[Archived] Big Sam's Big Match Targets

[Stuart]

Despite it be clear - to all the non-expert punters who witnessed it - that we should have taken 3 points off a poor West Ham side, the manager deemed that 1 point was acceptable.

Well, if this is the case, then which games does he think we should be winning?

I reckon he's looking at the following:

At home: Wolves, Burnley, Portsmouth, Stoke, Fulham, Wigan, Hull, Bolton and Birmingham

On the road: Hull, Birmingham, Wigan, Portsmouth, Wolves

Going the whole hog, I'm predicting we'll be targeting these points:

1 Fulham (A)

3 Wolverhampton (H)

1 Everton (A)

1 Aston Villa (H)

0 Arsenal (A)

3 Burnley (H)

0 Chelsea (A)

0 Man Utd (A)

3 Portsmouth (H)

1 Bolton (A)

3 Stoke (H)

0 Liverpool (H)

3 Hull (A)

3 Birmingham (A)

1 Tottenham (H)

3 Wigan (A)

1 Sunderland (H)

0 Man City (A)

3 Fulham (H)

3 Wigan (H)

1 West Ham (A)

1 Stoke (A)

3 Hull (H)

3 Bolton (H)

0 Liverpool (A)

3 Birmingham (H)

0 Tottenham (A)

0 Chelsea (H)

1 Burnley (A)

3 Portsmouth (A)

0 Man Utd (H)

1 Everton (H)

3 Wolverhampton (A)

0 Arsenal (H)

1 Aston Villa (A)

Add these to the one point already on the board and I reckon we are targeting 54 points this season. This would also see us reach 41 points by the time we play Liverpool on 27th February.

I know it's too early to be thinking about this really but maybe just as a bit of fun, does anyone have any better ideas?

[mjs]

Yes, just target three points in every game we go into.

[AggyBlue]

Yes, just target three points in every game we go into.

I always thought that was the concept of the game

[ABBEY]

so if it is about targetting points then lets play the big 4 behind closed doors because its a waste of timeus turning up if the teams not?

[Stuart]

Sorry guys, you're right. We've 35 games left, so Sam will obviously be targeting 105 points, what an oversight on my part. He must've just been lulling the rest of the league into a false sense of security.

Great news, I'm really looking forward to the bus parade through the town and Champions League football next year.

[AggyBlue]

Sorry guys, you're right. We've 35 games left, so Sam will obviously be targeting 105 points, what an oversight on my part. He must've just been lulling the rest of the league into a false sense of security.

Great news, I'm really looking forward to the bus parade through the town and Champions League football next year.

[slough_rover]

Sorry guys, you're right. We've 35 games left, so Sam will obviously be targeting 105 points, what an oversight on my part. He must've just been lulling the rest of the league into a false sense of security.

Great news, I'm really looking forward to the bus parade through the town and Champions League football next year.

Ha ha ha that should shut a few ppl up

[mjs]

Sorry guys, you're right. We've 35 games left, so Sam will obviously be targeting 105 points, what an oversight on my part. He must've just been lulling the rest of the league into a false sense of security.

Great news, I'm really looking forward to the bus parade through the town and Champions League football next year.

Put it this way, if he is picking and choosing which games we get three points from then we are more likely to be resurrecting the coffin.

[spencey7]

Sorry guys, you're right. We've 35 games left, so Sam will obviously be targeting 105 points, what an oversight on my part. He must've just been lulling the rest of the league into a false sense of security.

Great news, I'm really looking forward to the bus parade through the town and Champions League football next year.

Haha, to be fair mjs and AggyBlue do have a point though.

If you don't go into every game looking to win then what's the point in playing a competitive sport in the first place? Is there another manager in the league who would just have "bent over" the way Allardyce did/does against the Top 4?

[ABBEY]

Sorry guys, you're right. We've 35 games left, so Sam will obviously be targeting 105 points, what an oversight on my part. He must've just been lulling the rest of the league into a false sense of security.

Great news, I'm really looking forward to the bus parade through the town and Champions League football next year.

so we dont go in to every game looking for a win.Yes realistically it wont happen but if we go into games scared crapless and knowing we will lose or not try to win then rovers is dead .

[Stuart]

so we dont go in to every game looking for a win.Yes realistically it wont happen but if we go into games scared crapless and knowing we will lose or not try to win then rovers is dead .

I'm talking about points targets. Ultimately every club has them; Hughes even used to have targets split over the year.

If we take 3 points off United then that would be a bonus but ultimately I'm sure Sam will be looking at the fixtures and target certain matches.

I mean who hasn't looked at the fixtures and said 'oh ######' when it comes to October? If we look at all those away fixtures and are realistic, we won't be pinning our hopes to getting points in any of them, will we?

Similarly, managers don't wait until the end of the season before they start talking about 'must win' games. If they did they would come pretty unstuck if they had Chelsea, Man United and Arsenal (all away) as their last 3 games.

