Allardyce on... Newcastle Utd

  • by Staff Writer
  • Saturday, 18th January 2014

Having once again failed to achieve back-to-back Premier League wins, a disappointed Sam Allardyce faces the press - whilst revealing exactly why the Lacina Traore deal fell through...

Sam: you had two great chances to grab a point in that second half?

Yeah. It's been about not taking our chances most of the time for us of the season, which is why we haven't achieved more points than we have.

Unfortunately at the opposite end our defensive frailties were exposed a little bit today in that first half. We overcame them but unfortunately even a spirited fightback in the second half hasn't got us anything. But we'll keep our chins up as we've 16 games to go and we know how many points we need in those 16 games to get safe in the Barclays Premier League. We've got to keep fighting on.

I think there comes a time where the players have to realise it doesn't become about performances any more, it becomes about results more than anything. Whichever way you get them you've got to get them and that'll start with us bringing back some of the players who are suspended and some of the players who have been injured. That'll help us of course and if we can get any additions - and we've been trying desperately hard in the window - then we'll do that as well.

It's very disappointing to have won three points at Cardiff away from home and got nothing here. Certainly from our point of view I felt it was more about our defensive lapses than the quality of Newcastle's play to score both goals, even though they were two good finishes. We could have done better.

In the end, the fighting spirit and the fight back was there but, you know. I was watching Sunderland before our game and I was thinking "come on lads, do a Sunderland for me" - because they came back well today in the early game against Southampton. It didn't look like they were going to get much from the game in the first half-an-hour.

But chances were there and we missed them when we could have got it back to 2-2. I think the one at the end went in with just a few seconds left so it didn't mean too much, that one.

Can you explain what happened in the first half?

We didn't defend very well.

In what way?

In the way that we had five defenders missing or injured and one who should have played but pulled out this morning. Five of our defenders are not playing and our back four today had never played together at all this season.

When you get continuous disruption in your back four, you don't then get a solid unit. Sometimes the solid unit that you would like is difficult to keep when players aren't used to playing with each other. Newcastle's players, in that period, exposed the weaknesses we have and scored two goals.

Alan Pardew made the point that had Andy Carroll been fully match fit or sharp he might have put that one away. Is it going to take a few games to get full match fitness?

Well it's eight months since he's played and he's had a long, gruelling rehabilitation programme that's frustrated everybody. With Andy back, Kevin back, Ravel back and Winston Reid, Guy Demel, Joey O'Brien and George McCartney back as soon as possible... It's critical for us.

Without those players we get the results we're getting and our run of results recently contains too many defeats. Six defeats, two draws and only one victory tells you the problem that all those injuries and all those disruptions have caused us.

If we're going to get out of it, those players have to stay fit. If additional players can come in... which we're finding extremely difficult to achieve. I had a terrible day yesterday when I thought that one player was signing for us and then I found out he wasn't. But there you go, we have to carry on.

Was that Traore? Is the deal still alive?

It's unlikely, by the sound of it.

In your understanding of the work permit, is he now allowed to join another team despite you lodging the..?

...They can apply for a work permit - like we did - now. They'll have to make a second application but obviously they know that if we got it, they know they'll get it.

Have you made an enquiry about taking Thomas Vermaelen on loan?

No, because I think that under the circumstances Arsenal are in, with the Champions League coming up and other Cup matches they've had to use him as soon as any of the two central defenders have been injured. I don't think there's any chance we'll get someone of his quality. It'd be nice if we could.

Have you got any other targets?

I've a long list of targets and I haven't got one of them yet apart from Roger Johnson! So I'll keep going and hope we get some.

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