09 Feb 2018 08:39:51
Here's a question: What if SA gets us to 7th?

Will we do what West Ham did and get rid of him because it wasn't "the West Ham Way"?

I am not SA's biggest fan but he is doing better than the bloke who just got given the Netherlands job. I know the Arsenal game was woeful but I remember when finished forth we lost 4-1 to them at home and away (if memory serves right) .

IMO the state we are in we can't get the manager any of us want and the only way to get out of this mess is SA.

I know this will be very unpopular but its true, I would not be able to name a manager who would take over now and do a better job.

1.) 09 Feb 2018
09 Feb 2018 08:50:05
we will be lucky to finish top 10 never mind 7th.

2.) 09 Feb 2018
09 Feb 2018 09:35:21
One David Unsworth would have blatantly done a better job mate. I say kick him out as soon as 👍🏻.

3.) 09 Feb 2018
09 Feb 2018 09:41:41
When Moyes first took over, we lost (I think) 7-1 to an Arsenal kids side. I find it unbelievable that now we have a side assembled by 2 previous managers . that was losing games and leaking goals and not having a single shot on target. was taken over by a manager who 8 games into his tenure is getting slated left right and center.

4.) 09 Feb 2018
09 Feb 2018 11:18:59
If Big Sam gets us to 7th then it will probably be because the rest of the league is woeful.

I'm not saying he can't turn it around, but I've seen unimaginative tactics, baffling team selections and chopping and changing. That doesn't look like a man with a long term future. It looks like a man living game-by-game like Unsworth was.

Except the main difference is that at least Unsworth wanted to develop youngsters, which for me is the only way to break the top 6. Look at the way the youngsters have been treated. Kenny only played because he had no-one else, Holgate got a little run and then got dropped before losing form. Baningime never got a real chnce despite Schneiderlin being horrific, and Davies only gets to play when Schneiderlin puts a 1/ 10 performance instead of his usual 2/ 10. Vlasic and Lookman can't even get on the bench, the latter being loaned out and publicly dressed down for wanting to challenge himself. Even Calvert-Lewin has been in and out of the lineup. Allardyce has no interest in developing youngsters because he knows that he's out of his depth and doesn't stand a cat in hell's chance of a contract extension.

Coincidentally, someone posted on here a while back that when we beat West Ham 4-0 it was a culmination of Unsworth working with the team and figuring out how to make our pick and mix squad work. Sam then took the credit of that and rode the crest of Rhino's wave until he thought we were safe, then switched to his own tactics, and we all know how that has turned out. I'm not saying that this is fact, but it is an interesting thought nonetheless.

5.) 09 Feb 2018
09 Feb 2018 12:39:58
BT your first line said it all really mate.
We are lucky this league is bang average, full of players who are very very fortunate to be making such a fantastic living with such little talent.

6.) 09 Feb 2018
09 Feb 2018 16:37:11
Blue Tommy, I agree with that last part you wrote. Yes some of the performances under Unsworth were terrible but I truly believe he took over the team at the hardest point of the season and it was his work that laid the foundations for the run of results that followed. It shouldn't also be underestimated that his efforts and approach were based on a balanced style of football which made the progress he achieved even more impressive. I fully believe that we would be no worse off now had we stuck with Unsworth and we would have also seen far more development of the young players which is vital for next season and beyond.

When Allardyce took over we were 13th and 5 points off the bottom 3. Now we are 10th and 7 points off the bottom 3. Hardly a massive turn around. I don't think the view that Allardyce has steadied the ship and taken us away from danger is really that accurate.

7.) 09 Feb 2018
09 Feb 2018 18:07:31
Koeman took over a Martinez side that finished 11th but got them to 7th, and not only got them to 7th, did it by about 14 points. With may I add, a lot of Moyes players.
So I'm not buying this it's not Sam's team. No it isn't. But it is what it is and he has been employed to make it work. He should now know his best 18 from a deep squad of 33, and has added 3 of his own.
It's time for him to show us what he is capable of.
Nobody on here can tell us we have 33 terrible players in the squad!
Rooney would get in every squad in the prem bar the top 6.
Coleman would get in every team in the prem.
Gana, Walcott, siggy and pickford would make the team of everyone outside the top 6.
It's time for results, consistency, not time for excuses.