If the BBC are to be believed Blackburn and their new owners may just be the key to us having some hope of survival if the PL step in and dock their points.

For those who suggested in the previous thread on this topic that going down isn't the end of the world, it is worth noting that in the Premier League each point you get is worth £1,000,000 on the basis that if you get 35+ points which will probably keep you up it is worth £35million in TV money etc.

Allardyce gets points, Grant doesn't.

LeeHammer above is right, some short memories out there. Allardyce took Bolton into Europe with Jay-Jay Okocha, Youri Djorkaef and Ivan Campo running rings around teams and playing brilliant football.

He was also within an hour of signing Raul for Blackburn, and you don't sign him and play long ball. He plays long ball because that is all the players he has had at Blackburn are good enough for. And although I have missed a couple of games this year I have been to most and I would suggest all that most of our side are good enough for (Parker excepted but he is off in Jan anyway).

I would love us to pass the ball about and be great to watch but we haven't done that in years so why not at least make the most of what we have for now and try to stay up and then look to rebuild in the summer and see whether the owners are serious about investing in the club.

Further to my comment above I am not suggesting Allardyce should be our manager at all.

Merely that the criticism he receives is harsh, I wish we were 13th in the table and looking likely to stay up.

I am sure that if he came in the first thing he would do is to pick Cole, play Obinna off him and we would play direct football yes, I have not suggested otherwise. And we might stay up.

If we want to go down trying to pass it around with average players then let's stay the way we are and all be blinkered and think we have a divine right to play the way it should be played and stay in the Prem.

You can't have it all ways sadly.

I am slightly surprised at the criticism Allardyce gets. He manages football teams according to budget. Unfortunately you cannot buy world class players when you have no investment and he has proven that he can take average players and keep them in the Premier League.

I would love us to still be the academy of football and pass the ball about like Brazil, but with inadequate players that style is simply going to take us into the Championship.

I also think that people are slightly confused as to Allardyce's philosophy. Any team that has Kevin Davies up front would be stupid not to make use of his aerial presence, in the same way that Newcastle have had success this year and last with Andy Carroll. But give Allardyce a Scott Parker and he would allow him to pass the ball around. Allardyce is a self confident manager and has every right to be so in my opinion and I agree with a couple of the comments above, if he came in now I think he could keep us up.

It comes down to what we want as fans, good football in the championship or making the most of what we have and trying to stay in the Premier League

He works as a scout for Blackburn Rovers I think. I know he was working for us, Glenn Roeder brought him in as a scout and when Zola took over he got him much more involved but almost as soon as Sullivan & Gold came in he left and went to Blackburn, presumably as part of the cost cutting measures