Mainly due to Sam's use of the transfer-window in January,and some tactical nous by him,we managed to survive in the top tier of English football for yet another season.Surely now our owner must give Sam control over all football affairs.....transfers,pre-season games etc.....the man knows what is required! I am convinced that Sam will get us into the top-ten and keep us there.
I thought he had already given control to Sam. Pretty sure them signings in January were players identified by Sam. I can't imagine him not having at the least a big say on our pre-season schedule.
I think Sam is probably why Lee Congerton is on 'gardening leave'. I wouldn't give him complete control over pre-season games though - sometimes those can be connected to sponsorship deals, etc. (which affect other managers' departments). In any case, Sam has achieved nothing much yet that di Canio, Poyet, and Advocaat haven't done. So I think expanding his control further might be premature..
SA is the football team manager. First and foremost. Let him worry about that. Other people have jobs to sort out the other stuff.
I think to say SA has control over all football affairs is misleading. He brought in Martyn Glover as head of recruitment to oversee transfers. While the working relationship is probably different to that with a Director of Football (or should be- we never used our DoF properly) its not like SA will be getting involved with nitty-gritty of transfers otherwise there would be no point having this Glover bloke.
Sunderland’s new chief executive Martin Bain has a busy summer ahead with Sam Allardyce determined to clear out the deadwood in his squad to pave the way for a rebuilding job. Ten first-teamers spent either all or part of last season on loan away from Wearside andAllardyce has signalled that none of those players figure in his future plans, and will find themselves on the move again this summer one way or another. Strikers Steven Fletcher and Danny Graham are out of contract and will be released, but the others - Jordi Gomez, Emanuele Giaccherini, Sebastian Coates, Charis Mavrias, Will Buckley, Liam Bridcutt, Adam Matthews and Santiago Vergini - all have at least one more year left on their current deals. There are likely to be takers in Italy for Giaccherini, and either in Spain or Argentina for Vergini, however others may prove harder to offload. And that will be one of the biggest challenges facing ex-Glasgow Rangers supremo Bain when he leaves Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv to take up his new role at Sunderland on July 1. On the loanees, Allardyce said: “We’ll address the situation as part of the big summer turnaround. “We’ll try to do it as quickly as we possibly can. please log in to view this image Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images Jordi Gomez “They have been out on loan and we’ll try to get them back out on loan again at the earliest opportunity, if we can’t move them on permanently.” Sunderland’s poor recruitment in recent seasons has been one of the biggest factors in the club’s constant struggles against relegation, and Allardyce is determined to break that cycle. Big Sam proved in January the value of astute signings, bringing in Jan Kirchhoff, Lamine Kone and Wahbi Khazri - three players who turned Sunderland’s season around and played a major role in keeping the club in the Premier League. With the failed director of football model having been swept away when Allardyce took over in October, Sunderland will revert to a traditional set-up whereby Allardyce and his scouting team will identify talent and new man at the top Bain will be responsible for negotiating the deals. Bain will also be left to ship out players left over from previous regimes, including those who were loaned out last term.
The issue that seems to occur nowadays (and more-so at my club than most) is the disconnect between "good players who are available" and "positions the team needs the strengthen". Every year we've signed players we think are available at the right price rather than filling gaps in our team - like January when we signed a list of midfielders despite midfield being where we were already strongest but no strikers or defenders where we actually needed people in. The manager has to have a strong say in transfers otherwise it really can make a mockery of them. Sam knows what he's doing and first and foremost he will make a 'team' and a 'squad', they may not always be the best players available but they will be the right players with the right mentality to do the job he wants them to do.
Well we are going to find out straightaway if what the Rangers fans say about Martin Bain is true... Apparently his Achilles heel was being unable to shift the deadwood at Rangers for any sort of fee and also giving ****e players long and luxurious contracts. If you can put up with the gay music, here's Martin Bain speaking about his time at Maccabi Tel Aviv.... https://www.maccabi-tlv.co.il/en/2015/09/martin-bain-sums-up-his-first-year-as-maccabi-ceo/
It's a bit harsh on Adam Matthews, I think. He's hardly had a game yet to show what he can do. I also wonder if Vergini couldn't have been moved forward - he's got the ability for it and could save us money. Peter Reid bought Arca (what Argentina calls a left back) and immediately moved him to midfield, and rightly. I notice Marcos Angeleri (what Argentina calls a right back) is playing midfield in Spain. too. Still, it's Sam's shout, not mine.
Dave Watson a centre forward befire leaving Rotherham , was SKP not a full back stand-in at Watford before here Also JP not often in goal when at school - Have faith in Big Sam - his experience
That was in his non-league days. The story goes he always played right back because of his size. This one day the team had no centre forwards available and SKP was asked to play there for this particular game. He scored 2 goals in the game and apparently he never played right back again, after that. I think the team was Baldock Town going from memory but I stand to be corrected on that.
It was Baldock Town. I'm proud to say I've played at their ground. I thought playing on that pitch might bring me luck and I'd follow SuperKev's trajectory. Unfortunately my promising football career was unexpectedly derailed by ****ness
