Blues in relegation scrap says Allardyce

[paulbefc]

It does my head in.

Considering we’ve still got the likes of Palace, Brighton, Newcastle & Southampton at home to play and go away to Watford, Huddersfield, Stoke & Swansea. We’ve got more than enough opportunities to pick up points and keep ourselves comfortably away from it.

This. It's ridiculous.

 

[Dogs_of_War]

What does my head in is, we have played three games recently against West Brom (twice) and Bournemouth teams! West Brom first time around and Bournemouth both in the bottom three before those games started! We managed the sum total of two points from those three games!
Yes we have opportunities coming up, should “we keep ourselves comfortably away from it” - yes we should! Will we, well that’s what we’ll all have to wait and see, it ain’t going to be easy watching that’s for sure!

It happens mate, Liverpool dropped points against bottom of the league last night.

Don’t get me wrong, the performances in all 3 games were terrible but it doesn’t mean we’re in a relegation battle because we haven’t done aswell as expected there.

 

[Creature]

Don't apologise. They are needed for those who are ignoring the reality of the situation and are claiming we are doomed when there are 11 worse teams than us as it stands, and likely will be at least 8 or 9 come the end of the season, even if we continue our poor run of form.

I think in some of these people's minds, they have genuinely told themselves that we will struggle to get even say 5 more points and clubs like Swansea and West Brom will go on a winning streak and if we don't get to 40 points we're down.

Amazing to have so much confidence. I'm not sure how considering the way we are playing at the moment.

You do realise that when looking at the league table there is more than one column you should consider?
If you look at the last column you will see a 'points total'. This is the one you should consider as this shows we are 6 points off the relegation zone which equates to 2 games.

How can you go to the match (if you do) and not see what I'm seeing? We are so poor that 6 points is really not enough to be so sure. You seem to be totally reliant on our position in the league as it stands?? If there were only 4/6 games to go then fine but there's a lot more and unless fs gets his act together then we will be in bad bad trouble.

We are one of the worst teams in the league and if not for Pickford I dread to think what we'd be facing.

I pray I'm totally wrong and my concerns are ridiculous but I can't see us changing.

Leicester is truly a guide to see if this mini break has or will have helped.

 

[TraffordBlue]

Amazing to have so much confidence. I'm not sure how considering the way we are playing at the moment.

You do realise that when looking at the league table there is more than one column you should consider?
If you look at the last column you will see a 'points total'. This is the one you should consider as this shows we are 6 points off the relegation zone which equates to 2 games.

How can you go to the match (if you do) and not see what I'm seeing? We are so poor that 6 points is really not enough to be so sure. You seem to be totally reliant on our position in the league as it stands?? If there were only 4/6 games to go then fine but there's a lot more and unless fs gets his act together then we will be in bad bad trouble.

We are one of the worst teams in the league and if not for Pickford I dread to think what we'd be facing.

I pray I'm totally wrong and my concerns are ridiculous but I can't see us changing.

Leicester is truly a guide to see if this mini break has or will have helped.

I have a season ticket and go to most of the aways so yes I do attend.

You have pointed out the points column and that has contributed to us being the 9th highest side in the league, despite us being poor for nearly the whole season. There are 8 teams between us and the relegation places and those sides are there for a reason. Many of them have worse form than us since Allardyce took over.

I'm not suggesting that any of us should be happy about the situation so don't think I am, but unless we have a staggering collapse where we get less than about 7 points from 42 available then we simply won't be relegated this season.

 

[Dogs_of_War]

Amazing to have so much confidence. I'm not sure how considering the way we are playing at the moment.

You do realise that when looking at the league table there is more than one column you should consider?
If you look at the last column you will see a 'points total'. This is the one you should consider as this shows we are 6 points off the relegation zone which equates to 2 games.

How can you go to the match (if you do) and not see what I'm seeing? We are so poor that 6 points is really not enough to be so sure. You seem to be totally reliant on our position in the league as it stands?? If there were only 4/6 games to go then fine but there's a lot more and unless fs gets his act together then we will be in bad bad trouble.

We are one of the worst teams in the league and if not for Pickford I dread to think what we'd be facing.

I pray I'm totally wrong and my concerns are ridiculous but I can't see us changing.

