[Standaman]

Allardyce is the entirely logical end point of the galloping short termism that has infected club in the 8 years since Ashworth left.

The Ashworth years are now seen as a golden age and when compared to what has followed they were. I have often pondered the cause and effect of Ashworth's departure. In essence Ashworth got out before the Peace descended into the pit of his own hubris and greed. Whether Ashworth's reputation would have survived the constant pressure for short term fixes to preserve Premier League status at all costs is debatable.

The disappointing thing about the Bilic appointment and the way it panned out was that one point it looked like we had put something in place that wasn't just a short term fix. We were starting to look beyond tomorrows result. It is this that is the most singularly distressing aspect of the Allardyce appointment it is so predictably business as usual. 

[tommcneill]

Can’t remember who, but I saw an account I follow on Twitter (one of these analytics accounts I think) make a strong case that for all of his faults, Allardyce is actually one of the most adaptable of the “usual suspects” (Eg Pulis, Hodgson). He will usually shape a team based on what he has to work with and does not come in with a pre conceived set up, often being happy to build around one individual (maybe Pereira in our case).

I think the issue with Allardyce so far is that he has completely failed to sure up the defence and if anything, had just made it even worse. Possibly something to do with him trying to get the ball forward quickly without the attackers to make it stick, therefore inviting more pressure on a poor defence.

ive been watching the Undr The Cosh podcasts, yesterday I listened to David Dunn who played under Allardyce..

Even he said its a myth that Allardyce is a long ball specialist, infact he actively encouraged his players to play football. He has flair players in his team, and always has, and incorprates them and wants them to go out and do their thing whilst the players around them put their foot in etc.

He is very much a pragmatic manager

Problem is we have lots of so called 'flair' players and no one who will really put their foot in and win the ball back and organise. And thats the issue with Bilic's signings......what did Mowbray call it 'soft feet'??

we have an unbalanced side, completely unbalanced and that lies with Bilic and his recruitment alongside Dowling.

[Baggies]

Allardyce is the entirely logical end point of the galloping short termism that has infected club in the 8 years since Ashworth left.

The Ashworth years are now seen as a golden age and when compared to what has followed they were. I have often pondered the cause and effect of Ashworth's departure. In essence Ashworth got out before the Peace descended into the pit of his own hubris and greed. Whether Ashworth's reputation would have survived the constant pressure for short term fixes to preserve Premier League status at all costs is debatable.

The disappointing thing about the Bilic appointment and the way it panned out was that one point it looked like we had put something in place that wasn't just a short term fix. We were starting to look beyond tomorrows result. It is this that is the most singularly distressing aspect of the Allardyce appointment it is so predictably business as usual.

Summs up my feelings exactly. I understand the logic for bringing in Allardyce, but well run clubs don't need fire fighters.

One thing I will say is that I feel Peace's short term thinking came about as a result of losing Ashworth. Before Ashworth, Peace and Jenkins were scrambling around to try to make the club stick. They understood that the club needed to come into the modern age with a director of football (something Thompson before them had been pilloried for), however didn't know how to hire a good one. They quickly sacked off the first who's name escapes me (Hunt?) and were lucky to come across Ashworth.

Ashworth was brought in by Aidy Boothroyd and inherited the academy after Boothroyd set it up and then left. Ashworth earned rave reviews due to his attention to detail there (I was told by parents of academy kids that they picked albion due to the fact that at the end of their group trials, Ashworth who only had a passing brief would speak to everyone and know them all individually by name).

He got a promotion and the rest is history. After he left, Peace (and to a degree Ashworth) hired Garlick as their successor which showed Peace's failure to recruit or talent spot (and maybe also Ashworth's tendency for nepotism). Garlick is undisputedly a brilliant administrator, as proved by his eventual head hunting by the premier league, but he had none of the required skills. From that point, Peace made poor decision after poor decision, with McDonough, Irvine, Mel, Pulis and Hammond following. By the end, he knew he wanted to sell, knew he didn't have the ability to head hunt a good director of football to replace Ashworth despite there being good options around and so made a decision to protect his huge profit - hire a fire fighter and allow him to tear apart all of our structures for short term survival.

