Big Sam is lost in the cube!
But he has simple solution to escape with point
IT WAS a traditional question to ask after a fightback, but the answer was anything but traditional.
‘Phillip Schofield in The Cube,’ said Sam Allardyce after being asked what he said to his players at half-time, given West Bromwich Albion were losing 1-0 and looked hopeless.
‘You know what he says? “Simplify”. Simplify our game. You just have to simplify your game, lads. You’re getting yourselves too confused. The second half was different. We turned a corner.’
Allardyce’s love of ITV game shows aside, West Brom did indeed show some fight. They took a 2-1 lead, showing they are not ready to simply succumb to relegation.
Big Sam introduced his new loan signing, the Galatasaray striker Mbaye Diagne, at the break.
Snowy West Bromwich is a long way from the warmth of Istanbul, but he landed in England at 8pm on Friday night and had an instant impact here yesterday, assisting Matheus Pereira for his goal.
‘He arrived last night, sent a text, a few emojis,’ Allardyce said of Diagne. ‘He could be effective for us. What I have to say is a great big thank you because we have searched and searched and searched. This guy has accepted to come join this battle.’
Allardyce’s only gripe is that they could not hold on to their lead. This turned out to be the draw neither manager wanted. They needed a win, and Scott Parker felt Fulham threw victory away. The visitors led 1-0 at half-time but as Parker explained: ‘That should be 3-0 or 4-0 at half-time. The game should have been out of sight. They have to make changes 20 minutes into the game and we have big, big chances. It should be done.
‘Eighteen games left, a long way to go, we’ll keep pushing.’
Parker can be proud that it was a combination of his two substitutes that saw Fulham avoid defeat, Harrison Reed crossing for Ivan Cavaleiro.
The side sitting in 18th were all over 19th-placed West Brom in the first half, with Aleksandar Mitrovic putting himself about.
This was his first Premier League start in 2021. He had not scored in any of his last 16 appearances in all competitions for club and country. Yet scoring is not all he does.
Ten minutes in, Mitrovic controlled a ball from Ademola Lookman with his chest. Kieran Gibbs went to close him down, but it was the wrong decision by the former Arsenal left back. Gibbs’ attraction to Mitrovic and the ball left Bobby Decordova- Reid all alone. Mitrovic played a nice through through-ball into his team team- mate’s path, and Dec Decordova-Reid found th the back of the net. Decordova-Reid really ought to have made it 2- 0 in the 18th minute, when he had only West B Brom goalkeeper S Sam Johnstone to be beat after Gibbs had seem seemingly tripped over his ow own feet. Unfortu Unfortunately for Parker, the shot struck the post. All ardycew as stood in the technical area wearing a parka with his hood up. You could sense his fury and, so unhappy was West Brom’s manager, that he made a substitution, replacing defender Dara O’Shea with forward Karlan Grant after just 24 minutes.
West Brom were glad to hear the half- time whistle go with them trailing by only the one goal. Allardyce responded by throwing on Diagne, who pi nned back Fulham’s defence.
Then it was 1-1. Pereira’s cross deflected off Fulham’s Ola Aina and the ball fell kindly for Kyle Bartley. Parker couldn’t believe it after all their first-half chances.
The visitors were shell-shocked. Then it got worse for Parker, as West Brom scored a second goal to go ahead.
Diagne played in a low cross which caught Fulham off guard and Pereira got to it ahead of Aina, beati ng goal keeper Alphonse Areola.
Could Fulham respond? They could, and it was down to the substitutes. Reed had the ball on the right wing, crossed and found Cavaleiro, who scored with a diving header. West Brom’s lead had lasted 11 minutes.
Fulham looked the likelier to nab a winner before full- time but it wasn’t to be. A point apiece, though both t hese t eams needed al l three, really.
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Home goals conceded by West Brom under Allardyce — and he’s only been there five games
WEST BROM (3-4-2-1): Johnstone 5.5; Ajayi 5.5, Bartley 5.5, O’Shea 5.5 (Grant 24min, 6); Furlong 5.5, Gallagher 6, Livermore 6 (Phillips 83), Gibbs 4.5; Snodgrass 5.5, Pereira 6; Robinson 4.5 (Diagne 45, 6). Booked: Bartley. Subs (not used): Button, Robson-Kanu. Townsend, Sawyers, Ivanovic, Peltier. FULHAM (3-4-3): Areola 5.5; Aina 5.5 (Tete 81), Andersen 5.5, Adarabioyo 5.5; Decordova-Reid 6 (Cavaleiro 72, 6), Lemina 6 (Reed 72, 6), Anguissa 6, Robinson 6; Loftus-Cheek 6, Mitrovic 6.5, Lookman 6. Subs (not used): Rodak, Hector, Kebano, Ream, Onomah, Kamara. Referee: A Taylor (Cheshire) 6.