SAM’S ON THE SLIDE
...and Allardyce has no idea how to fix his flops
SAM ALLARDYCE has admitted that Everton are drifting – and he’s running out of ideas to sort them out as he fights to save his job.
The former England boss faced a barrage of abuse from the travelling fans at Turf Moor as a pathetic second-half display saw his side slump to a sixth straight away defeat.
Everton’s supporters were enraged by their team’s lack of attacking ambition and by Allardyce’s baffling second-half substitutions.
They could not understand why he brought on Wayne Rooney to feature beside Gylfi Sigurdsson – having admitted in January that they could not play together because they both lack pace.
Greedy
And when he then took off lively goalscorer Cenk Tosun before also replacing Sigurdsson, it became too much for the visiting support.
They chanted “F*** off Sam Allardyce” and “There’s only one greedy b ****** ”, making it clear that they want the manager out barely three months after he was appointed.
Everton’s boss tried to explain afterwards that Tosun was tiring, and that he wanted to freshen up the attack. But the supporters were not buying it.
Allardyce said: “The season is drifting, it’s already drifting, there’s no doubt about that. It’s been drifting for some considerable time.” The worry for Allardyce is that his trusted methods for success are not working at Goodison Park.
He prides himself on discipline, clean sheets and getting results – but his players failed on all three counts at Burnley.
Tosun’s headed opener – his first goal for Everton – should have set up a rare away win but, instead, the visitors fell apart.
Michael Keane, signed for £30m from Burnley last July, was caught on his heels as Ashley Barnes raced on to Matt Lowton’s superb through ball to fire past Jordan Pickford.
Then Keane was outjumped as Burnley striker Chris Wood lost Ashley Williams to head in Johann Gudmundsson’s corner with 10 minutes left.
It got worse for Everton captain Williams, deservedly sent off for throwing an elbow at Barnes.
Allardyce is scrambling for solutions, adding: “My belief is you’ve got to instil the basic principles of how to win a game of football into these players so they continue doing well when the new manager gets familiar.
“But that is not happening as well as I expect it to at the moment.”
He may run out of time too, with Starsport revealing Everton owner Farhad Moshiri is keen on tempting Arsene Wenger to Goodison Park.
Burnley won for the first time in 11 Premier League games and Wood – back after more than two months out with a knee injury – said: “There are nine games left and a lot can happen.
“The winless run hasn’t played on the minds of anyone in the changing room. We know what we’re about.” BURNLEY (4-1-4-1): Pope 6; LOWTON 8, Tarkowski 6, Mee 7, Ward 6; Lennon 7; Cork 6, Westwood 6, Gudmundsson 7, Hendrick 4 (Wood 46, 8); Barnes 7. Subs: Lindegaard, Bardsley, Long, Marney, Nkoudou, Vokes. UP NEXT: West Ham (a), Premier League, Saturday. EVERTON (4-2-3-1): Pickford 6; Coleman 6, Williams 4, Keane 4, Martina 5; Walcott 6, Gueye 6; Davies 6 (Rooney 59, 5), SIGURDSSON 7 (Bolasie 83), Calvert-Lewin 6; Tosun 7 (Niasse 68, 5). Subs: Robles, Holgate, Baines, Schneiderlin. UP NEXT: Brighton (h), Premier League, Saturday. Referee: Chris Kavanagh 7. YOUR TURN: Which Canadian midfielder scored his only goal of the League campaign in the last minute of Burnley’s 2-1 home win against Everton last season?