Had Ashworth been here, i'd imagine we would have had enough continuity to allow Peace to not have to make the knee jerk decisions.

[Baggies]

ive been watching the Undr The Cosh podcasts, yesterday I listened to David Dunn who played under Allardyce..

Even he said its a myth that Allardyce is a long ball specialist, infact he actively encouraged his players to play football. He has flair players in his team, and always has, and incorprates them and wants them to go out and do their thing whilst the players around them put their foot in etc.

He is very much a pragmatic manager

Problem is we have lots of so called 'flair' players and no one who will really put their foot in and win the ball back and organise. And thats the issue with Bilic's signings......what did Mowbray call it 'soft feet'??

we have an unbalanced side, completely unbalanced and that lies with Bilic and his recruitment alongside Dowling.

You make a great point and the pragmatic remark was used by the analytics bloke in his own write up.

I did however say in the summer that our team was starting to resemble a Mowbray side with lots of technical players and no enforcer types coming in. I feel vindicated about that now.

[skyclad99]

Allardyce is the entirely logical end point of the galloping short termism that has infected club in the 8 years since Ashworth left.

The Ashworth years are now seen as a golden age and when compared to what has followed they were. I have often pondered the cause and effect of Ashworth's departure. In essence Ashworth got out before the Peace descended into the pit of his own hubris and greed. Whether Ashworth's reputation would have survived the constant pressure for short term fixes to preserve Premier League status at all costs is debatable.

The disappointing thing about the Bilic appointment and the way it panned out was that one point it looked like we had put something in place that wasn't just a short term fix. We were starting to look beyond tomorrows result. It is this that is the most singularly distressing aspect of the Allardyce appointment it is so predictably business as usual.

Love it when I learn a new word

Every days a schoolday

[Jeremy Roland Peace]

ive been watching the Undr The Cosh podcasts, yesterday I listened to David Dunn who played under Allardyce..

Even he said its a myth that Allardyce is a long ball specialist, infact he actively encouraged his players to play football. He has flair players in his team, and always has, and incorprates them and wants them to go out and do their thing whilst the players around them put their foot in etc.

He is very much a pragmatic manager

Problem is we have lots of so called 'flair' players and no one who will really put their foot in and win the ball back and organise. And thats the issue with Bilic's signings......what did Mowbray call it 'soft feet'??

we have an unbalanced side, completely unbalanced and that lies with Bilic and his recruitment alongside Dowling.

Allardyce is closer if not the same as Roy as opposed to being like Pulis.

He asks that the team do the basics, don't lose possession in your own half, always pass forward (Sawyers OG vs Leeds going against both of these).

[boinging_along]

He's nothing like Roy.  Look how deep we've been sitting - we're getting 25-30% possession in games - that's Pulis level (if anything, worse).

[tommcneill]

Allardyce is closer if not the same as Roy as opposed to being like Pulis.

He asks that the team do the basics, don't lose possession in your own half, always pass forward (Sawyers OG vs Leeds going against both of these).

Exactly...

I wonder if people would have scowled so much had Hodgson been the one to replace Bilic?

People have added the Dingle link and shown their bias in this regard. But thats a pointless bias because he is a professional manager not an undercover spy for Wolves intent on destroying a club.

[tommcneill]

He's nothing like Roy.  Look how deep we've been sitting - we're getting 25-30% possession in games - that's Pulis level (if anything, worse).

Hes exactly like Roy.......

We've had less/similar possession in games under Bilic....conveniently forgotten though 

[Albion79]

Big Sam is definitely more Hodgson than Pulis.

What he does need though is for the players to buy into his ideas which at the moment for a variety of reasons i am not sure they have done.

(1) Most were signed by Bilic and this is their first real chance at premier league football, by all accounts he was popular with the players and for the last 6-8 games of his spell there were signs (with some shockers) that we were starting to adapt, abeit without getting our rewards. We then pick up a great point at Man City which for the players was the result of the season only to find he is then gone.

