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Monday 13 December 2010

Sam Allardyce Sacked
















Credit: here.



This week has been a turbulent week for Premier League football managers.

Sam Allardyce and his assistant, Neil McDonald, have been sacked by Blackburn Rovers' new owners, Venky's group, only 5 weeks after they bought the Blackburn Rovers for £24million.


Brothers Venkatesh and Balaji Ra, directors of Venky's, have already hit the headlines after considering changing the name of Ewood Park, where Blackburn won the Premier League back in 1994/95

Credit; here


A statement on the Rovers website, read: 'We have taken this decision as part of our wider plans and ambitions for the club. We would like to put on record our thanks to Mr Allardyce for his contribution to Blackburn Rovers Football Club.'

Allardyce took over the reigns back in December of 2008 after an appalling start to Premier League management for former Liverpool midfielder, Paul Ince.

The former Bolton gaffer, who managed at the Reebok for eight seasons before moving to Newcastle saw his last away win come, ironically, at St James', with the Reebok seeing his last game as Rovers boss.









Credit; here

Rovers are currently 13th in the Premier League but have lost 3 of their last 5 games, including a humiliating 7-1 defeat at the hands of Manchester United, but have flourished with the likes of Phil Jones progressing capably from the Academy.

Allardyce, 56, had to take time away from management last season after having a heart operation which has caused him to sit in the stands for the first half of most games since, although he claimed to have a better view of the games. You cannot manage a team away from the touchline.

Despite this, the side reached the semi-finals of the Carling Cup last season and finished in the top half, some achievement given Rovers were bottom when Allaryce took over.

You wonder how the Rovers fans will react, given his relative success at the club, and whether they will turn on the new owners already.

So, who next?

The obvious names are Martin O'Neill, who has been out of the game since resigning from the Villa post in August, Chris Hughton, who may prefer more time out of the game, and Alan Shearer, who won his only career trophy with the North-West outfit.






Hands up who wants the Ewood Park job?

Martin O'Neill may be a leading contender after 5 months out of the game.




Credit; here


One thing seems fairly obvious; Venky's must have someone in mind.

Perhaps that man could be Mark Hughes who, less than five years ago, took Rovers to the UEFA Cup. Maybe the owners are aiming high.

Fulham sit in 17th place in the league and, after rumours that Roque Santa Cruz and David Bentley may be returning to the club in January, what chance would there be for a triple move from the Indian tycoons.

Whoever takes the job will see that Blackburn Rovers do have the players to play good football, something which was demanded by the owners immediately.

Ultimately, that may be what has cost Big Sam with Rovers playing 6 defenders (including Martin Olsson and Phil Jones in more advanced roles) in yesterday's defeat at Bolton.



Blackburn had become more defensive under Allardyce and have chosen to offload strikers such as Benni McCarthy.

Credit; here

Would a result at the Reebok have kept him in a job? I doubt it.

Current first team coach, Steve Kean will take temporary charge of the club, who face West Ham United next weekend in the league.

The move seems harsh on Allardyce, who had no money to spend under former owners, the Walker Foundation, left upon Jack Walker's death.

Maybe the Real Madrid job might better suit his needs after the Premier League witnesses yet another decent manager being sacked for precious little reason.

Could the increasing demands of the owners be ruining football? We will see.

5 comments:

  1. Him and his son are a disgrace to football corrupt as the come. Im cryin tears of joy tonight now lets hope noone else offers him a job!

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  2. Would a result at the Reebok kept him in a job? It looks unlikely.

    Would a result at the Reebok 'have' kept him in a job?
    (It looks unlikely-doesn't make sense, the question's not referring to a future event.)

    Also, why does every sentence need to be a new paragraph? A BBC news website disease.

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  3. "Allardyce, 56, had to take time away from management last season after having a heart operation which has caused him to sit in the stands for the first half of most games since, although he claimed to have a better view of the games. You cannot manage a team away from the touchline."

    Good job, you don't know how many people would not know this.

    What a shame this is since Blackburn bounced back and won right after they were routed by Manchester United by defeating Wolverhampton 3-0. Teams like Blackburn can't expect much more than being in the top 10. I think this will prove worse than the Hughton firing. Big Sam wins where ever he goes.

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  4. I use to read Big Sam's columns in FourFourTwo, think maybe he stopped writing them and those columns may well be ghost written like Harry's columns in the Sun. This bites big time. The only thing I can think of is what you write above, do you want a coach that is up in the stands during the game?? This bites big time and as far as I'm concerned a Savvy Streetwise British manager like Redknapp or Allardyce playing the British game can have success in the International game with the 3 Lions and the naysayers won't change my mind. Blech!

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