. This is a business and as such the debts must be managed and minimised, spending power is to be restricted etc., etc if the new rules proposed area anything to go by. So should we jettison the need for premiership survival and in its place play attractive football and get beaten every week and be back in the Championship with the majority of players leaving. So as I said at the beginning be careful what you wish for because the thought of getting it could be worse than the present gripe about playing styles.
The piece was more about his approach in finding the extra %s in a game, rather than the tactics he employs, which I find particularly interesting – a Moneyball-esque approach to football training and physio.
I will however make a brief comment on his style of play. Although not a fan of long ball football, much credit does need to go to Big Sam. His objective last season was promotion which we achieved. His objective this season was to probably stay in the PL which it looks like he will achieve.
Although not a fan of his style of play, there aspects of it which are quite refreshing from the weakness we’ve witness under some previous managers.
I don’t think BS will be with us forever and last season and this season are merely necessary steps on the road to recovery which we have to go through. Debt is clearing and if we want to see the sustainable development of the club, we’ll have to go through a brief harsh spell to put us back in a position where we can realistically compete.
That’s my view anyway. Hope some of you found the piece at least moderately interesting!