All of a sudden after that high and starting to find your feet, you then have to start again, you have a new manager in who will have new ideas, way of playing, etc and the players will then start to have doubts again, that is in no way Big Sams fault.

(2) Allardyce has said himself first thing you have to do is tighten up to give yourself a chance in games, we didnt defend that well under Bilic so i would imagine a lot of work is needed to be done on the training ground, unfortunately he hasnt had much time to get his ideas over for the players to take them on board, we are caught inbetween at the moment and it shows.

I know Stephen Warnock and one of his old Palace players said they were surprised when he took over, he was nothing like they thought, they were expecting a dinosaur but said he was actually very advanced and positive but he made sure first thing was get the defence and organisation sorted.

They said their teams brought into that and got the results, at the moment i dont think we have, there will obviously be a change of style to accomdate trying to tighten the defence, that would obviously impact our flair players the likes of Pereira, Diangana, Krov, Grant, etc and when you are conceding loads of goals as we are, the defenders arent happy and the attacking players arent happy as the methods dont seem to be working! Hopefully after a couple of weeks on the training ground, this weekend things may start to click.

(3) Short term - When you give managers a contract of 12-18 months like we tend to do it sends out a short term message. A lot of those players will currently be having doubts if they are good enough for this league and whether the new manager fancies them, they know if we go down he will most likely be gone, they know they are good enough for the league below and although they would take a paycut, they will also be back playing in a league they are good in and know they could get their wages back in bonuses from promotion! Its a lot easier to change one person (ie - the manager) than it is a whole squad.

(It wont happen now but when we do put a long term plan in place they need to a manager here is a 3 year contact, help build the club and ideally we will have a DOF who during that 3 years has a manager ready to step in who continues, ie - Mowbray, RDM)

I think the players may not be good enough but the attitude has worried me a few of the games, there may be a bit of confusion about tactics, etc but there is no excuse for no applying yourself. Its very old school but every top manager makes sure they work hard and fight for the ball when they dont have it, the ability and flair then takes over, to me we havent even give ourselves a chance by doing the basics, if you do that and your not good enough, you cant do much about it, but to not even do the basics there is no excuse, we have been very passive and that is soley on the players, not Allardyce.

I would imagine the last month he has assessed the squad on and off the pitch, they do need some leaders and a bit of nous to get us going again, thats why i think the Snodgrass signing could work, ideally you get a couple of signings like that and then a few who can step up like a Choudury, you dont want a team fill of experience or a team full of kids, you need a mix and hopefully Snodgrass will lift us by what has been said about him.

If i was Big Sam, if he hasnt already, i would show the players his record, show that when you buy into his ideas, it works and he keeps you in the premier league, it may be a big change and boring to start (Roy did the same) but get the foundations right and things will improve.

I would say to them the season starts this saturday, he has had a couple of weeks training, Snodgrass is in, hopefully we have another to freshen things up but i would be saying, you win saturday in the local derby, you have the fans onside, it gives staff, players, office staff, fans, etc a lift and all of a sudden things are positive.

Wolves are beatable, they are better than us and probably 6  or 7 times out of 10 they would beat us, but they arent a Liverpool, Man City or Man United, or even a Chelsea or Arsenal, they are in the group of teams below that we should be targeting to try and get points here and there.

 

[tommcneill]

Big Sam is definitely more Hodgson than Pulis.

What he does need though is for the players to buy into his ideas which at the moment for a variety of reasons i am not sure they have done.

(1) Most were signed by Bilic and this is their first real chance at premier league football, by all accounts he was popular with the players and for the last 6-8 games of his spell there were signs (with some shockers) that we were starting to adapt, abeit without getting our rewards. We then pick up a great point at Man City which for the players was the result of the season only to find he is then gone.

All of a sudden after that high and starting to find your feet, you then have to start again, you have a new manager in who will have new ideas, way of playing, etc and the players will then start to have doubts again, that is in no way Big Sams fault.

