Big Sam: Blackburn Rovers were not clever enough (From Lancashire Telegraph)
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Big Sam: Blackburn Rovers were not clever enough
11:10am Monday 8th February 2010 in
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- By Andy Cryer » Blackburn Rovers reporter
SAM Allardyce admits his Blackburn Rovers side were not clever enough to see off Stoke City’s physical challenge – but insists referee Steve Bennett has to shoulder some of the blame as well.
The Rovers boss was furious with his side’s defending as they gifted the hosts a 2-0 half time lead but also pointed to key decisions in playing a part in the defeat.
Allardyce insists his side should have been awarded a penalty when Chris Samba’s header appeared to strike Dean Whitehead’s hand on the line, before blasting the decision to send off the African soon after the break.
He said: “We knew we would have to come here and work hard and anything we got we were going to have to make ourselves.
“What we didn’t do was stop Stoke doing what they do. If we had defended correctly we would have been well in the game.
“The blame is some of ours and some of the referees.
"It has accumulated in a very disappointing 3-0 defeat on our behalf.
“We didn’t match them physically because we are not quite as physical as them but we had to be cleverer.
"A lot of the time we weren't clever enough in our thought pattern and our game pattern.
“We got big chances though at 1-0 down, one was taken away by the official and the other one was a missed sitter from us.
"They are the critical moments and we didn't get them right.”
Danny Higginbotham volleyed Stoke ahead on just nine minutes, after being left unmarked by Pascal Chimbonda, before Gael Givet allowed Mamady Sidibe double the lead on 45 minutes.
Matthew Etherington made sure of the win after the break with a third, although by then Samba had already seen red for being booked twice for innocuous challenges.
Allardyce said: “It is easy to see where we have gone wrong for the first goal.
"By not marking the Stoke players correctly and because we haven’t done that, we have been working on it for two days, we decide to let Higginbotham free.
“Great credit for the finish but we should have had someone nearer.
“So we go 1-0 down and it is not the end of the world.
"We come storming back, we have Franco's header from six yards out that has to hit the target.
“Then we have got that flurry of corners, six on the trot, and there is huge pressure on Stoke.
"Then Chris Samba comes up with a monster, monster header – the ball is going in the back of the net and Whitehead puts his arm out and it goes wide.
“It should have been 1-1, or a penalty and Stoke down to 10 men and us back in the game.
"It is unfair from our point of view and it is the second time we have had this situation. We had the same at West Ham and we have been really given a bitter pill to swallow.
“It it is not the referee’s fault for our defending on the second goal, that is poor defending from Givet at the far post and of course it is an uphill battle.
“Then lo and behold we bizarrely get Chris Samba sent off.
"I don’t know why he was booked for the first one. Now it is a sending off and we miss him.
"All in all a very disappointing day indeed.”
Comments(48)
Ossy blue
says...
11:22am Mon 8 Feb 10
Stone Island
says...
11:42am Mon 8 Feb 10
.
Talking of moving on?
BRFCBrabant
says...
12:07pm Mon 8 Feb 10
SAM OUT NOW!!
jeppo
says...
12:50pm Mon 8 Feb 10
blueandwhitey79
says...
12:54pm Mon 8 Feb 10
eddie the eagle
says...
1:13pm Mon 8 Feb 10
eddie the eagle
says...
1:16pm Mon 8 Feb 10
harwoodblue
says...
1:24pm Mon 8 Feb 10
eddie the eagle
says...
1:30pm Mon 8 Feb 10
Kappy
says...
1:47pm Mon 8 Feb 10
harwoodblue
says...
2:13pm Mon 8 Feb 10
eddie the eagle wrote:I wouldnt mind if the were 50p or £1's against Sunderland the amount of coins that hit me on the back of the head would have paid for my bargain bin season ticket.
HARWOODBLUE:Maybe the tragic events at weekend will deter the coin throwers or am I just being naive.
bed and breakfast man_!
says...
2:31pm Mon 8 Feb 10
Stone Island wrote:You have put what i was thinking,Some still have the blinkers on , To what Sam is doing to Blackburn Rovers.....
Your not clever enough Sam, and that is the problem. The game has moved on in the last few years, unfortunately, you haven't. . Talking of moving on?
Dragging us down.
Morst
says...
2:50pm Mon 8 Feb 10
jeppo wrote:Hey is that a chink of light reaching the bunker Jeppo?
Stoke played ugly football, their win shouldn't count. Some of their fans even cheered their long ball goals...the world's going mad!!
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The next stage is you now realise we were 100% equally as diabolical to watch?
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31st.......
Morst
says...
