Posted December 17th, 2008
by Rahoul Baruah
Blackburn have appointed Sam Allardyce as their new manager.
Who does that leave for us?
Our Nigel – if the step up from League One to Championship is too much for CC why would Nigel be able to make an even bigger leap? Plus there are many rumours that he dislikes the club for how the board treated Sir Brian.
Roy Keane – did well at saving Sunderland in the Championship. But would he want to come back here and would we let him, given his departure?
Neil Warnock – he obviously has a soft spot for Forest and is a great manager; provided he’s on your side and not the opposition’s. But would we accept his dirty tricks and style of play?
Billy Davies – did well at Preston and at first at Derby (I reckon he was shafted by their board a bit). But not popular with either sets of fans now, which probably tells a tale.
Paul Ince – I think he’s got the makings of a great manager … one day.
Johnson, Martinez, Coppell – never gonna happen
Brian Laws – see above
Colin Calderwood – better the devil you know?
Tags: billy davies, brian laws, neil warnock, nigel clough, paul ince, roy keane, sam allardyce Posted in Rumours
Posted December 1st, 2008
by Rahoul Baruah
Bricks thrown at Barnsley fans in the Meadows, whilst Doughty still has Davies and Allardyce lined up to replace the bronzed one. And Citeh fans are simultaneously worried and confident about meeting us in the FA Cup.
Colin Calderwood
Tags: barnsley, billy davies, manchester city, nigel doughty, sam allardyce Posted in General, News
Posted November 26th, 2008
by Rahoul Baruah
The Daily Mail is again reporting that Big Sam is being lined up to replace Calderwood. This seems to be a story that won’t die and, to be honest, if Doughty is looking, then Allardyce has to be a candidate.
Do we want him though? I like him as a manager (although he did shit on Notts) – especially his use of psychology, sports science and modern training methods. And he did especially well at integrating a diverse dressing room full of “difficult” characters.
But there is the problem. We have a young, mainly Notts-based squad, playing for the most part attacking, stylish passing football. My Bolton-supporting mate says the hoofball thing was made up. However, before Sam, Bolton achieved promotion scoring over 100 goals. With Sam they were reknowned for grinding out one-nils with a team of old, over-the-hill misfits. Although admittedly, pre-Sam Bolton couldn’t stay up. I also remember reading an article showing that (using Opta statistics) Sam’s Newcastle had an average pass length of 20-30 yards (up from 5-15 yards previously).
So where does that leave us (apart from in trouble)? We have had “direct” managers before; some have even been popular (Harry Bassett, Paul Hart – the football at the end of his reign was “direct” to say the least). But in the back of my mind, I can’t help thinking Big Sam might be the wrong man at the wrong club (just like the current Bolton manager when he was here).
Tags: sam allardyce Posted in Opinion, Rumours
Posted October 5th, 2008
by Rish
Division remains amongst fans about whether CC should stay. I personally think that there would be nothing to gain from his departure; Kinnear left because the football was abject and results were poor, likewise Megson. Paul Hart was the only manager who united the fans in recent years, and yet there was division over his departure; I was one of a few who expressed relief, as despite the much-heralded footballing ideals, the standard of play was not good enough, and we had the familiar problem of no goals. Under CC, the football is still (mostly) good, the players are still putting in a decent amount of effort, but there are no goals at one end, and cheap ones conceded at the other.
A few years ago, I lived in London and was surrounded by Liverpool fans (don’t ask). They were all clamouring for Houllier to be replaced, and yet if I asked three different “fans” who they thought should replace him, I would get three different answers.
And that is the problem at Forest – there may never be a manager who will unite the fans, probably not even Clough Jr or Pearce; many Reds seem to have doubts over why Nigel has not made the step up already, and after a promising start, Stuart’s time at Man City ended in fairly ignominious fashion. Secondary to that is the fact that Stuart has got himself a decent job with the England set-up, and Nigel may fear the obvious connotations to do with his surname; so it could be that neither would be willing to come.
Some people talk about Sam Allardyce – I cannot, at this time, imagine a more divisive choice as far as Reds fans go. Allardyce’s success at Bolton was built upon a very, erm, pragmatic style of football, and with the exception of Kevin Nolan, the team was composed largely of ageing, highly-paid foreign imports; rightly or wrongly, I cannot see the Forest supporters taking that kind of thing to their hearts. Radio Nottingham did also point out that the club described the Sam Allardyce rumours as “rubbish”.
Others mention Alan Curbishley, and I am of the opinion that he did a marvellous job at Charlton – but would our supporters be as forgiving as the Addicks’ if we yo-yoed like they did? I also think that he massively underachieved at West Ham, given the amount of money and number of players he signed, including a whole team’s worth of injured players – even CC hasn’t signed that many crocks! It it also worth noting that at the time of Kevin Keegan’s departure from Newcastle, Curbishley’s name was mentioned, but a BBC correspondent (might have been Mike Ingham) told Radio 5Live that he is still in legal wrangles with West Ham over the terms of severance – so he may not be available for work anyway.
If anyone can think of any other candidates, then please feel free to mention them; however, I think it is far from constructive to shout “CC out” without first thinking of realistic options to replace him.
For what it’s worth, I feel that the problem lies mainly with the players, rather than CC. Of course, he still must bear overall responsibility, but I feel that changing manager now would be a knee-jerk reaction, and fear that if this were to happen, we would only go through the same upheaval again in twelve months’ time, if not before. Also, as we saw under Joe Kinnear and Big Ron, when a short-term manager comes in, discipline on and off the pitch does not seem to matter anymore, player turnover is high, it will damage any semblance of stability and cost lots of money. Finally, and I speak from experience on this last point: if your boss at work changes, it is very unsettling as an employee (and on this one, I don’t think it matters if you earn £16k per week or £16k per year). I can’t help but feel that it would only do more harm than good.
Tags: alan curbishley, colin calderwood, nigel clough, sam allardyce, stuart pearce Posted in General, Opinion, Rumours
