John McCormick writes: the quote in the headline’s from Sam’s post-match letter to Colin and one or two others. I know what he means but I have to say, bad as Newcastle were, I don’t think we looked a lot better. Hoof and hope does not sit well with cultured players like M’Vila and Kirchoff on the pitch, and as for keeping possession and taking territory from the opposition, forget it. I don’t agree with Sam’s opinion that we controlled and dominated. As Sam also says “We tried to defend too deeply instead of getting on the front-foot; we needed to keep putting them under pressure” and we didn’t, so it’s no surprise to me that Newcastle had the time and space to come back at us and that we let in yet another late goal.
Here’s the full letter so you can read it and pass on your own opinion if you like.
Dear Colin
It takes a lot of getting over to concede a goal late in the game, just like we did against Southampton.
We controlled the game and dominated our local rivals, creating chance after chance but we only converted one.
We just couldn’t see the game out to the end and it has ended 1-1.
The turning point in the game was Rob Elliot’s save on Patrick van Aanholt in the second half; that would have been a great time for us to kill off Newcastle, but a brilliant piece of goalkeeping kept them in it.
I think Newcastle were fortunate to get a point from the game, going off their performance and the amount of chances we created.
We are disappointed in the dressing room; it almost feels like a loss.
We tried to defend too deeply instead of getting on the front-foot; we needed to keep putting them under pressure.
I thought performance wise we looked strong, we’re not a side that looks like we’re going to get beat, but we need to start turning these draws into wins.
We’re four games unbeaten and we’ve still got to work hard to get a few clean sheets and stop conceding; one goal should be able to win us three points but at the minute it doesn’t.
We’ve got a difficult run ahead and we need to start turning these performances into results.
Thanks for your support,
Sam Allardyce