First things first – we are a far better team without Kevin Nolan.
We deserved more yesterday but the simple fact is the players are losing belief when victory is in sight and that is an issue this manager – or whoever comes next – has to solve.
Sam Allardyce has claimed various reasons for likely victories becoming draws but having watched all our games to me the answer is clear – the players are falling back 20 – 25 yards when the other team starts to have a real go.
The manager is making defensive substitutions as a result but the truth is he has to convince the team they are now a very decent time who can mix it and beat the best.
The players instead are getting nervous and conceding. At the end of the day that’s a managerial problem, Sam has to convince them they are good enough to beat these teams and until he does that this situation will keep repeating itself.
The tragedy yesterday was that we had played so well for so long and Nolan’s absence for Cheik Kouyate had an awful lot to do with that.
Most of the supporters have been saying for a long time that the captain is slowing everything down and they are right.
We were excellent and the football on display for a long time was excellent. It was a shame that Mark Noble had to go off for his own security from a red card because he was utterly outstanding and we lost our grip in part when he disappeared.
But the lads lost their conviction that they could win and however much Sam tries to explain it away, this is his or the next manager’s problem.
I don’t take sides but who do you blame when a team loses it’s belief? The manager! He has to address it, I had the same problems at times as a boss and had to accept it was my dilemma. No one else’s.
There’s been much talk about an imminent departure for Sam and if that happens then it will mean things have come to a natural end.
But he has to stop this draw rot and convince this team it is the top six side I believe it to be before he does.
Nice,good to see a man of management expierence & an ex-pro reflect fans belief that Nolan clogs things up & we are a better team without him.Love to see the pro Nolan,pro Sam tell Leroy he has no clue what he is on about.We as fans all kmow it is BFS & his making players play deeper when we are in front that is screwing things up.As for taking Noble off & replacing him with Cole,i still cant believe that one even 24hrs later.Ok maybe Noble might have got sent off but the odds are he wouldnt.You dont take off one of your most influential players on the day just in case he maybe will pick up a yellow.Teams have 3,4,5 players booked regularly in matches but everyone on a yellow doesnt get substitued do they.How often does a player on a yellow actually then get sent off.Pretty rarely i would say as a % of yellows in the Prem that then turn to reds.Sam cocked up,thats all there is to it.To then bring Cole on to replace Noble just does my head in.
I totally agree that the players are dropping back too far when in a winning position. However I actually think that Sam is compounding the problem with defensive substitutions. He will never get the players to move further up the field as a unit if his reaction is to take off a forward minded player for an additional defender. Surely substitutions should strengthen correct action and impact upon the behaviour of others.
The Cole for Noble substitution simply baffled me – I don’t see any logic in that thinking at all.
Completely agree with you Leroy, Sam is so quick to always claim credit with success, but any problem or failure is the fault of everyone else bar him. At the start of the season after Our Owners had told him to change his style, I gained more respect for Sam because he did, but around Christmas once Nolan and Carroll were fit everything had to be thrown out of the window to allow their return and the style they fit, the result goals started to dry up, also wins, and the promising players started to look out of sorts.
Yesterday from the kick off no Nolan and Carroll and the team started to look good again and full of enthusiasm once more, I’m not going to fault Mark Noble who plays with his heart on his sleeve, yesterday he gave everything! as always, I feel Sam over reacted, Mark is professional enough to know after the card and warning to watch it, but No Sam drags him off and bring on Carlton Cole, in the lead how did he ever come to this conclusion? it is beyond me.
Sam is just Stubborn! same with the introduction to our home bred players to first team football. yes he will use them to prove a case to fit his agenda! that they are not good enough, at times Sam is a Dinosaur stuck in the past!
Superb article Leroy and well followed up TysonM. The Pro Sam camp I have heard over the last 22hrs have been pointing to how well we played as a reason to keep him and I say that is the reason to get rid of him. Yesterday proves once again that the system employed and the players used are by far our best options so it highlights even more the stupidity of Sam to have changed that to accommodate Nolan. I will wish Nolan well and thank the guy for his contribution to our turn around in the last few years as he has been great at times and I don’t actually blame him, he is a professional and when asked to play he plays so it is not Nolan’s fault he is picked but it is Sam’s. Our slide from 3rd to 8th coincided with Sam changing this winning formula to bring back Nolan and I am not foolish enough to say that you don’t rotate players or you stick rigidly to the same formation but he changed it when it didn’t need it but wouldn’t admit his mistake (until yesterday and only cos AC is out) and change it back. And to follow on from the article we are defending 1-0 leads with 30 minutes to go which is simply ridiculous, we were dominating teams and should have won by 2 or even 3 but ended up drawing, I would rather the opposition break away and score on the counter and draw the game than concede through defending a 1-0. It is time to say thanks Sam, thanks Kev, good luck in what you go to do but time to go. COYI
In my opinion one of BFS’s main problem is his attitude. Every time he speaks about a negative event(happened or could happen) it seams he’s trying to to safeguard himself. Momentum (his last words about next match against Palace), bad luck (yesterday against Totthenam), injuries, period full of matches, etc. But how many times did he take his responsibilities? In this way he creates alibis that don’t motivate players to do better.
It is great to see someone like Leroy say we are better without Nolan.I knew we were,everyone knows we are but when you read people saying he is still a good player or deserves his place in the team i even started to doubt my understanding of football,formations,team selections & tactics.Now i see Leroy say this i know im not cracking up & do know at least a little about football,lol.
I’d like reading an article written by conkerpot about this delicate period for Allardyce… lol
Haha,i think with the sun out here today Bonkerpot is too busy in Sams garden doing some jobs or maybe washing Allardyces cars 🙂
ahahahah… I agree with you… ahahahahah
I thought Teapot now worked for the Italian Tourist Board,doing promotional videos for them to highlight the many attractions of Italy that he loves so much 😉
ahahaahahha… Hi Rads, where were you??? Yes, rumors say conker works at a travel agency in Palermo promoting its territory…
Hello Matte,i was away for a few days.Staying at Teapots villa in Rimini,lol 🙂
ahahahha…. and are you still alive? Now I can sleep more easily… lol
Agree excellent summary by Leroy and true Cole for Noble a mystery but the lack of quality on the bench was a telling factor .The view by some that Nolan has been a automatic choice when everyone is fit this season when he has played only 11 +8 as sub and that Carroll played 12 games and scored 5 goals is not a asset seems flawed.
Love this post and comments – confirms everything most of us have been saying! #coyi
Rads,mattee and Tyson wish you had let me know been out for 2 days looking in Barcalona for Conkerpot never mind now we have found him I won’t look in spain any more,
Got to see Messi loose hy I was there till haven’t seen anything in Spain as slow as Nolan.
Conker’s vanishing is becoming a problem on global scale, I know Scotland Yard is taking action in this…. I saw one thing slower than Nolan, the turtle in my garden.
Conker’s vanishing is becoming a problem on global scale… I know Scotland Yard is taking action in this… I saw one thing slower than Nolan: the turtle in my garden.
Matte you must stop repeating your self,it’s a sign you could end up like conkerpot.
ahahahha… I don’t know why the message appeared twice… I’m worried…
On the key issue: Conkerpot has not de-registered himself from the site…we await with baited breath for his return