Sam Allardyce's recent post game comments, along with Blackburn Rovers form over the last few months, leads to me wonder if Big Sam has lost the players. A 4-1 drubbing at the hands of Manchester City Monday night was followed up by a dressing room tongue lashing from Big Sam, which apparently saw some of the senior players hit back following his outburst.
Sam has had no problem criticizing his squad this year and I just wonder if it hasn't started to take a toll on his players, especially the veteran members of the squad. It's no secret Allardyce and Benni McCarthy aren't on the best of terms and the likes of Morten Gamst Pedersen and Jason Roberts don't appear to be buying in to Sam's system either. And now there are reports that David Dunn has rejected a new contract offer from Rovers.
Rovers currently sit 13th in the Premier League table, 3 points off the drop zone, but more worrisome is the recent run of form. 1 win from their last 10 league games and Allardyce was on medical leave for that victory.
Despite what you think about his brand of football, Allardyce has had success with it in the past, most notably at Bolton in the 2004/05 season, where he led them to European qualification. But it just doesn't appear to be working at Blackburn. There's a decent mix of youth and proven Premiership players, but things just aren't clicking on the pitch.
Many Rovers supporters feared these kind of days when Allardyce was hired to replace Paul Ince a little over a year ago. Big Sam was able to win the fans over last term by keeping Rovers in the top flight, but I'm not sure how much longer the Ewood Park faithful will remain in his corner. A victory over Aston Villa in the Carling Cup on Thursday would certainly help his cause.
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