Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Sam: Don’t play with the diving boots on
WEST BROM manager Sam Allardyce has warned his men getting gripped by fear is like putting on diving boots.
Big Sam is desperately trying to avoid sinking even further as his side face a crucial battle at relegation rivals Sheffield United tonight.
Allardyce believes one of the major obstacles to a side in trouble is fear, saying: “Desire to win can be overtaken by fear.
“We call it having the diver’s boots on. So instead of a pair of super lightweight football boots, they are suddenly made of lead and that makes players feel like they can’t deliver.”
The Baggies boss has also urged his men not to look at the table saying they could end up scaring themselves to death seeing how the bottom three appear to be getting cut adrift.
There is now a sevenpoint gap between
Brighton in 17th and the relegation zone.
Defeat is something Allardyce prefers to not even contemplate with a draw not that much higher up his list.
But he has told his men the mathematics are quite simple, saying: “It’s 38 points... that’s what we need.
“If the players look at the table then they’re silly. We’re desperate to get three points from this game. But it’s down to us.
“You can’t keep asking Newcastle or Brighton or Fulham or Burnley to do it for us, you’ve got to do it yourself.
“Other results don’t matter. Historically 38 points is enough and I think it will be enough this year.” He is convinced his sums are correct. His team have 12 points and Allardyce said: “It’s that simple, the quickest team to 38 points in this bottom eight will be the quickest team to be saved.
“If I’m still in the race with three games to go, I’ll be absolutely delighted, because believe you me, that’s how long it’ll take us to catch up.”
He says Sheffield
United boss Chris Wilder will fancy his side’s chances of closing the gap.
He said: “I know Chris extremely well. He will be saying to his players ‘This is one we really can win – let’s get out there and do it’.
“They’ve got a lot more confidence than they had a few weeks ago. Why shouldn’t they? They beat Manchester United.”