[LWX]

All I can remember is that under souness (when we went up and first two prem seasons) I used to think rovers had a chance in any game we played in... the game probably has changed, but I honestly can't say i feel that now

[Steve Moss]

Of course we want to win every game we play, but from a tactical sense that's a fantasy. If you have a limited number of resources (players) some of questionable durability (Dunn, Reed, Emerton, etc.), it makes no sense to expend those talented but vulnerable resources on games were the odds are heavily against us. It's prudent to reserve them for the games were we have a good prospect of collecting points.

And the young guys can be used against the big boys, to get them some much needed Premier League experience without impairing the mission objective. Who knows, we might get lucky.

And I am with Jisty. I think Sam is targetting 50+ points this year. Moreover, I think it is a doable mission objective, if the team stays focused and on target.

[Stuart]

Have to say, I'm astonished by the lack of realism about this.

[ABBEY]

whats not realistic? we should be trying to win EVERY game .I know we wont but we should try.

I once had an internatioal bout against a German who was top ranked in europe,i knew it would be hard but i got stuck in and TRIED TO WIN ,i came off with a loss but the german had a black eye ,swollen big time and a bloody nose.....THINKING YOU CANT WIN OR NOT TRYING TO WIN IS FOR LOSERS.

[67splitscreen]

Don't know why, with the comments in other topics from a number of your posters so far.

[LWX]

nervy start to the season i suppose....

[broadsword]

Sorry guys, you're right. We've 35 games left, so Sam will obviously be targeting 105 points, what an oversight on my part. He must've just been lulling the rest of the league into a false sense of security.

Great news, I'm really looking forward to the bus parade through the town and Champions League football next year.

Even better, 106 points, no?

The mind boggles as to where he's targetting point if all we are hoping for playing a knackered West Ham, a club going through turmoil, is a 0-0. I'm lost, I can't see the masterplan.

I would've thought that he's have been hoping for at least a draw at home to City, and definitely a draw at Sunderland ... surely these sort of goals are moving targets if you start missing all the targets you had in place?

As I say, he's lost me ... I just hope he knows what he's doing, and that he's not going to bed at night in Owen Coyle pyjamas.

[Stuart]

whats not realistic? we should be trying to win EVERY game .I know we wont but we should try.

I once had an internatioal bout against a German who was top ranked in europe,i knew it would be hard but i got stuck in and TRIED TO WIN ,i came off with a loss but the german had a black eye ,swollen big time and a bloody nose.....THINKING YOU CANT WIN OR NOT TRYING TO WIN IS FOR LOSERS.

Not saying don't try once you cross the white line Abs. Doesn't matter who the opposition, if you are selected you still try.

What I'm saying is people are being unrealistic saying we shouldn't target certiain games as more likely to get results out of then others.

E.g. you target to beat Wolves at home as a banker and make sure you have a strong squad out there to get those points. But if you have someone who isn't at full fitness, you don't stick him in defense against Arsenal away.

[ABBEY]

yes but wham were there for the taking.

[Stuart]

Even better, 106 points, no?

Not from 35 games. At least not unless we get 4 points for beating Burnley.

(I knew someone would point that one out!)

yes but wham were there for the taking.

Not disagreeing there. Maybe Sam thought before the game it was a 1 pointer. It was definitely a 3 pointer by half time.

[spencey7]

Not saying don't try once you cross the white line Abs. Doesn't matter who the opposition, if you are selected you still try.

But what if you're stifled by an overly cautious defensive system? Or if - as a midfielder - your manager actively stops you from attempting to support the (lone) striker?

The point is that Allardyce literally isn't allowing players to express themselves or play football freely. And that is asking for trouble.

[Stuart]

C'mon Spencey7 (and a half), let's not turn this into another 'We Hate Big Sam' thread. I was hoping people would be objective about which games we are targeting - particularly some of the mid to lower table ones - it seems it's too soon after Saturday for it though.

[Iceman]

All of a sudden targeting certain points, is stupid and pointless. Its just a way of analysing where you are most likely to gain points. We might win or draw games we didnt expect to win, or lose games we didnt expect to lose. Funny thing is, last season we had a similar thing. People were saying, we should get a point off Villa, beat Newcastle and Boro etc etc, and that would see us safe. Why did nobody last season believe we could win every game then? Every member had the fixtures down, and where our points would come from, but nobody believed or said we should win every game.

[Stuart]

All of a sudden targeting certain points, is stupid and pointless. Its just a way of analysing where you are most likely to gain points. We might win or draw games we didnt expect to win, or lose games we didnt expect to lose. Funny thing is, last season we had a similar thing. People were saying, we should get a point off Villa, beat Newcastle and Boro etc etc, and that would see us safe. Why did nobody last season believe we could win every game then? Every member had the fixtures down, and where our points would come from, but nobody believed or said we should win every game.

Debating anything on an Internet message board is stupid and pointless - but we all do it!