" Don't panic Cardiff "

18th August 2013.

" Don't panic Cardiff "
Sam Allardyce tells us not to panic.


Sam Allardyce offered some consolation to Cardiff City after watching his West Ham side cruise to a comfortable win, saying home form will be the key to the Bluebirds' survival.

Allardyce should know too, having taken the Hammers up 15 months ago, the task of staying in the top flight therefore fresh in his mind.

"It was their first game and if you could choose your first game in the Premier League you'd want it at home, not away," said Allardyce when asked for his thoughts on Cardiff after yesterday's Upton Park clash.

"We came up to the Premier League having won more Championship games away than we did at home.

"But last year in the Premier League it was a huge task to pick up points on the road, we only won three games in the entire season away.

"Your home form is what you need to get right to stay in the Premier League.

"Hopefully with what Malky has brought to the club Cardiff will get the results they are looking for.

"The message for them has to be 'don't get too worried if you don't start well'.

"Just look at Southampton last year, Nigel (Adkins) brought them out of the bottom three after Christmas superbly well - and his reward for that was the sack!"

Having been prepared to offer encouragement to Cardiff though, Allardyce said Malky Mackay's men got what they deserved today.

The former Bolton and Newcastle boss praised his side's display.

He said: "We won the game comfortably and perhaps didn't take as many chances as we'd have liked.

"But that doesn't matter know, it's a 2-0 victory and a clean sheet. We did a great job and our time in pre-season stood us in good stead.

"I told the players I wanted them at 100% by August 17 and I felt we were physically and mentally.

"When we didn't have the edge on them we defended superbly well. Cardiff only had one shot on target the entire game."

Allardyce brought new signing Stuart Downing on late in the game - and he admitted he is excited about what the man he bought from Liverpool may deliver for West Ham.

"There's no need to talk about Stuart proving himself, he's a top quality player and has been for a number of years," he added.

"We didn't start him today because he hadn't had much match time at Liverpool.

"To have him on the bench and bring him on when Cardiff were tiring was exciting.

"It's nice to have him and the main thing is he's glad to be here.

"He gave the crowd a little something of what we hope they will see all season.

"We had competition all over the pitch today and a lot of disappointed players on the bench and two, Jack Collison and Matt Taylor even more disappointed at not being in the squad.

"Their contribution in the last two years has been enormous.

"Everybody has to fight for their place now."

There was also a mention of Joe Cole, who opened the scoring in the 13th minute.

"Joe has been an England player, timing his runs, that's what he's all about," said Allardyce.

"He could have had a hat-trick in the first 45 minutes.

"His hardest chance was the one he scored but if he continues that way...

"When we play here we play with a front three and you saw how effective that can be today."

Very reassuring, and an obvious but good point, home form is key, I see his WH team pushing for top 8 if Carroll has a decent season, theyve shaped a team around him.

Very reassuring, and an obvious but good point, home form is key, I see his WH team pushing for top 8 if Carroll has a decent season, theyve shaped a team around him.

They've got some top quality players, and I agree I think they'll be very strong this year.

Very reassuring, and an obvious but good point, home form is key, I see his WH team pushing for top 8 if Carroll has a decent season, theyve shaped a team around him.

They've got some top quality players, and I agree I think they'll be very strong this year.

The irony is, since their promotion from the Championship, if you take out Andy Carroll who didn't play yesterday - you have spent nearly TWICE as much as they spent in their two seasons at this level combined!

lets not forget that's on top of a championship winning squad where as West Ham went up via play-offs.

IF you think they have a better squad then surely Malky has spent incredibly poorly considering he spent twice as much?

Very reassuring, and an obvious but good point, home form is key, I see his WH team pushing for top 8 if Carroll has a decent season, theyve shaped a team around him.

They've got some top quality players, and I agree I think they'll be very strong this year.

The irony is, since their promotion from the Championship, if you take out Andy Carroll who didn't play yesterday - you have spent nearly TWICE as much as they spent in their two seasons at this level combined!

lets not forget that's on top of a championship winning squad where as West Ham went up via play-offs.

IF you think they have a better squad then surely Malky has spent incredibly poorly considering he spent twice as much?

Is that your rock bottom opinion?

Very reassuring, and an obvious but good point, home form is key, I see his WH team pushing for top 8 if Carroll has a decent season, theyve shaped a team around him.

They've got some top quality players, and I agree I think they'll be very strong this year.

The irony is, since their promotion from the Championship, if you take out Andy Carroll who didn't play yesterday - you have spent nearly TWICE as much as they spent in their two seasons at this level combined!

lets not forget that's on top of a championship winning squad where as West Ham went up via play-offs.