(2) Allardyce has said himself first thing you have to do is tighten up to give yourself a chance in games, we didnt defend that well under Bilic so i would imagine a lot of work is needed to be done on the training ground, unfortunately he hasnt had much time to get his ideas over for the players to take them on board, we are caught inbetween at the moment and it shows.

I know Stephen Warnock and one of his old Palace players said they were surprised when he took over, he was nothing like they thought, they were expecting a dinosaur but said he was actually very advanced and positive but he made sure first thing was get the defence and organisation sorted.

They said their teams brought into that and got the results, at the moment i dont think we have, there will obviously be a change of style to accomdate trying to tighten the defence, that would obviously impact our flair players the likes of Pereira, Diangana, Krov, Grant, etc and when you are conceding loads of goals as we are, the defenders arent happy and the attacking players arent happy as the methods dont seem to be working! Hopefully after a couple of weeks on the training ground, this weekend things may start to click.

(3) Short term - When you give managers a contract of 12-18 months like we tend to do it sends out a short term message. A lot of those players will currently be having doubts if they are good enough for this league and whether the new manager fancies them, they know if we go down he will most likely be gone, they know they are good enough for the league below and although they would take a paycut, they will also be back playing in a league they are good in and know they could get their wages back in bonuses from promotion! Its a lot easier to change one person (ie - the manager) than it is a whole squad.

(It wont happen now but when we do put a long term plan in place they need to a manager here is a 3 year contact, help build the club and ideally we will have a DOF who during that 3 years has a manager ready to step in who continues, ie - Mowbray, RDM)

I think the players may not be good enough but the attitude has worried me a few of the games, there may be a bit of confusion about tactics, etc but there is no excuse for no applying yourself. Its very old school but every top manager makes sure they work hard and fight for the ball when they dont have it, the ability and flair then takes over, to me we havent even give ourselves a chance by doing the basics, if you do that and your not good enough, you cant do much about it, but to not even do the basics there is no excuse, we have been very passive and that is soley on the players, not Allardyce.

I would imagine the last month he has assessed the squad on and off the pitch, they do need some leaders and a bit of nous to get us going again, thats why i think the Snodgrass signing could work, ideally you get a couple of signings like that and then a few who can step up like a Choudury, you dont want a team fill of experience or a team full of kids, you need a mix and hopefully Snodgrass will lift us by what has been said about him.

If i was Big Sam, if he hasnt already, i would show the players his record, show that when you buy into his ideas, it works and he keeps you in the premier league, it may be a big change and boring to start (Roy did the same) but get the foundations right and things will improve.

I would say to them the season starts this saturday, he has had a couple of weeks training, Snodgrass is in, hopefully we have another to freshen things up but i would be saying, you win saturday in the local derby, you have the fans onside, it gives staff, players, office staff, fans, etc a lift and all of a sudden things are positive.

Wolves are beatable, they are better than us and probably 6  or 7 times out of 10 they would beat us, but they arent a Liverpool, Man City or Man United, or even a Chelsea or Arsenal, they are in the group of teams below that we should be targeting to try and get points here and there.

An excellent post Albion79...and one I can fully agree with.

[SmethDan]

Hes exactly like Roy.......

We've had less/similar possession in games under Bilic....conveniently forgotten though 

A lot of things are conveniently forgotten or overlooked when lamenting the loss of a loved one. Especially when their replacement looks and sounds a bit rough but still goes public with your 'shortcomings' and implies that your ex really wasn't all you thought they were.

Bilic was a breath of fresh air. When Samuel arrived he dropped a big dump at the training ground, closed the windows and turned the heating up. It's too warm for some, too smelly for others and downright disgusting for more.

Ultimately it's a marriage of convenience. Sam doesn't bat his eyelids because he's here to stick his arm up the u bend of our squad, give it a good squish and see if there's anything worth saving before it and we are flushed. I'm not his greatest fan but I'm willing to break out the air freshener.

