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UNDERSTANDING ALLARDYCE
When your key players are missing as a manager, whether it's in schoolboy football, pub football or at semi-professional level, you don't win games. It's as simple as that.
Emotionally that's difficult for supporters to accept.
I fully understand why Sam Allardyce felt the need to write off the FA Cup game away at Nottingham Forest and you would have to be mad to have expected any different result in the Capital One Cup semi-final first leg at the Etihad against Manchester City.
The dogfight to avoid relegation will go right down to the wire. The compensation figure to pay off Allardyce and his staff will be better off spent trying to hook a few loan players to come to West Ham to help strengthen their squad and save their season. He knows what he's doing.
SLICK CITY TAMED BY PELLEGRINI
Manchester City smashed seven past Norwich, Arsenal and Spurs were hit for six, Manchester United and Newcastle conceded four and they played a half-strength team away to Bayern Munich – the Champions League winners – and beat them 3-2.
They taught Allardyce's West Ham a lesson, too. It's easy to say you should be doing this and you should be doing that, but the City players are faster, stronger, far superior technically. It looks like Manuel Pellegrini has harmonised the expensive squad with calmness, confidence and a management style which is very different from Roberto Mancini
LALLANA'S LATE RUN TO BRAZIL
Adam Lallana is technically good enough to get into Roy Hodgson's squad for the Brazil World Cup and mentally he looks to have the confidence and arrogance to make the step up to get on that plane.
He showed that again with his well-taken goal to beat West Brom on Saturday.
It looks like he believes he's good enough and it looks like he believes he should be going. This mental hurdle is the most significant thing to overcome when you get to the top level.
The England cricket team have looked inferior in recent weeks and have been verbally beaten with barbed comments from Australia that have weakened their squad and dissolved self-belief.
They fought to take the Ashes back from us. Lallana is fighting for his place, with that Aussie spirit.
NEW BREED OF MANAGERS
Jose Mourinho, Rafael Benitez, Arsene Wenger, Brendan Rodgers, Mark Warburton – what do they all have in common? None of them played football at a decent level but are making it as managers.
They've been to university, done this course and that course. Back in my playing days if you didn't play at the top level, you had no chance.
We're laughing! Jose Mourinho and Brendan Rodgers are from the managerial breed who never made it playing
.
My old club Brentford appointed a manager a few weeks ago who has never played professional football.
Mark Warburton had been a trader in the City when he started work at the Watford academy coaching, training and developing the youngsters and bringing through some good young players.
He moved to Brentford to work as director of football operations for his friend and very wealthy owner Matthew Benham.
Benham has invested heavily throughout the club and in a few years' time Brentford will be playing in a brand new 20,000-seater stadium in a prime location.
Mark has just won League One Manager of the Month and got the record of six straight league wins - the best start of any Brentford manager - and the team are flying at the top of the division.
Gone are the days that if you had 50 England caps you got a manager's job.
Now, you need to be up to speed with strength and conditioning, in-depth match analysis, have excellent communication and man-management skills, be good at delegation, international recruitment, nutrition, counselling... the list goes on and on and on.
Watch out for the rise of Brentford Football Club and Warburton.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...#ixzz2qbquCx9G
When your key players are missing as a manager, whether it's in schoolboy football, pub football or at semi-professional level, you don't win games. It's as simple as that.
Emotionally that's difficult for supporters to accept.
I fully understand why Sam Allardyce felt the need to write off the FA Cup game away at Nottingham Forest and you would have to be mad to have expected any different result in the Capital One Cup semi-final first leg at the Etihad against Manchester City.
The dogfight to avoid relegation will go right down to the wire. The compensation figure to pay off Allardyce and his staff will be better off spent trying to hook a few loan players to come to West Ham to help strengthen their squad and save their season. He knows what he's doing.
SLICK CITY TAMED BY PELLEGRINI
Manchester City smashed seven past Norwich, Arsenal and Spurs were hit for six, Manchester United and Newcastle conceded four and they played a half-strength team away to Bayern Munich – the Champions League winners – and beat them 3-2.