IF you think they have a better squad then surely Malky has spent incredibly poorly considering he spent twice as much?

Where do these Balloons come from

Very reassuring, and an obvious but good point, home form is key, I see his WH team pushing for top 8 if Carroll has a decent season, theyve shaped a team around him.

They've got some top quality players, and I agree I think they'll be very strong this year.

The irony is, since their promotion from the Championship, if you take out Andy Carroll who didn't play yesterday - you have spent nearly TWICE as much as they spent in their two seasons at this level combined!

lets not forget that's on top of a championship winning squad where as West Ham went up via play-offs.

IF you think they have a better squad then surely Malky has spent incredibly poorly considering he spent twice as much?

Is that your rock bottom opinion?

More of a fact than an opinion really isn't it.

According to you guys the season you got promoted, it was the strongest league ever so if you add £30 million of players to that then surely its stronger than a team that went up via the play-offs in a weaker league that only spent half as much since?

just common sense. If you think West Ham have a better side hen what the hell has Malky spent twice as much money on?!

Very reassuring, and an obvious but good point, home form is key, I see his WH team pushing for top 8 if Carroll has a decent season, theyve shaped a team around him.

They've got some top quality players, and I agree I think they'll be very strong this year.

The irony is, since their promotion from the Championship, if you take out Andy Carroll who didn't play yesterday - you have spent nearly TWICE as much as they spent in their two seasons at this level combined!

lets not forget that's on top of a championship winning squad where as West Ham went up via play-offs.

IF you think they have a better squad then surely Malky has spent incredibly poorly considering he spent twice as much?

They already had Premier League players when they came down to the Championship, and spent that season too. They are way ahead of us in spending over the last five years. Also due to the extra TV money, all players are costing more this season, as the rest of Europe knows Premier League clubs are cash rich. We will spend more aswell, but we've got the money and will need to to stay up ........

Very reassuring, and an obvious but good point, home form is key, I see his WH team pushing for top 8 if Carroll has a decent season, theyve shaped a team around him.

They've got some top quality players, and I agree I think they'll be very strong this year.

The irony is, since their promotion from the Championship, if you take out Andy Carroll who didn't play yesterday - you have spent nearly TWICE as much as they spent in their two seasons at this level combined!

lets not forget that's on top of a championship winning squad where as West Ham went up via play-offs.

IF you think they have a better squad then surely Malky has spent incredibly poorly considering he spent twice as much?

They already had Premier League players when they came down to the Championship, and spent that season too. They are way ahead of us in spending over the last five years. Also due to the extra TV money, all players are costing more this season, as the rest of Europe knows Premier League clubs are cash rich. We will spend more aswell, but we've got the money and will need to to stay up ........

They finished 3rd, you finished 1st in the Championship seasons.

and of course its been said on here many a time it was the strongest championship in history, meaning you had a better base of players once promoted, spent twice as much... yet have a worse team than them? how?

Very reassuring, and an obvious but good point, home form is key, I see his WH team pushing for top 8 if Carroll has a decent season, theyve shaped a team around him.

They've got some top quality players, and I agree I think they'll be very strong this year.

The irony is, since their promotion from the Championship, if you take out Andy Carroll who didn't play yesterday - you have spent nearly TWICE as much as they spent in their two seasons at this level combined!

lets not forget that's on top of a championship winning squad where as West Ham went up via play-offs.

IF you think they have a better squad then surely Malky has spent incredibly poorly considering he spent twice as much?

Is that your rock bottom opinion?

More of a fact than an opinion really isn't it.

According to you guys the season you got promoted, it was the strongest league ever so if you add £30 million of players to that then surely its stronger than a team that went up via the play-offs in a weaker league that only spent half as much since?

just common sense. If you think West Ham have a better side hen what the hell has Malky spent twice as much money on?!

You are forgetting that West Ham were relegated from the Premiership and were able to keep most of the players so when they went back up they had much better squad than Reading (who went on a amazing run to win the league ) and Southampton who kept up their momentum from winning league 1 . You ask any knowledgeable football fan out of those 3 squads that went up which team had the better squad everyone would say West Ham

Very reassuring, and an obvious but good point, home form is key, I see his WH team pushing for top 8 if Carroll has a decent season, theyve shaped a team around him.

They've got some top quality players, and I agree I think they'll be very strong this year.