[baggiejohn]

Big Sam is definitely more Hodgson than Pulis.

What he does need though is for the players to buy into his ideas which at the moment for a variety of reasons i am not sure they have done.

(1) Most were signed by Bilic and this is their first real chance at premier league football, by all accounts he was popular with the players and for the last 6-8 games of his spell there were signs (with some shockers) that we were starting to adapt, abeit without getting our rewards. We then pick up a great point at Man City which for the players was the result of the season only to find he is then gone.

All of a sudden after that high and starting to find your feet, you then have to start again, you have a new manager in who will have new ideas, way of playing, etc and the players will then start to have doubts again, that is in no way Big Sams fault.

(2) Allardyce has said himself first thing you have to do is tighten up to give yourself a chance in games, we didnt defend that well under Bilic so i would imagine a lot of work is needed to be done on the training ground, unfortunately he hasnt had much time to get his ideas over for the players to take them on board, we are caught inbetween at the moment and it shows.

I know Stephen Warnock and one of his old Palace players said they were surprised when he took over, he was nothing like they thought, they were expecting a dinosaur but said he was actually very advanced and positive but he made sure first thing was get the defence and organisation sorted.

They said their teams brought into that and got the results, at the moment i dont think we have, there will obviously be a change of style to accomdate trying to tighten the defence, that would obviously impact our flair players the likes of Pereira, Diangana, Krov, Grant, etc and when you are conceding loads of goals as we are, the defenders arent happy and the attacking players arent happy as the methods dont seem to be working! Hopefully after a couple of weeks on the training ground, this weekend things may start to click.

(3) Short term - When you give managers a contract of 12-18 months like we tend to do it sends out a short term message. A lot of those players will currently be having doubts if they are good enough for this league and whether the new manager fancies them, they know if we go down he will most likely be gone, they know they are good enough for the league below and although they would take a paycut, they will also be back playing in a league they are good in and know they could get their wages back in bonuses from promotion! Its a lot easier to change one person (ie - the manager) than it is a whole squad.

(It wont happen now but when we do put a long term plan in place they need to a manager here is a 3 year contact, help build the club and ideally we will have a DOF who during that 3 years has a manager ready to step in who continues, ie - Mowbray, RDM)

I think the players may not be good enough but the attitude has worried me a few of the games, there may be a bit of confusion about tactics, etc but there is no excuse for no applying yourself. Its very old school but every top manager makes sure they work hard and fight for the ball when they dont have it, the ability and flair then takes over, to me we havent even give ourselves a chance by doing the basics, if you do that and your not good enough, you cant do much about it, but to not even do the basics there is no excuse, we have been very passive and that is soley on the players, not Allardyce.

I would imagine the last month he has assessed the squad on and off the pitch, they do need some leaders and a bit of nous to get us going again, thats why i think the Snodgrass signing could work, ideally you get a couple of signings like that and then a few who can step up like a Choudury, you dont want a team fill of experience or a team full of kids, you need a mix and hopefully Snodgrass will lift us by what has been said about him.

If i was Big Sam, if he hasnt already, i would show the players his record, show that when you buy into his ideas, it works and he keeps you in the premier league, it may be a big change and boring to start (Roy did the same) but get the foundations right and things will improve.

I would say to them the season starts this saturday, he has had a couple of weeks training, Snodgrass is in, hopefully we have another to freshen things up but i would be saying, you win saturday in the local derby, you have the fans onside, it gives staff, players, office staff, fans, etc a lift and all of a sudden things are positive.

Wolves are beatable, they are better than us and probably 6  or 7 times out of 10 they would beat us, but they arent a Liverpool, Man City or Man United, or even a Chelsea or Arsenal, they are in the group of teams below that we should be targeting to try and get points here and there.

I'll buy into everything you say except for one thing..................

Good leaders and managers don't criticise their team members in public.

SA has done nothing else.

Even Pulis didn't hang the players out to dry in public.