2:55pm Mon 8 Feb 10
bed and breakfast man_! wrote:Hey B+B how's it going?
Stone Island wrote:You have put what i was thinking,Some still have the blinkers on , To what Sam is doing to Blackburn Rovers.....
Your not clever enough Sam, and that is the problem. The game has moved on in the last few years, unfortunately, you haven't. . Talking of moving on?
Dragging us down.
.
I think we have been good to our word this season and given Sam a chance but now the worry is could he destroy our squad of ball players before we get rid of him?
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He just has only one way to play and it will never be welcome at BRFC. I could not care if we were top 10 like Stoke playing that drivel would still depress me and send me back to the armchair until he goes.
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31st.......
bed and breakfast man_!
says...
3:33pm Mon 8 Feb 10
Morst wrote:Hey up Morst, I am fine thanks, I hate to sound negative with my post.
bed and breakfast man_! wrote:Hey B+B how's it going? . I think we have been good to our word this season and given Sam a chance but now the worry is could he destroy our squad of ball players before we get rid of him? . He just has only one way to play and it will never be welcome at BRFC. I could not care if we were top 10 like Stoke playing that drivel would still depress me and send me back to the armchair until he goes. . 31st.......Stone Island wrote: Your not clever enough Sam, and that is the problem. The game has moved on in the last few years, unfortunately, you haven't. . Talking of moving on?You have put what i was thinking,Some still have the blinkers on , To what Sam is doing to Blackburn Rovers..... Dragging us down.
I do think the end of the season is the time for the end of Sam ,Has now would be stupid to get shot, Its just bloody awful football , Not what Blackburn is about at all, Its like he is sucking the life out the club.
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This may sound a little daft, But it is like when Terry Venables took over at Leeds (A long time ago, I know) Terry had a good reputation, On the back of Spurs, And a good Euro 96, But by the time he took over at Leeds the game had changed, And it not big changes that change in a day, But the game is changing all the time.And it had for Terry, Thus he never got back to the big time.
Its is showing to me that Sam's tactics are from the past, But he is too stubborn to try anything else, And when he does try anything , Next game we are back to the same old sh1te.
therighthon
says...
3:51pm Mon 8 Feb 10
Bill Carson
says...
4:26pm Mon 8 Feb 10
jeppo
says...
4:46pm Mon 8 Feb 10
Referring to Eddies post above...if it is the case that 'fan power' wants Sam out, surely our Premiership future needs to be number one priority. Can we pay Sam off, bring a new manager in and then expect him to progress to the level expected within the constraints - or is that too much of a gamble?
floydbrfc
says...
4:59pm Mon 8 Feb 10
Morst
says...
5:26pm Mon 8 Feb 10
jeppo wrote:As long as we play FOOTBALL and not hoofball Jeppo I really don't care!
But the fact is, Rovers WILL stay up. We will also finish in a higher position than we did last season, and with a lower wage bill, and a younger average age of squad. It may be grim along the way, but that is the reality of it.
Referring to Eddies post above...if it is the case that 'fan power' wants Sam out, surely our Premiership future needs to be number one priority. Can we pay Sam off, bring a new manager in and then expect him to progress to the level expected within the constraints - or is that too much of a gamble?
.
There must be many managers out there who would look at us and say - £50m wage bill, established squad, some good experience mixed with young players with potential - yes as long as they don't expect to finish top 6 I could do that job and entertain and be clear of relegation.
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31st.......
Morst
says...
5:28pm Mon 8 Feb 10
.
31st.........
tommalta
says...
5:36pm Mon 8 Feb 10
Miller11
says...
5:42pm Mon 8 Feb 10
jeppo wrote:It is certainly not a fact we will stay up. Especially when you consider who we have to play. A lot of our remaining fixtures our manager has a habit of throwing.
But the fact is, Rovers WILL stay up. We will also finish in a higher position than we did last season, and with a lower wage bill, and a younger average age of squad. It may be grim along the way, but that is the reality of it.
Referring to Eddies post above...if it is the case that 'fan power' wants Sam out, surely our Premiership future needs to be number one priority. Can we pay Sam off, bring a new manager in and then expect him to progress to the level expected within the constraints - or is that too much of a gamble?
Billypieman
says...
6:27pm Mon 8 Feb 10
Morst
says...
7:03pm Mon 8 Feb 10
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Very well put!
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31st..
jeppo
says...
7:09pm Mon 8 Feb 10
Probably same as you, I reflect on those days at the top of Division 3 in the early 80's with great pleasure, but like it or not, we are a Premier League club now, and the only option is that we move ourselves forward as a Premier League club. Maintaining our place in the league, sad as it is, HAS to be the most important thing.
