AMBITIOUS CLUB? DON’T GET BIG SAM
SometimeS, when one of his former clubs gets into trouble, its followers are asked, mockingly, whether they regret the loss of Sam Allardyce.
Happens at West Ham, happened at Newcastle and Crystal Palace, will no doubt happen at everton, too, if the early promise of the marco Silva era is not sustained.
the answer, in almost every case, is no. And here’s why. this week Allardyce (below) suggested it would be better for Burnley to get knocked out of europe. He cited the example of George Burley and ipswich. except that was 16 years ago, and ipswich didn’t go down because they were in the UeFA Cup.
they went down because they were ipswich. they went down in 1964, too, and 1986, and 1995.
in fact, ipswich have spent five of the last 32 seasons in the top division.
So, one imagines, the year that they reached the third round of the UeFA Cup, defeating torpedo moscow and Helsingborg on the way, before going out to inter milan, will be recalled as something of a highlight.
Allardyce would never see it that way, though, which is why he is no longer the manager for a club with ambition.
West Ham have not been able to pull it off, but they are at least trying to look up. everton, too.
By keeping Wilfried Zaha this summer, Crystal Palace showed that they are now ready to take the next step. Palace have never competed in a major european competition.
that must be a goal surely, just as it should be Burnley’s wish to get in the mix in the europa League group stage and see where it leads.
Definitely, at one point in his career, Allardyce wanted that, too. He talked of being able to manage Real madrid but settled for being Fireman Sam. that’s all he can ever be now, because even mid-table clubs have outgrown him.
BEATING Huddersfield 6-1 last weekend made it the 18th time Manchester City have won by a margin of five goals or more since Manchester United last did the same. November 23, 2013, against Bayer Leverkusen, a Champions League group game under David Moyes. It seems like another age. Probably because it was.
WeLL, it would appear Liverpool’s cover is blown. A club cannot break the world record for a centre half, and then for a goalkeeper, and claim to be the underdog. the excellent defensive performance at Crystal Palace on monday showed that Liverpool, as much as manchester City, are the team to beat this season. they are getting outstanding returns on their investments and should expect to challenge for the title. it would be crazy to expect less.
HAVING decided it was too soon for video assistant referees, UEFA now plan to introduce the concept in the Champions League, but only from the quarter-finals onwards. It’s as if truth is some form of optional extra only available in the high-end models. They’ve had all summer to come up with this, by the way.