John Aldridge
Ireland and Liverpool Legend is Red All Over sports@sundayworld.com
Football the real loser in this roll of 'dyce
No place for Big Sam's ugly tactics
OLD TACTICS: Sam Allardyce looks on as West Ham get stuck in
WE WILL see a real clash of styles as West Ham take on Liverpool at Upton Park this afternoon - with one of the managers on the touchline a little too far up his own arse for my liking. West Ham boss Sam Allardyce has long believed he is something very special, yet I would argue he has been promoter in chief of an ugly style of football in an era when the Premier League's success has been built on teams playing with real attacking invention.
Allardyce has proved that 'direct' football can still be effective in the modern game, with his Hammers team and Stoke both stabilising in the Premier League using bully-boy tactics that have got them plenty of success, but none of us have to like it. You often find with managers who have worked in the lower leagues that they devise plans that work when the quality level is a step or two below the top tier. Allardyce has followed that route and he has built a career on it.
Polite
I came across him during my days as Tranmere manager and look back with great fondness on our League Cup semifinal against his Bolton team back in 2000.We battered them home and away to book our place in the Wembley final. To say Allardyce was ungracious in defeat after that tie would be polite and I fell out with him big-time after the second leg of that semi-final at Prenton Park, but that's always been his way.
DIRECT: Jack Charlton perfected tactic
DIRECT: Jack Charlton perfected tactic
He loves himself and would have eaten himself by now if he were chocolate, that's for sure. He has always claimed that everything he has achieved has been down to his brilliance on the touchline and I'm sure he believes his own hype. He's that kind of guy, but I've never been a fan of arrogant people and Allardyce has that unfortunate character trait by the bucket-load.
People may be quick to suggest the Tranmere team I managed enjoyed some success using 'direct' tactics, but that was because I was working with a very limited budget and had to do whatever was needed to get results. Allardyce has had plenty of money to spend down the years, but he copied my formation and set-up in every detail after that semi-final showdown 12 years ago and likes to claim he was the genius that invented it. Don't think so Sam!
Football in 2012 should be played on the ground. Passing the ball, working the space and entertaining people, that's what it's all about. Allardyce sees it as a game that needs to be manipulated to get a result and wherever he has gone he has used the same tactics. If he had won a couple of Premier League titles and got himself one of the big jobs in English football during his management career, his over-confidence may be justified.
However, given his meagre accomplishments, he should be more humble about a career built on a very basic style of play. He gets his team to play the ball into the corners of the pitch so they can try to win throws-ins and free-kicks and make the most of set-plays. He doesn't try to hide his game plan, but don't try and pretend these effective, old-school tactics were your own invention Sam.
Jack Charlton employed a similar plan with Ireland back in my playing days and I did something similar at Tranmere, so I can't sit here and say it's all wrong. I just feel the game has moved on a little since those days and guys like Allardyce are trying to drag it back into the dark ages.
STYLE: Hammers legend Bobby Moore
STYLE: Hammers legend Bobby Moore
In many ways I'm surprised the West Ham fans have been so tolerant with him. This is a club built on traditions of flowing football and entertainment, dating back to the days when Bobby Moore played for them, when John Lyall was their manager and on to the present day.
West Ham have always been my favourite London team. Their fans are proper football lovers and as a kid I remember loving their distinctive claret and blue kit, so Allardyce didn't strike me as the kind of manager who would be welcome at Upton Park. He was lucky to arrive at West Ham at a moment when their supporters didn't have any other choice but to back him and hope he got them back into the top flight.
So, while he doesn't have total support at Upton Park, he is getting enough good results to keep out of trouble.
Jovial
West Ham fans have been content to put up with him so long as he stabilises their club back in the Premier League and, like Stoke supporters, they are probably happy to see their team playing Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal, even if they have to put up with crap football every week.
As you can tell, I'm not a fan of Allardyce and we have shared a few less than jovial words in the years since our touchline dust-ups. I remember he once made a negative comment about my brief managerial career, but I have a quick response to that. He is welcome to come over to my house and look at my league title and FA Cup winner's medals, my collection of Ireland caps and the photographs of my World Cup appearances, as he didn't get close to any of that in his playing career.
Fair play, he has built a career for himself as a manager and if you don't mind watching teams who spend most of the day trying to ruin football matches, pop along to see West Ham or Stoke in action. However, Allardyce has never been my cup of tea and I'm not alone in having that opinion.