Beyond that, the only way that we can progress on the field, without any real finance, is to scramble for mid table security and slowly build from there - it cannot be instant. Whether Sam is our manager or not, it will always be very very difficult for Blackburn Rovers...until we are sold, and then the troubles really begin, lol!
Jarred
says...
7:17pm Mon 8 Feb 10
I'm afraid you're wrong their Morst. In his latest interview, JW admitted that player sales were offsetting the deficit created by high wages.
£5 million of Roque Santa Cruz's transfer fee went to offset last year's £5 million loss.
£5 million of Stephen Warnock's fee went to offset a predicted £5 million loss this year.
So Sam Allardyce worked on a -£10,000,000 transfer budget last summer (approx £25 million sold, approx £15 million bought).
Do you still think a young manager could come in and keep us up and play entertaining football on that sort of budget?
I understand your concerns, but the simple fact is that if we fire Sam and bring in a younger, less experienced manager, we could very well end up in the championship.
The only available manager with the experience of keeping teams in the Premiership other than Sam that I can think of is Alan Curbishley - but he's gone on record as saying he'd want to take over a club with some resources so he could push the top half of the table.
I can see how a -£5 million a year budget is going to impress him.
marghen
says...
7:26pm Mon 8 Feb 10
Miller11 wrote:Jeppo my sweetie, realism is what miller says
jeppo wrote: But the fact is, Rovers WILL stay up. We will also finish in a higher position than we did last season, and with a lower wage bill, and a younger average age of squad. It may be grim along the way, but that is the reality of it. Referring to Eddies post above...if it is the case that 'fan power' wants Sam out, surely our Premiership future needs to be number one priority. Can we pay Sam off, bring a new manager in and then expect him to progress to the level expected within the constraints - or is that too much of a gamble?It is certainly not a fact we will stay up. Especially when you consider who we have to play. A lot of our remaining fixtures our manager has a habit of throwing.
.
Man U H
Arsenal H
Chelsea H
Spurs A
Liverpool A
Villa A
.
Definitely no points from these games -so that leaves…
.
Birmingham H
Everton H
Wolves A
Burnley A
..can anyone guarantee picking points up Brum & Toffees showing great form of late very hard games-Wolves away similar trip to the Stoke fixture -tough Dingles 31 years coming to an end -their home form is superb. 3 points at most from these IMO
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The critical fixtures
.
Hull H
Bolton H
Portsmouth A
These are the most important games of the season, the winnable games, will we win them all? No- 5/6 points at most IMO
.
Total points 8/9 at best- Total points for the season 36/7points at best IMO-
banjo's at ewood
says...
7:29pm Mon 8 Feb 10
BRFCBrabant
says...
8:13pm Mon 8 Feb 10
Personally I think if sam was sacked now or at the end of the season the result would be the same. We will survive by the skin of our teeth.
Alan Curbishley
Alan Pardew
Alan shearer
Mark Hughes
Ruud Guillet
Steve Coppell
George Burley
Mark Hughes
Paul Jewell
Gary Megson
Mike Newell
BRFCBrabant
says...
8:16pm Mon 8 Feb 10
Miller11
says...
8:29pm Mon 8 Feb 10
The tragic thing is how, like you, I have written (at least 6) games off in my head. Usually, I'd always think we could do something against the likes of Man U, at least I knew we'd have a go. Not with this idiot in charge though!
Rovers Number 9
says...
8:30pm Mon 8 Feb 10
hasslem hasslem
says...
8:45pm Mon 8 Feb 10
marghen wrote:I agree largely with your assessement, but am trying to be more optimistic.
Miller11 wrote:Jeppo my sweetie, realism is what miller says . Man U H Arsenal H Chelsea H Spurs A Liverpool A Villa A . Definitely no points from these games -so that leaves… . Birmingham H Everton H Wolves A Burnley A ..can anyone guarantee picking points up Brum & Toffees showing great form of late very hard games-Wolves away similar trip to the Stoke fixture -tough Dingles 31 years coming to an end -their home form is superb. 3 points at most from these IMO . The critical fixtures . Hull H Bolton H Portsmouth A These are the most important games of the season, the winnable games, will we win them all? No- 5/6 points at most IMO . Total points 8/9 at best- Total points for the season 36/7points at best IMO-jeppo wrote: But the fact is, Rovers WILL stay up. We will also finish in a higher position than we did last season, and with a lower wage bill, and a younger average age of squad. It may be grim along the way, but that is the reality of it. Referring to Eddies post above...if it is the case that 'fan power' wants Sam out, surely our Premiership future needs to be number one priority. Can we pay Sam off, bring a new manager in and then expect him to progress to the level expected within the constraints - or is that too much of a gamble?It is certainly not a fact we will stay up. Especially when you consider who we have to play. A lot of our remaining fixtures our manager has a habit of throwing.