[gazberg]

Allardyce has probably seen well enough. The players are of little worth as a collective due to their mental weakness. No point telling them they are great. They need saving from one another if they are to go on and have careers of some relative success. They need to be split apart and moved on for mutual benefit as much as we can.

[Albion79]

I should just add as much as i want it to work i dont think it will.

As said previous, i think we have too many players in our squad not suited to make Big Sams plans work, its a mismatch, i think he will improve things regarding organisation, etc but unless he gets to really revamp the team with at least 5-6 first teamers who all come in and do a job pretty much right away, i just dont think it will work, i think it would be very lucky if you sign that many players in the first place, let alone they all come in and do well.

If he was given the backing for what he wants i think he could probably keep us up, what cost that would have with regards to older players, wages, etc for future seasons would remain to be seen and it would probably be very much short term planning but thats the way we are at the moment.

I think the best we can hope for is probably 3-4 new signings who come in and do well and then current players buy into what Sam is doing, raise their standards above what they have so far, i think 1 or 2 may do that but we really need all our team playing better than they have been and showing they are good enough for this level, sadly i just dont think we have enough who are / can.

[GREGMT]

Some points about Allardyce:

1) OK so training hours are limited due to Covid.  What's stopping him from talking to the whole group of players morning, noon and night to get his ideas across?  Even if its on Zoom.
2) In football it's a given that you work with players brought in by a previous Manager.  This cannot be labelled as an excuse.  SA knew he has to navigate through at least 6 wks of a congested Xmas schedule before he could get his hands on new players.  This period was critical to the success of his tenure in keeping the club in the division.
3) Why are we not seeing the stamp of an Allardyce team, at least in the GA column?  The one thing he has done is reduce possession more in keeping with his teams.
4) I'd rate his performance so far 1/10.  That's for turning up to work.  Obliterated in almost every match and failing to beat Blackpool.
5) When is he actually accountable for his performance in the job?
6) Has he lost motivation in the job already?
7) There's intelligent football people on this site that would do the job for a tenth of Allardyce's wages.  Where is Allardyce's managerial skill, I can't see it?
The players sure are lacking in ability and confidence, but it's the Managers responsibility.

I'm 99% sure we will lose to WW, but I'd just take a stirring performance as a source of pride. 

[boinging_along]

Some points about Allardyce:

1) OK so training hours are limited due to Covid.  What's stopping him from talking to the whole group of players morning, noon and night to get his ideas across?  Even if its on Zoom.
2) In football it's a given that you work with players brought in by a previous Manager.  This cannot be labelled as an excuse.  SA knew he has to navigate through at least 6 wks of a congested Xmas schedule before he could get his hands on new players.  This period was critical to the success of his tenure in keeping the club in the division.
3) Why are we not seeing the stamp of an Allardyce team, at least in the GA column?  The one thing he has done is reduce possession more in keeping with his teams.
4) I'd rate his performance so far 1/10.  That's for turning up to work.  Obliterated in almost every match and failing to beat Blackpool.
5) When is he actually accountable for his performance in the job?
6) Has he lost motivation in the job already?
7) There's intelligent football people on this site that would do the job for a tenth of Allardyce's wages.  Where is Allardyce's managerial skill, I can't see it?
The players sure are lacking in ability and confidence, but it's the Managers responsibility.

I'm 99% sure we will lose to WW, but I'd just take a stirring performance as a source of pride.

Exactly, and one thing Sam is renowned for is his use of statistics and technology.  Yet despite having stats and technology coming out of his ears he needs half a dozen games to find out what the team's made of?  Every single game these players have played will be on video, from multiple angles, with huge amounts of stats.

It wasn't that long ago that we went into games hoping for a win and thinking we've got a good chance.  Now we go into games hoping we don't get hammered.   Since Sam has taken over our GA column has doubled.  It says a lot that we're going into a game against Wolves and I think keeping the GA to below 3 would be a good result.

[GREGMT]

By the time this game comes around Allardyce has had half of January to get in a central midfielder and has failed.

Sawyers or Livermore and a Loss is a formality.

Failing that play Harper, how can he actually be any worse?

