I think Big Sam is caught in two minds at the moment.
He is known for getting teams organised and hard to beat, get that right then build. However i know from a seminar i did where he was guest speaker and from a interview he does on BT - State of the Game, that he hates his reputation as a defensive and direct, he said every club he has been at he has played a different way depending on the bulk of the squads abilities.
He said his last job (the seminar was before he took the Albion job) was Everton, he said they were a big club, in free fall, conceding loads and he sorted them out and got them to 8th place finish yet he was hounded for being defensive and boring instead of praised for sorting them out.
I wonder if he has come to us to try and change the general perception about him, he is saying all the right things about keeping clean sheets, tightening up, etc yet at the moment the evidence doesnt back that up, since the Arsenal game he has nearly four weeks of pretty regular training time and we seem to of got worse defensively (we wasnt great under Bilic)
I think somebody who is as experienced as Big Sam would of watched our games this season before he got the job, he would of seen we started to improve defensively towards the end of Bilic era (Palace game aside) when we had gone mainly back to 3 at the back, yet he seems to keep trying 4 at the back when its clear we have full backs who cant actually defend.
I dont think the players are good enough which is the main issue and you cant coach individual errors, but we dont just not seem organised, we just look lost, nobody seems to be in the correct position during the game and i would of thought that would be the most basic first thing he would work on, yet he plays a formation where you only really have two players defending because Furlong and Gibbs are a waste of time defensively, and we are getting worse.
When we went up i had hoped we would take the game to teams but it became apparent pretty quick that our attacking threat was weak in this league, Diangana with the exception of a great goal v Everton has been anonymous, Grant although i think is played out of position has offered nothing and misses a good chance nearly every game, Robinson tries hard but doesnt really ever offer a goal threat, Pereira hasnt hit the heights he is capable of but is still out best player and biggest threat, i think we have only scored more than one goal in three league matches out twenty so it shows we cant rely on trying to outscore teams.
Big Sam would of known this, so if you know your attack isnt going to get many goals, i know you have to offer a threat but first and foremost, you make yourself hard to beat, yet we look so lost and unorganised, we played Man City last night and had our most attacking line up of the season playing which just doesnt usually happen under Allardyce teams.
I do think last night maybe there was an element of planning for the next two games (which in itself is poor, i always think you should try and get points) but it backfired with how badly we collapsed.
Despite all the above, i still have some faith in Big Sam as long as he is backed with players he wants, otherwise we shouldnt of appointed him, he has done his bit shifting Austin, Bond, Krovinovic and Harpers wages off the bill as well as another couple by the sounds of it, so he should be given some support.
I have no issue with him calling the players out in public either, if they lose the odd game heavily so be it, but they are embarrassing themselves every game at home, think people can accept they are not good enough but a few were just coasting and not giving 100% which there is no excuse for so i am glad he has his say as he must be embarrassed too.
There is still nearly half a season left, it dont look great but we can still stay up, we firstly have to back him with a few new players he wants, and secondly, Allardyce needs to go back to doing what he does best right, get us organised.