Leicester is truly a guide to see if this mini break has or will have helped.

We're 6 points above Southampton (18th), but between them and us there's 8 teams. So there's 8 other teams who would also have to pick up points to drag us into a relegation battle.

Even based on current form, the likes of Southampton, Watford, Huddersfield & Brighton have all picked up similair points to us, your talking about these teams asif they're all in good form and on the verge of overtaking us.

Burnley are currently in the worst form in the league and they're 6 points above us. So if anything, we should be looking at catching them.

 

[Creature]

I have a season ticket and go to most of the aways so yes I do attend.

You have pointed out the points column and that has contributed to us being the 9th highest side in the league, despite us being poor for nearly the whole season. There are 8 teams between us and the relegation places and those sides are there for a reason. Many of them have worse form than us since Allardyce took over.

I'm not suggesting that any of us should be happy about the situation so don't think I am, but unless we have a staggering collapse where we get less than about 7 points from 42 available then we simply won't be relegated this season.

Unfortunately I see many of those teams below us being able to get results that put us under more pressure. I also hope we can get a lift and go on a 'run' and get 12 from 15 like a few weeks ago but wether we can remains to be seen with the lack of tactics we are showing now.

I would also pray for more than 7 points as that is cutting it very close if, in fact, it is enough.

We always believe we can catch teams that are 'only' 7 points ahead yet many fans think we can't be caught by teams 6 points behind.....baffling.

 

[Barnfred 55]

Come on mate, are some people really still dancing this dance?

Despite how often it is said to the contrary by certain folk, we've been in trouble pretty much from the start of the season. The spectre of relegation has been omnipresent throughout. Most sensible supporters accepted it back before Koeman was even sacked

Our whole preparation for the season has been terrible, which is down mostly to Walsh's terrible recruitment and Moshiri dilly-dallying when strong leadership was required, and it's meant we've been struggling to keep our heads above water since early doors

Hold my hands up Mikey. I'm definitely, and unashamedly, in that group of "optimists".

I do agree with a lot of what you're saying there mate. Preparation has been a shambles. Recruitment, whoever is to blame, has been at best disjointed. And the search for a new manager in the Autumn was, quite frankly, beyond a joke. The bit I don't agree with is that we've been in a relegation battle for most of the season. Whether that means I'm not a sensible person depends on your POV I suppose. Most of my family and friends would probably agree with you.

I'm of the opinion that we had an exceedingly difficult start to the season, and a far easier finish to the first half. If the new players didn't settle quickly it was always possible that we would find ourselves in the position we did. What made it worse was our performance in the EL, and it quickly became apparent that Koeman didn't have a clue what to do to rectify the position. When he started blaming the players they downed tools, and something had to be done. I agreed with the decision to sack him.

However when I looked at our fixture list and those of other teams around us, I was confident, yes confident, that we would start to turn things around and begin to climb the table. The fear of relegation and gloom around at that time was misplaced and the decision to appoint Allardyce as our saviour was as much knee jerk as it was horrendous.

I wasn't in the slightest bit surprised when we started to climb the table, or at our position at mid term. I agree it was poor and well below expectations, but it was a fair reflection on our season to date and in no way did I consider ourselves to be in a relegation battle.

As I see it now, our main problem is that we have a manager who sees us as being in a relegation battle and approaches each game to reflect that. In other words he is going out with an intention of not losing the game, rather than winning the game, irrespective of who and where we are playing. Fine against the top 6, and even perhaps away to the likes of Leicester and Southampton who have players that can hurt you. But we do it against everybody, even at home.

Allardyce has now started blaming the players too, which is the first step on a slippery slope for me. I was against him from the start, mainly because I thought we employed him for the wrong reasons and that he was the last person we needed to take us forward. But I was prepared to give him time to see what he could do. Now, 10 games in, my fears are starting to come true and I think we need to get rid, because playing as if we are in a relegation battle will only turn it into a relegation battle for real.

The season can go one three ways from here. We can recover and climb the table and finish 7th (and a possible EL spot). We can continue to struggle away from home and against the top teams, picking up a few odd draws, but win the expected home games and finish mid table but comfortably above relegation. Or we can be dragged into the relegation battle. We have the players available to easily do the first two (Martina needs replacing at LB though until Baines returns) but we just need to get the team selection, tactics and players mind set right. The way we are going under Allardyce, I can only see us in a relegation battle because this is what he knows and is comfortable with. In fact, he's made a whole career out of it.