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with that optimism in mnd - i see us getting 38/39 points which by reckoning will be just about enough.
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none of us has crystal balls (and if we did we would all be millionaires), but i certainly do not have blind faith in the current regime's ability to keep us up.
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the pompey (if they are still around) and wolves games are the most important ones for me.
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i do understand how everybody seems to think it is vital that we stay in prem....why? absolutely on the current business model in terms of income and expenditure. i accept that it would be a totally different club in all respects if we went down, but if it is as well run as most of us claim it is then we will cope.
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to be honest i am fed up of the patient being kept alive and in the premiership - on a life support machine and on nil by mouth. merely existing does not constitute life, and to me there is more to life than sky tv money. i know virtually everbody will disagree with me - but my views are honest and from the heart.
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will anybody on here stop supporting rovers if we go down - if the answer is yes then they are not supporters and we can all do without you.
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said it before and say it again, rovers will be my team - be they in prem, chump, d1, d2 or blue square.
Miller11
says...
8:47pm Mon 8 Feb 10
Rovers Number 9 wrote:"I'm pleased with the 3 points. It means we don't have to go and get a win against west ham."
I think BFS will keep us up. I just wished he have given Tugay an extra year, he might have only played 50 mins a game , he was the only clever player we had, I rather have Tugay the great rather than Salgardo the inpersonator. We need to keep the faith and the FANS get behind the team. STOP THE NEGATIVITY
After Beating Wigan.
"Of course he's not a top player any more. If he was he wouldn't be playing for Blackburn Rovers."
On his big signing of the January window Basturk.
"We cannot beat Chelsea by playing football."
After a 5-0 defeat playing no football.
All quotes from a certain Mr. Allardyce.
Shame we aren't all as positive as our manager. You'd think his infectious enthusiasm would rub off on all us supporters wouldn't you!
eddie the eagle
says...
9:28pm Mon 8 Feb 10
hasslem hasslem
says...
10:22pm Mon 8 Feb 10
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i have no doubt that the powers that be maintain that relegation would be a disaster - financial armageddon - but without being clever... armageddon - would it really be the end of the world?
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if we avoided relegation and then made good progress next year (and i am not being daft and expecting champs league) both in results and style - then MAYBE this season is a price worth paying. given sam's overall negativity, i find it hard to believe that will be the case, if we survive. i would be delighted to be proved wrong.
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but one thing is clear that if we repeat this season, next season then enough will have to be enough.
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i dont mind tv channels hating us, i dont mind other team's supporters hating us but i do mind our own supporters hating us.
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from 1979 to about 1997 it was great being a rovers fan even with the likes of bobby saxton. Sure we have had a few "ropey" seasons since then but nothing as bad as the last two years. Personally, i thought recruiting ince was a risk worth taking (it didn't turn out that way) sam's appointment led to us avoiding relegation for which we should be and are grateful in what was a shocking season. this season has been worse because there has been no progress in playing style. POMO is largely discredited unless you are charlie hughes. we may have some PROMISING young 'uns with recruitment of Kalanic and N'Zonzi, but given the history of Chimbonda and Diouf - I wouldn't want to rely on them as the long term future of our club. For whatever reason Givet doesnt seem the player of last year - dont understand why.
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I dont think there is a snowflakes chance in hell of Hughes coming back (and it would be wrong) - but i yearn for a signing like Bellamy, McCarthy, Roque, Savage, Samba, Warnock - none of them cost a fortune - but excited the crowd (even if in savage's case - it was cos he ran around a lot)
Coach Taylor
says...
10:44pm Mon 8 Feb 10
local chap
says...
11:01pm Mon 8 Feb 10
BRFCBrabant wrote:shearer and hendry defo but to be honest it wont happen we need someone older but not has old has sam ,o'leary ,southgate,jewell,cl
Anybody fancy a shearer and newell partnership again??
oughy with one of the first two to at least go out with a game plan
Roverthere
says...
5:06am Tue 9 Feb 10
Morst
says...
9:22am Tue 9 Feb 10
Jarred wrote:Sorry mate but that quote I gave is taken from THE CHAIRMANS own STATEMENT from the recently published accounts!
'And Jeppo the board have said we are a trading club and not a selling club for at least the next 4 years - compare that to several other teams.'
