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Sam Allardyce happy to have the whole cake, icing and the cherry

8 years ago
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Sam Allardyce was asked if the third goal on Sunday was the icing on the cake but said he’d already had the icing and this one was the cherry…

The mental image of Sam choking as he stuffed a whole cake, icing & cherry and all, in his fat gob is something that has kept me going this Monday afternoon.

Not much humour to be had after yesterday’s implosion but I have also had a few ironic chuckles at Sam Allardyce’s outrageous attempts to claim that the three goal win was in some way thanks to his tactics.

Watching the game on Sunday, I couldn’t believe how Sam Allardyce set his team out.

The five win derby run has been built on high energy hassling and frequently out-battling the Newcastle players of frail temperament and fragile confidence.

Instead, from the kick-off, Allardyce had his players in two rigid lines across the pitch where they apparently weren’t allowed to move within 20 yards of the halfway line, only Steven Fletcher having the solo job of running about trying to hassle the possession that Newcastle had been gifted.

It was quite bizarre to see the likes of Colback and Tiote in midfield, having the time to stand with the ball and pass it when they felt like it.

This was no defensive master class for the mackems, as Newcastle frequently played the ball through the double lines of defences and should have had the game won long before Coloccini and Elliot made such a hash of what should have been a routine passage of play just before the break.

The worry once again must be that Newcastle only have very limited goals in the team, the failure to get the goals the domination deserved was even more marked than the first half at the Etihad.

The goals were great against Norwich but six from only six attempts on target points to it being a day when everything fell just right, along with an appalling defence.

Allardyce has said it was a ‘massive clean sheet’, well it wasn’t down to him or his players, Newcastle’s domination in terms of shots, possession and corners, leading to Pantilimon only having to make one serious save.

The horrible thought is though that Newcastle could have wasted the momentum of all those cherries and icing they enjoyed against the Canaries, Stoke on Saturday will be just the latest vital ‘must win’ game in a growing series of them.

By contrast, no matter how rubbish Sunderland appear to be, they now go on to their next match with a different mindset and now the possibility (as Newcastle still have) of moving out of the relegation zone next weekend if results fall right.

Sam Allardyce (when asked if the third goal was the icing on the cake):

“The cherry…that comes after the icing!

“Six on the trot, we have won, we have kept the record going. I’m the fourth manager to be in charge of the club and beat our local rivals in their second game – I find that a bizarre statistic.

“A huge three points for us and a massive clean sheet. Delighted we have our first win of the season but ten games to do it is far too long.

“We took full advantage and when the Sunderland fans wake up on Monday morning they won’t be bothered about any of that.”

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