Despite on the surface Everton sit currently in 9th place on 28 points, the Blues are only six points ahead of the relegation zone and after another lacklustre performance at home to West Brom, doubt has started to creep back into the minds of those Everton Supporters.
Speaking to the Daily express, “Allardyce was asked if he is worried his side are slipping back to the relegation zone and he said: “Yes, very, especially after performing like that and last week’s second half performance when they went 2-0 down.
“I’ve seen a huge drain of confidence in the players in the space of one and a half football matches.
“The quality of the Tottenham side, I could accept that, but West Brom are in the bottom three.”
His honest admission that players have lost confidence is a cause for concern for the Goodison Park continent.
Big Sam’s introduction produced an initial upturn in form for the blue half of Merseyside but in light of recent results, questions will certainly be asked of Allardyce’s credentials. Poor results coupled with unimaginative play has unsettled members of the Everton Faithful.
Toffee Supporters’ took to twitter to vent their frustrations. Pete Hogarth was less than impressed with the Blues display describing it as “abject”. He said “Another abject performance. We had an abundance of pace in the team at times today but didn’t utilise it. Build up was painfully slow and very little movement. What is Allardyce doing with them in training? He’s probably sitting in his office with his feet up counting his money.”
The focus switched onto Allardyce, who some feel has had more than enough time to improve the poor run of form. Daniel Storey followed that with this tweet. “Everton with Sam Allardyce: Failed to have a shot on target in 3 of their last 5 league games.
Everton pre-Sam Allardyce: Failed to have a shot on target in 3 of their last 222 league games.
But it wasn’t all negative for the recently appointed Allardyce, Michael Graham believes that the new boss has had a long term impact by altering the mentality of his players. However, with the Blues six points away from the drop zone, Everton will need an upturn in form if they are going to avoid a relegation battle at the business end of the season.
Ryan Bromilow