I'm afraid you're wrong their Morst. In his latest interview, JW admitted that player sales were offsetting the deficit created by high wages.
£5 million of Roque Santa Cruz's transfer fee went to offset last year's £5 million loss.
£5 million of Stephen Warnock's fee went to offset a predicted £5 million loss this year.
So Sam Allardyce worked on a -£10,000,000 transfer budget last summer (approx £25 million sold, approx £15 million bought).
Do you still think a young manager could come in and keep us up and play entertaining football on that sort of budget?
I understand your concerns, but the simple fact is that if we fire Sam and bring in a younger, less experienced manager, we could very well end up in the championship.
The only available manager with the experience of keeping teams in the Premiership other than Sam that I can think of is Alan Curbishley - but he's gone on record as saying he'd want to take over a club with some resources so he could push the top half of the table.
I can see how a -£5 million a year budget is going to impress him.
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I think the comment you refer to was the explanation of why the Santa money was not all available for spending. (£6m was spent on Kalinic.
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Jeppo - In the end we will have to accept we don't see eye to eye on this one. You don't have to keep Big Sam to stay up in my view. He could do serious damage to this squad and still get us relegated and then we are in the mire.
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31st...
jeppo
says...
9:27am Tue 9 Feb 10
Somewhere between you and Eddie lies the truth, I think. As a fan, I was probably more proud of being a Rovers fan when we were a battling lower division club, but nontheless, the Premier League is what the game is all about, both in football terms and (more importantly) financially. Remember a few years ago- Match of the Day aint half as interesting when you're not in the Prem, for a start!!
Fact is that, as a business, Rovers have to do anything in their powers to stay in the league for as long as possible...what is the best way to do that?
Answer is...I'm not sure really, but given the Ince experience, the cost of change and the options available, I can only see that we stick with Sam - particularly as we are 12th and there are a lot of poor teams below us.
Longer term...there are definately positives from Sams reign, but a lot of the performances are disappointing, plus about 3 critical ones have gone the wrong way (Wigan(a), Sunderland(h), West Ham (h) in particular).
Will we play better football in the longer term...looking at the signings, I believe the answer would be yes.
Given the general hatred of all things Sam amongst the support though, plus a couple more dodgy results in the next 4 games - things will look different.
...in the same way that things could look a lot more positive with 2 wins from the next 2 games!!
hasslem hasslem
says...
10:00am Tue 9 Feb 10
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As long as Allardyce be-littles our club with his negative comments about Blackburn Rovers in general, then he will have no respect from me.
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Anti-Beni- think you will find that Beni was ridiculed by Allardyce as well as going on strike. So, are you pro-Sam, or pro-Beni? They can't both be right.
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You know my contempt for Diouf as member of the human race (and i am aware that virtually none of them are angels, not even the boy lineker). This has largely been down to his non-football behaviour - but this is now exacerbated by his lack of contribution on the pitch.
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By the way MOTD is not fun with Rovers on. Can't remember the last time that i looked forward to seeing fleeting glimpses of another 0-0 at around midnight or being second or third game on getting whupped 3, or 4-nil
Morst
says...
10:22am Tue 9 Feb 10
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I think Sam should go in the summer before he can conduct anymore transfers. We should be planning now for his replacement with the objective of staying up and playing better football.
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I think we will scrape enough points to stay up only because even 35 - 36 points might be enough this season. I would expect us to be in the range 37 to 42 points.
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31st......
up_norf
says...
12:09pm Tue 9 Feb 10
jeppo
says...
2:33pm Tue 9 Feb 10
Hasslem, I'm pro Blackburn Rovers, of course it can be right to support both parties - how ridiculous! I didn't 'choose sides' in the Batty/Le Saux incident either...was I supposed to??
hasslem hasslem
says...
3:26pm Tue 9 Feb 10
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then again, i dont have 20 years worth of brilliant communication experience with the media that sam has.
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all hail sam - he is a genius.
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blueette says...
11:21am Mon 8 Feb 10
Stop attributing our inept performances to referees - nobody but yourself is to blame for the paucity of our squad and the cowardliness of an approach which sees you stick a centre forward on the right wing to match up with Stoke
Let's face the facts - Stoke are a horrible, non-footballing side but we are an even worse version of the same who couldn't match them in any area of the field
Your tactics and whole demeanour are a shameful embarassment to a club which two years ago was challenging for a top six or seven spot playing proper football
Keep us up and resign - you will never be loved or accepted here, just tolerated as long as you don't visit complete disaster upon us to go along with the 50-odd games of utterly unwatchable garbage you have served up