The irony is, since their promotion from the Championship, if you take out Andy Carroll who didn't play yesterday - you have spent nearly TWICE as much as they spent in their two seasons at this level combined!

lets not forget that's on top of a championship winning squad where as West Ham went up via play-offs.

IF you think they have a better squad then surely Malky has spent incredibly poorly considering he spent twice as much?

Is that your rock bottom opinion?

More of a fact than an opinion really isn't it.

According to you guys the season you got promoted, it was the strongest league ever so if you add £30 million of players to that then surely its stronger than a team that went up via the play-offs in a weaker league that only spent half as much since?

just common sense. If you think West Ham have a better side hen what the hell has Malky spent twice as much money on?!

You are forgetting that West Ham were relegated from the Premiership and were able to keep most of the players so when they went back up they had much better squad than Reading (who went on a amazing run to win the league ) and Southampton who kept up their momentum from winning league 1 . You ask any knowledgeable football fan out of those 3 squads that went up which team had the better squad everyone would say West Ham

Doesn't matter.

You finished first in what you guys claim as the strongest championship in history, they finished 3rd in what was then a weaker league.

ergo - you had a better squad on promotion. what has happened since to now have a worse one considering you have spent twice as much as them?

Very reassuring, and an obvious but good point, home form is key, I see his WH team pushing for top 8 if Carroll has a decent season, theyve shaped a team around him.

They've got some top quality players, and I agree I think they'll be very strong this year.

The irony is, since their promotion from the Championship, if you take out Andy Carroll who didn't play yesterday - you have spent nearly TWICE as much as they spent in their two seasons at this level combined!

lets not forget that's on top of a championship winning squad where as West Ham went up via play-offs.

IF you think they have a better squad then surely Malky has spent incredibly poorly considering he spent twice as much?

They already had Premier League players when they came down to the Championship, and spent that season too. They are way ahead of us in spending over the last five years. Also due to the extra TV money, all players are costing more this season, as the rest of Europe knows Premier League clubs are cash rich. We will spend more aswell, but we've got the money and will need to to stay up ........

They finished 3rd, you finished 1st in the Championship seasons.

and of course its been said on here many a time it was the strongest championship in history, meaning you had a better base of players once promoted, spent twice as much... yet have a worse team than them? how?

WTF? Most competitive championship has been said, (there were no teams doing a Reading or Newcastle) it was a close championship which we did win by 8 points but we never really destroyed teams like Reading and Newcastle did

Nope, it was said it was the best league ever DUE TO it being the most competitive.

come on guys make your mind up, has Malky been mug with his cash or did you get promoted from a weak league after all?

Nope, it was said it was the best league ever DUE TO it being the most competitive.

come on guys make your mind up, has Malky been mug with his cash or did you get promoted from a weak league after all?

Where? Quotes please. Or are you just spouting nonsense to back your agenda.

Nope, it was said it was the best league ever DUE TO it being the most competitive.

come on guys make your mind up, has Malky been mug with his cash or did you get promoted from a weak league after all?

Where? Quotes please. Or are you just spouting nonsense to back your agenda.

On here. theres a search engine, im sure you can handle it.

Can't back up your claims with evidence...

Can't back up your claims with evidence...

Load of bollocks. The Championship was the strongest and most even its been for years.

The 3 teams that came down still had very strong squads but underachieved.

We spent £10m on quality - internationals, prem players, etc. it showed.
Watford loaned half of Serie A taking them up a notch.
Hull City made some solid loan signing and signings and they were strong.
Leicester spent big on players but underachieved
Palace had Zaha who went to United for £15m - United would not buy a player overachieving in a rubbish league - they've bought a player from a strong league who is inconsistent. Thats Zaha's only problem and if United sort that they have a good player

There is a reason that the most common result in the league was 2-1.

Most games were hard fought and could have gone either way.

Durham talks out of his backside and its even more stupid people are agreeing with the muppet.

laughing smiley

So one person on here claims it was the strongest & it was a well known WUM.

nice try Roathy

So one person on here claims it was the strongest & it was a well known WUM.

nice try Roathy

So you ask me to post evidence and then when I do you don't like it.

Cant have it both ways Daya.

laughing smiley

want more?

I know we can only draw or beat whats put in front of us, but many are saying its been very weak this season.

Many?

I've only heard it's the strongest it's ever been, as anyone can beat anyone.
Most of the TV pundits have been saying the same.

I don't see anyone saying they think its strongest there, only relaying what they had heard.

It wasn't the strongest, it was very competitive. Both very different things.

I thought it was a rather average championship standard league, myself.

I don't see anyone saying they think its strongest there, only relaying what they had heard.