[gazberg]

By the time this game comes around Allardyce has had half of January to get in a central midfielder and has failed.

Sawyers or Livermore and a Loss is a formality.

Failing that play Harper, how can he actually be any worse?

Bit harsh, Bilic had best part of 18 months to sort it and didn't.

Also fair to say Allardyce has identified who he wants and the player wants to come here. It's over to the board to work their magic now.

[GREGMT]

Bit harsh, Bilic had best part of 18 months to sort it and didn't.

Also fair to say Allardyce has identified who he wants and the player wants to come here. It's over to the board to work their magic now.

Go on about Bilic all you want.  It took us 11 months to get out the Championship (after Covid).  Sawyers & Livermore were adequate then.  Yes in hindsight they should've been replaced in August.

If Allardyce was sharp he'd have drafted someone in on 3rd January post Arsenal.  The inadequacy was for all to see. Even a £500,000 central midfielder from the Swedish Premier would've improved matters!

How much evidence does the bloke need?  He can watch Football highlights round the clock, player databases of player performance.

There is no excuse to reach 13 January with no incoming midfielder.

Furthermore he still hasn't ditched Ivanovic, when it's clear O'Shea, Ajayi & Bartley are all better (despite limitations).

[gazberg]

Go on about Bilic all you want.  It took us 11 months to get out the Championship (after Covid).  Sawyers & Livermore were adequate then.  Yes in hindsight they should've been replaced in August.

If Allardyce was sharp he'd have drafted someone in on 3rd January post Arsenal.  The inadequacy was for all to see. Even a £500,000 central midfielder from the Swedish Premier would've improved matters!

How much evidence does the bloke need?  He can watch Football highlights round the clock, player databases of player performance.

There is no excuse to reach 13 January with no incoming midfielder.

Furthermore he still hasn't ditched Ivanovic, when it's clear O'Shea, Ajayi & Bartley are all better (despite limitations).

The glaring omission of a DCM has been clear to see for over a season.

I'm sure if you gave Allardyce the power to sign Choudhury he'd do it tommorow. He can't. Mad to suggest the boards failings/inactivity are anything to do with him. Even those of us that felt Bilic time was over gave Bilic that credit.

I dont think he needs evidence, he said he has seen all he needs to see. He wants them out ASAP and new players in ASAP.

[LiamTheBaggie]

If Allardyce was sharp he'd have drafted someone in on 3rd January post Arsenal.  The inadequacy was for all to see. Even a £500,000 central midfielder from the Swedish Premier would've improved matters!

How much evidence does the bloke need?  He can watch Football highlights round the clock, player databases of player performance.

There is no excuse to reach 13 January with no incoming midfielder.

Furthermore he still hasn't ditched Ivanovic, when it's clear O'Shea, Ajayi & Bartley are all better (despite limitations).

Well I think it’s clear they’re trying to get a midfielder.

There are a host of reasons as to why we haven’t - the main one being that Allardyce isn’t in charge of negotiations

It’s Allardyce bashing for the sake of it.

[GREGMT]

Well I think it’s clear they’re trying to get a midfielder.

There are a host of reasons as to why we haven’t - the main one being that Allardyce isn’t in charge of negotiations

It’s Allardyce bashing for the sake of it.

What's wrong with getting A.CM in now then still trying to get Choudry later in the window?

We are absolutely desperate, lower than a snakes belly.

We couldn't even beat a League 1 team in 2 hours of football.

We are going to get pummelled on Saturday. 

[GREGMT]

Watch La Liga and have a look at what a high quality league that is.

A team like Eibar, 7000 capacity in a tiny town.  Why not go after their players, they'll be on a pittance in terms of wages.

Good players are out there for lower fees, the likes of Mulumbu and Odemwingue.

Our staff should be working day and night to get in at least 7 players as early as possible. 

Then we can look ourselves in the mirror and we've done everything.....

[gazberg]

I agree with you Greg but neither Bilic or Allardyce can do a thing about that. THats the higher ups jobs.