I've defended him for a while now in real life, but I lost patience tonight. Slow in possession to the extent of getting needlessly caught, unwilling to track back with any conviction and poor in the tackle. There was a last minute Everton attack where he was dispossessed then simply jogged back into a no-man's land without making any attempt to block or tackle (while all around him players were defending as if their lives depended on it). Sam is going to lose a lot of the newfound goodwill from the average fan if he persists with Nolan, in my opinion.

Overall though, that was the dogged and determined away performance (with the odd sprinkling of something approaching or even reaching fluent football) that everyone expected to see regularly when Allardyce was first appointed. Lucky FC were always going to equalise, but they deserved no more (and barely that).

Last Edited By: Dan M the Second Jan 6 15 10:17 PM. Edited 1 times.