It wasn't the strongest, it was very competitive. Both very different things.

I thought it was a rather average championship standard league, myself.

exactly Cardiff fans saying that all they have heard is how its the strongest, not to mention the Cardiff fan above saying the same.

I could go on and on with my quotes but I have proved that point.

I thought it was a shocking Championship but there we go.

During our time in the Championship there are a few teams that stood out (other than Cardiff of course!). The Reading and Newcastle title winning teams (for Reading I mean the 2005/06 season, still the best side relative to others I've seen at that level). West Brom for the way they were able to regroup after relegation and bounce straight back.

Other than that its always the same extremely tough, competitive league. In my experience its never been poor, weak or shocking. To win it is a great achievement

We didn't play well yesterday and lost away in our first game. We had only 2 new signings on show, one of which had only recently flown in and had barely even trained with the squad. Are west ham better than us? Probably and may well finish higher as they have a squad of PL experience. Long way to go though and we will sign other players. As history shows, the amount you spend often has no bearing on how players or squads compare to each other on the pitch. Lets hope long term MM gets it right.

Are Villa now better than Arsenal? Any bets as to who will finish higher?

I agree with fat Sam, we need to make our home matches count in the Premier League. Hopefully with a few new signings and a bit more belief we can do that.

During our time in the Championship there are a few teams that stood out (other than Cardiff of course!). The Reading and Newcastle title winning teams (for Reading I mean the 2005/06 season, still the best side relative to others I've seen at that level). West Brom for the way they were able to regroup after relegation and bounce straight back.

Other than that its always the same extremely tough, competitive league. In my experience its never been poor, weak or shocking. To win it is a great achievement

We didn't play well yesterday and lost away in our first game. We had only 2 new signings on show, one of which had only recently flown in and had barely even trained with the squad. Are west ham better than us? Probably and may well finish higher as they have a squad of PL experience. Long way to go though and we will sign other players. As history shows, the amount you spend often has no bearing on how players or squads compare to each other on the pitch. Lets hope long term MM gets it right.

Are Villa now better than Arsenal? Any bets as to who will finish higher?

History shows the clubs that spend the most are more often than not more successful than ones that don't.

Malky has said he may not go back into transfer market according to some on here.

If you think it was a one off poor show then fair enough, however on what we saw yesterday - youre in trouble.

Cheeky bid for Collison would be decent business imo

During our time in the Championship there are a few teams that stood out (other than Cardiff of course!). The Reading and Newcastle title winning teams (for Reading I mean the 2005/06 season, still the best side relative to others I've seen at that level). West Brom for the way they were able to regroup after relegation and bounce straight back.

Other than that its always the same extremely tough, competitive league. In my experience its never been poor, weak or shocking. To win it is a great achievement

We didn't play well yesterday and lost away in our first game. We had only 2 new signings on show, one of which had only recently flown in and had barely even trained with the squad. Are west ham better than us? Probably and may well finish higher as they have a squad of PL experience. Long way to go though and we will sign other players. As history shows, the amount you spend often has no bearing on how players or squads compare to each other on the pitch. Lets hope long term MM gets it right.

Are Villa now better than Arsenal? Any bets as to who will finish higher?

History shows the clubs that spend the most are more often than not more successful than ones that don't.

Malky has said he may not go back into transfer market according to some on here.

If you think it was a one off poor show then fair enough, however on what we saw yesterday - youre in trouble.

Could say the same about your defence yesterday. What was Williams doing for RVPs first goal? Great finish but the ball was there to be headed away.

I think there are some players there who are obviously not good enough. We've gone for a few expensive players - needed for sure but we lack strength in depth.

I think we definitely need to try Noone but get another winger too - I think Bellamy and Kim can't have much worse days than yesterday but we need to be able to hold possession better... Overall going forward I'm not too concerned I think Campbell and Cornelius will be good and will often be played as lone strikers with Maynard as back up.

A major for me is the fact that Malkey is not sure of his best team therefore we don't look settled at all and maybe the starting team haven't played enough together and don't have the understanding. At least Medel is there to train this week and him and Caulker looked very good. Perhaps it's worth getting another more experienced defender in too.

Could say the same about your defence yesterday. What was Williams doing for RVPs first goal? Great finish but the ball was there to be headed away.

Agree with you. However Williams rarely does that so its ok. IF he was doing it every game id be concerned.

Just like you. IF you think its a one off performance then ok. if not, then you have a tough 8 months ahead.

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Agree with you. However Williams rarely does that so its ok..

Williams enjoys an error. We all know that!