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"Kriv je Ferguson..."

The Allardyce Way is a step back in time



From CHRIS BASCOMBE at Eastlands, 02/05/2009

WATCHING Blackburn can be as attractive as a day trip to a Mexican pig farm.

Five seconds on the clock and El-Hadji Diouf passes to Stephen Warnock at left-back and he unleashes a 60-yard diagonal ball towards the 6ft 4in frame of Christopher Samba.


With one move, a century of tactical variations are deconstructed and all sense of joy from watching football drains from your soul. Welcome to the Sam Allardyce Way.


Forty-five minutes later, the Blackburn players were heading for the tunnel heads bowed, with a 3-0 deficit, asking themselves 'Where has this gone wrong?'.


Robinho, Elano and, most reassuringly, the home-grown Stephen Ireland had restored the lost faith of that opening Blackburn salvo.


They resisted it and punished it, not only for the sake of their own fans but for the neutrals who want the Stone Age brand of football brutalised out of existence.


You wonder what Blackburn's players think when they hear their weekly game plan. Are they overwhelmed by a sense of admiration for such a well- considered ploy as aiming high balls for the big defender up front?


Or are they simply compelled to follow orders due to their perilous position, while privately cursing how they've found themselves playing such an unimaginative game?


In Stephen Warnock, Tugay, Benni McCarthy and Ryan Nelsen, Rovers have players who possess the class to do so much better. Tugay's show of dissent when he was subbed on 64 minutes hinted all is not well in the Blackburn camp.


"Ugly, but effective," Allardyce's supporters will say. Not this time. Just ugly.


Despite this hammering, Blackburn will survive and deserve congratulations for doing so given the mess they were in at Christmas.


They probably do not need to win another game as the five teams below them in the league are so bad and the end undoubtedly justifies the means, for now.


But avoiding relegation because there are three abysmal teams considerably worse than yours is as hollow as it gets.


The survival drum can be beaten by Allardyce with justification but the substance-over-style argument will wear thin for the Blackburn faithful the longer they endure it.


If Big Sam's history with Bolton is anything to go by, the notion this is just a necessary-but-brief evil to avoid the drop should be treated with caution.


There is little to suggest any side of his will ever play differently and he would probably rage against the suggestion there is anything wrong with his approach anyway.

He claimed his side played well for all but two corners here, yet the only save Shay Given made was from Diouf's penalty.


Even his directors will tolerate his myth that the percentage game is worthwhile since he has kept his side of the bargain by getting the club out of the bottom three.


But if they are confronted with more of the same next August, they will surely be asking themselves why they bother going to matches. It certainly cannot be to enjoy themselves.


Some of us think football should be played with the feet, not on a calculator by those who worship at the altar of Prozone statistics and the relentless pursuit of the 'second ball'. The fans who endured this defeat could at least keep their sense of humour.


Sub Carlos Villanueva had Rovers' first shot an hour into the game. The fans greeted his deflected free-kick with the same enthusiasm as their Premier League title of 1995.


Only when the Samba-as-a-striker experiment was abandoned did Rovers grab their consolation, although that was courtesy of a generous penalty decision.

Given saved after Nedum Onuoha tripped Morten Gamst Pedersen but sub Keith Andrews knocked in the rebound.

Rovers had long been punished for their self-inflicted errors as their former boss Mark Hughes continued his bid to prove he is the man to take City to greater heights than the Europa League next season.


There was a jazz band playing near the Eastlands' main reception but it was the Samba beat in full volume on the pitch.


They always have the best music at City. A plethora of modern indie classics from the superior Manchester music scene builds the atmosphere.


No ground in the land whips you into more of a frenzy of anticipation.


You could close your eyes and listen to the sounds all day, which for recent generations has not been such a bad idea given the quality of football.


For too long, the music has died when the players take to the field, leaving you yearning for the PA to come back on.


Boss Sparky is bidding to be the first manager in decades to change the record.


You certainly get entertained by City nowadays.


His side did not have to be at their best but their attacking midfield trio hit all the right notes in a dominant first half.


Felipe Caicedo punished woeful defending by Andre Ooijer to nudge home the first on 27 minutes.


Then seven minutes later, Robinho provided a reminder that a single moment of genuine class lives in the memory longer than 89 minutes of alehouse football by an opponent.


In first-half injury time Ireland's clever back-heel forced Ooijer to handle, allowing the outstanding Elano to secure the points from the penalty spot.


City's form suggests the end of the season has come at the wrong time and their supporters could not contain their glee at the expense of a manager once linked with their hotseat.


"We've got Robinho, you've got Sam Allardyce," they sang, triumphantly.


They were not alone in being thankful for the gulf in style.