Ireland and Liverpool Legend is Red All Over sports@sundayworld.com
Football the real loser in this roll of 'dyce
No place for Big Sam's ugly tactics
OLD TACTICS: Sam Allardyce looks on as West Ham get stuck in
WE WILL see a real clash of styles as West Ham take on Liverpool at Upton Park this afternoon - with one of the managers on the touchline a little too far up his own arse for my liking. West Ham boss Sam Allardyce has long believed he is something very special, yet I would argue he has been promoter in chief of an ugly style of football in an era when the Premier League's success has been built on teams playing with real attacking invention.
Allardyce has proved that 'direct' football can still be effective in the modern game, with his Hammers team and Stoke both stabilising in the Premier League using bully-boy tactics that have got them plenty of success, but none of us have to like it. You often find with managers who have worked in the lower leagues that they devise plans that work when the quality level is a step or two below the top tier. Allardyce has followed that route and he has built a career on it.
Polite
I came across him during my days as Tranmere manager and look back with great fondness on our League Cup semifinal against his Bolton team back in 2000.We battered them home and away to book our place in the Wembley final. To say Allardyce was ungracious in defeat after that tie would be polite and I fell out with him big-time after the second leg of that semi-final at Prenton Park, but that's always been his way.
DIRECT: Jack Charlton perfected tactic
DIRECT: Jack Charlton perfected tactic
He loves himself and would have eaten himself by now if he were chocolate, that's for sure. He has always claimed that everything he has achieved has been down to his brilliance on the touchline and I'm sure he believes his own hype. He's that kind of guy, but I've never been a fan of arrogant people and Allardyce has that unfortunate character trait by the bucket-load.
People may be quick to suggest the Tranmere team I managed enjoyed some success using 'direct' tactics, but that was because I was working with a very limited budget and had to do whatever was needed to get results. Allardyce has had plenty of money to spend down the years, but he copied my formation and set-up in every detail after that semi-final showdown 12 years ago and likes to claim he was the genius that invented it. Don't think so Sam!
Football in 2012 should be played on the ground. Passing the ball, working the space and entertaining people, that's what it's all about. Allardyce sees it as a game that needs to be manipulated to get a result and wherever he has gone he has used the same tactics. If he had won a couple of Premier League titles and got himself one of the big jobs in English football during his management career, his over-confidence may be justified.
However, given his meagre accomplishments, he should be more humble about a career built on a very basic style of play. He gets his team to play the ball into the corners of the pitch so they can try to win throws-ins and free-kicks and make the most of set-plays. He doesn't try to hide his game plan, but don't try and pretend these effective, old-school tactics were your own invention Sam.
Jack Charlton employed a similar plan with Ireland back in my playing days and I did something similar at Tranmere, so I can't sit here and say it's all wrong. I just feel the game has moved on a little since those days and guys like Allardyce are trying to drag it back into the dark ages.
STYLE: Hammers legend Bobby Moore
STYLE: Hammers legend Bobby Moore
In many ways I'm surprised the West Ham fans have been so tolerant with him. This is a club built on traditions of flowing football and entertainment, dating back to the days when Bobby Moore played for them, when John Lyall was their manager and on to the present day.
West Ham have always been my favourite London team. Their fans are proper football lovers and as a kid I remember loving their distinctive claret and blue kit, so Allardyce didn't strike me as the kind of manager who would be welcome at Upton Park. He was lucky to arrive at West Ham at a moment when their supporters didn't have any other choice but to back him and hope he got them back into the top flight.
So, while he doesn't have total support at Upton Park, he is getting enough good results to keep out of trouble.
Jovial
West Ham fans have been content to put up with him so long as he stabilises their club back in the Premier League and, like Stoke supporters, they are probably happy to see their team playing Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal, even if they have to put up with crap football every week.
As you can tell, I'm not a fan of Allardyce and we have shared a few less than jovial words in the years since our touchline dust-ups. I remember he once made a negative comment about my brief managerial career, but I have a quick response to that. He is welcome to come over to my house and look at my league title and FA Cup winner's medals, my collection of Ireland caps and the photographs of my World Cup appearances, as he didn't get close to any of that in his playing career.
Fair play, he has built a career for himself as a manager and if you don't mind watching teams who spend most of the day trying to ruin football matches, pop along to see West Ham or Stoke in action. However, Allardyce has never been my cup of tea and I'm not alone in having that opinion.