They taught Allardyce's West Ham a lesson, too. It's easy to say you should be doing this and you should be doing that, but the City players are faster, stronger, far superior technically. It looks like Manuel Pellegrini has harmonised the expensive squad with calmness, confidence and a management style which is very different from Roberto Mancini
LALLANA'S LATE RUN TO BRAZIL
Adam Lallana is technically good enough to get into Roy Hodgson's squad for the Brazil World Cup and mentally he looks to have the confidence and arrogance to make the step up to get on that plane.
He showed that again with his well-taken goal to beat West Brom on Saturday.
It looks like he believes he's good enough and it looks like he believes he should be going. This mental hurdle is the most significant thing to overcome when you get to the top level.
The England cricket team have looked inferior in recent weeks and have been verbally beaten with barbed comments from Australia that have weakened their squad and dissolved self-belief.
They fought to take the Ashes back from us. Lallana is fighting for his place, with that Aussie spirit.
NEW BREED OF MANAGERS
Jose Mourinho, Rafael Benitez, Arsene Wenger, Brendan Rodgers, Mark Warburton – what do they all have in common? None of them played football at a decent level but are making it as managers.
They've been to university, done this course and that course. Back in my playing days if you didn't play at the top level, you had no chance.
We're laughing! Jose Mourinho and Brendan Rodgers are from the managerial breed who never made it playing
NOTHING SURPRISES ME IN THIS MAD WORLD OF FOOTBALL
Jason Puncheon
Not even Jason Puncheon's penalty miss against Tottenham. But I'll tell you what, I've got a lot of respect for Jason (right).
My friend Ray asked me if I'd seen the worst penalty ever shortly after it happened. He laughed as he explained that the penalty kick nearly hit the floodlights.
I reminded him that Puncheon used to play at my old club Barnet and had spells at Southampton, MK Dons, Blackpool; 11 clubs in total. And I also reminded him that in his time Puncheon had been in trouble with the law.
He was arrested in connection with a robbery seven years ago – but not convicted – and used to hang around with a bad crowd.
I admire Puncheon for not only turning his life around but also for maximising his undoubted ability, and for the courage and guts to take responsibility to grab that ball and take the penalty in the first place. My friend Ray just nodded in agreement.
Jason Puncheon
Not even Jason Puncheon's penalty miss against Tottenham. But I'll tell you what, I've got a lot of respect for Jason (right).
My friend Ray asked me if I'd seen the worst penalty ever shortly after it happened. He laughed as he explained that the penalty kick nearly hit the floodlights.
I reminded him that Puncheon used to play at my old club Barnet and had spells at Southampton, MK Dons, Blackpool; 11 clubs in total. And I also reminded him that in his time Puncheon had been in trouble with the law.
He was arrested in connection with a robbery seven years ago – but not convicted – and used to hang around with a bad crowd.
I admire Puncheon for not only turning his life around but also for maximising his undoubted ability, and for the courage and guts to take responsibility to grab that ball and take the penalty in the first place. My friend Ray just nodded in agreement.
My old club Brentford appointed a manager a few weeks ago who has never played professional football.
Mark Warburton had been a trader in the City when he started work at the Watford academy coaching, training and developing the youngsters and bringing through some good young players.
He moved to Brentford to work as director of football operations for his friend and very wealthy owner Matthew Benham.
Benham has invested heavily throughout the club and in a few years' time Brentford will be playing in a brand new 20,000-seater stadium in a prime location.
Mark has just won League One Manager of the Month and got the record of six straight league wins - the best start of any Brentford manager - and the team are flying at the top of the division.
Gone are the days that if you had 50 England caps you got a manager's job.
Now, you need to be up to speed with strength and conditioning, in-depth match analysis, have excellent communication and man-management skills, be good at delegation, international recruitment, nutrition, counselling... the list goes on and on and on.
Watch out for the rise of Brentford Football Club and Warburton.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...#ixzz2qbquCx9G
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