 

[nsno-chris]

We’re equally close to 7th aren’t we? Personally I don’t think he believed this.

He’s either playing down expectations or giving the players a fright, or both.

He’s ensuring his persona of being an escape artist, and miracle worker, is maintained.

 

[Barnfred 55]

I have a season ticket and go to most of the aways so yes I do attend.

You have pointed out the points column and that has contributed to us being the 9th highest side in the league, despite us being poor for nearly the whole season. There are 8 teams between us and the relegation places and those sides are there for a reason. Many of them have worse form than us since Allardyce took over.

I'm not suggesting that any of us should be happy about the situation so don't think I am, but unless we have a staggering collapse where we get less than about 7 points from 42 available then we simply won't be relegated this season.

I agree mate. But we need to stop approaching every game as if we are in a relegation fight. Ok going defensive against the top teams and decent sides away, but not every match ffs.

Allardyce with his tactics and recent press comments is making this into a relegation fight and it's horrible to sit by and watch it happening.

 

[Big Fat Sam]

I agree mate. But we need to stop approaching every game as if we are in a relegation fight. Ok going defensive against the top teams and decent sides away, but not every match ffs.

Allardyce with his tactics and recent press comments is making this into a relegation fight and it's horrible to sit by and watch it happening.

Fully agree.

But Allardyce wants a relegation scrap. He wants to be known as the fella who saved us this season.

 

[Creature]

We're 6 points above Southampton (18th), but between them and us there's 8 teams. So there's 8 other teams who would also have to pick up points to drag us into a relegation battle.

Even based on current form, the likes of Southampton, Watford, Huddersfield & Brighton have all picked up similair points to us, your talking about these teams asif they're all in good form and on the verge of overtaking us.

Burnley are currently in the worst form in the league and they're 6 points above us. So if anything, we should be looking at catching them.

If all them teams played like we are then great I'd be confident of us being able to look up. But I haven't seen one team that is playing worse than us at the moment.....even Burnley.

We are not having a blip where we were playing good and it's just a few games when things have gone askew. If anything the blip has been the other way and even then, apart from the West Ham game, we were very lucky with having Pickford or the ref being kind.

I admire your confidence and your stats knowledge but I need to see improvement on the pitch to start believing.

 

[Barnfred 55]

Fully agree.

But Allardyce wants a relegation scrap. He wants to be known as the fella who saved us this season.

Which is exactly why we need to get rid. Now.

It was a mistake. Yet another one and another big one too. But let's recognise it as that and rectify it quickly before matters get even worse.

 

[Big Fat Sam]

Which is exactly why we need to get rid. Now.

It was a mistake. Yet another one and another big one too. But let's recognise it as that and rectify it quickly before matters get even worse.

We should, but we won't. Wait until we're relegated, then get rid. That's the Everton way.

 

[Dogs_of_War]

If all them teams played like we are then great I'd be confident of us being able to look up. But I haven't seen one team that is playing worse than us at the moment.....even Burnley.

We are not having a blip where we were playing good and it's just a few games when things have gone askew. If anything the blip has been the other way and even then, apart from the West Ham game, we were very lucky with having Pickford or the ref being kind.

I admire your confidence and your stats knowledge but I need to see improvement on the pitch to start believing.

It's not confidence mate or even optimism, our teams terrible at the minute & we're playing woeful. But you don't have to play well to pick up points.

Look at the games we have won this season (Stoke, Watford, Swansea, Newcastle & West Ham) & look at the sort of games we've got remaining, especially at home (Newcastle, Palace, Brighton, Southampton). I think it's fair to assume that we should be more than capable of picking up at least 7 points with the games we've got left.

Burnley have picked up 2 points in there last 6 games, we've picked up 3 (having had a harder run of games). So although it might not appear asif there's a 'worse team in the league', statistically there is.

 

[ricer10]

Fully agree.

But Allardyce wants a relegation scrap. He wants to be known as the fella who saved us this season.

THIS ..... Big Sam's reputation / comfort zone is built on the relegation scrap..... a soundbite at best.