[BaggieSteve]

I know we’ve been split over the Bilic v Allardyce issue and I appreciate the arguments over the squad Allardyce inherited but I think that boat has sailed now and we have to judge him without comparison with Bilic. He’s now been in charge for ten league games which a decent number of games in which to make an impact. My own view is that he has had an impact but it’s entirely negative. I cannot see any pattern to our play beyond defend and try not to concede. There is precious little focus on ball retention and creativity. Years ago Allardyce was incredibly innovative in his use of technology, training techniques etc but that was years ago. His approach now is so out of date, it’s painful.
I didn’t see the game v Sheffield United so will take Slick’s word that Pereira’s contribution was underwhelming but we desperately need to win games; we are unlikely to battle to a hard fought 1-0, with a goal on the break, as we have the worst defence in the league. So we need to play on the front foot with some ambition and creativity- for me, Pereira is the only player we have even close to being able to provide that. So, if Pereira doesn’t bust a guy in defending, I will give him a pass on that because none of the other gut-busters are capable of creating much. That’s what depressed me about Allardyce’s tactics today in leaving him out. He’s the only player, with the exception of Johnstone, who is close to PL class so you just don’t leave him out.
I agree with Slick that I thought we worked hard today...but we are long past hard work being our salvation. If hard work is the answer, bring back Pulis

I agree, now he has a few of his own players in, Allardyce needs to be judged on his own merit.

So far, his persistence with selecting Sawyers and constant chopping and changing is making me think he might not be quite as sharp as he once was...

I'm struggling to give him the benefit of the doubt, despite the fact I thought he would be the best man for the job.

The one thing I disagree with though, is that his tactics are prehistoric. Many people say this and use dinosaur terms, but I'm not sure what it means. Maybe it's me being blind to something, but I don't see his tactics being different to the vast majority of managers - young, old, British or foreign - who take teams at the bottom to the top sides away. If anything, I personally feel we are more progressive than under Bilic. We are at least getting players into the box from open play. In the week, a midfielder even scored a tap in, which we haven't seen for years in the top flight - dating back to pre-Pulis. Even today, as dreadful as we were, we managed to create a few decent changes. If Diagne knew the offside rule, we would've created numerous presentable opportunities.

On his future, I don't see the point in sacking him yet. I don't think any manager would keep us up now - Guardiola, Klopp, Mourinho - so don't see the benefit in letting him go when he's not had chance to play all of his new players together. I feel a lot of fans want him sacked already just so they can say "I told you so" as bomber alluded to above. They want it to happen before he's even had chance to turn it around.

But if he's really so dreadful, that statement will still ring true in 3,4,5,10 games time... It will just have more clout.

My opinion is that the players he has brought in are better than what we had. Diagne already looks an improvement, while Yoluslu looked more combinative in 5 minutes than Sawyers has all season. We know AMN is a decent player, which is why he's been in and around the England squad. Allardyce might as well have a few games with them all playing together, at least the next 3 if not 4, to see if he can at least make us look reasonable.

Although I do think not playing Yokuslu today was a massive mistake. If he continues to make them in the next 3-4 games, he can gladly bugger off.

I know I'm in the minority here, but I'm not overly enamoured with Matheus Pereira and that's why I'm giving Big Sam the benefit of the doubt for dropping him. For me, Matheus Pereira only cares about 1 person and that's Matheus Pereira. You can see when he plays, he will ignore the simple ball just so he can do something outrageous to make the highlight reel. Even last season, when we stumbled to promotion, he failed to impose himself on the must win games. It's frustrating because he's by far our most creative player and the one who has that knack of spotting the killer pass, but I don't think he's willing to do any dirty work for the team. And sadly, I don't think we're good enough to carry his lack of defensive contribution which is sometimes as lazy as not even being arsed to jog 5 yards into a player's break out path. I'm sure that's why he was dropped, because Chris Basham was Sheffield United's best player in the week marauding out of defence and not once did Pereira make any attempt to engage him. Allardyce has mentioned a few times that you have to defend from the front and I agree.

He will be the first to go when we go down, I'm sure. But I'm not sure where he will go because almost all of the decent sides in the Premier League demand work rate, even from their offensive players. I can see him going to a mid table side for big money and spending most of the time on their bench, playing in the odd cup game against lower league opposition.

Slick, my problem with his tactics are not limited to us playing away at higher level grounds, it’s at home as well. I basically don’t see any tactics or pattern beyond one that bypasses the midfield and punts the ball long. I accept that to play through the midfield you need the players who are technically capable of that but I believe we have those. I watch Fulham and Brighton and I see two teams who move the ball through the midfield, break quickly and create space. I watch us and I see balls knocked long or medium/long which just gift possession to the opposition- I haven’t looked at them but I’m guessing our possession stats in most games will be well below the oppositions. We either do not want to, or are not capable, of playing a possession game but our opponents are and it’s killing us.
I’d also say that, in the current situation with no crowds, home or away is largely irrelevant as can be seen by the number of away wins this year. Home advantage counts for little so there is not really any excuse for differing the tactics by ground - by opposition definitely but not by venue. That works for Allardyce as we play the same way regardless.
I’m with you in thinking there’s no point changing the manager now; I do think he’s awful but I believe we’re fu*ked already. I’d rather part company at the end of the season but start the process of identifying a replacement now for next season’s championship campaign