Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
The initial uplift that Sam Allardyce gave Everton after his appointment as manager is nothing but a distant memory now as he has seen his side go five games without a league win with their rise up the table coming to a shuddering halt.
The defensive platform that Allardyce usually looks to build has been shaky as of late and that was no less evident that last Saturday when they were soundly beaten by Tottenham at Wembley by four goals to nil, in what was refereed to as a very naive performance by the one time former England boss.
To be honest they did not set up in the usual Allardyce way when on the road and it was openness that allowed Tottenham to attack at will and they took full advantage of the space that they were offered on the large Wembley pitch as they strolled to victory.
It was apparent that Everton were lacking something of a creative spark last weekend and with the arrival of Theo Walcott from Arsenal, the hope is that he will give his new side something of a lift as they look to return to winning ways this weekend.
Walcott is the second big money signing that Everton have made this month with the arrival of Cenk Tosun from Besiktas, the Turkish international cut something of an anonymous figure last weekend and the hope will be that he can offer more this time around.
Both he and the former Arsenal winger Walcott will be looking to endear themselves to their new group of supporters as they prepare for the visit of a West Brom side who finally earned their first league win since August last weekend.
It was Brighton who were the team who failed to extend the Baggies’ run to 21 games without a win in this division, but that monkey is finally off their back thanks to a 2-0 win at The Hawthorns, the aim now is to make sure that is not the exception rather than the rule.
Although they did win this time last week, they still find themselves in the relegation zone and two points from safety. However should results go their way today then they could then move out of the bottom three, leapfrogging Stoke and dragging Southampton down into real danger.
West Brom would have been boosted by their F.A. Cup win over Exeter a fortnight ago when going into the clash with Chris Hughton’s Brighton and it is evident that there is some momentum building in the West Midlands, but one swallow does not make a Summer.
To be fair and I hate to be one of those “I told you so” people but I did predict a West Brom win last week, simply because a run has to end at some point. 20 games without a win in this division is nothing short of farcical to be honest but Brighton are not really pulling up any trees as of late either.
You got the feeling that if they did not beat Brighton then just when would they ever find this long overdue league win, thankfully that is not something they have to worry about now with the focus solely being getting out of the drop zone.
A lot of clubs have rolled the dice in that area of the table and they obviously cannot all stay up, there are going to be some winners and losers in the decision to change managers halfway through the season and the question is which side of the dotted line will the Baggies be on come May.
They will be boosted by their win and also by the fact that Everton are in a relatively poor run of form themselves, however I think the Everton fans will be demanding a reaction after that drubbing seven days ago and therefore I can see the Toffees creating a sticky situation later today, home win for me.
