Big Sam not a good long-term fit for Everton

The appointment of Big Sam at Everton always looked like a desperate short-term move and you have to wonder if he'll even manage to see the season out there.

Really they should be one of those teams battling for European football every season.

But Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Burnley saw Allardyce the subject of plenty of stick from the away fans.

It’s not his fault necessarily but he’s just not a good long-term fit.

He has always done his best work with smaller clubs, getting them to over achieve with smart transfer moves and by making life difficult for their opponents.

Everton fans expect far more than that, they want big signings and good, exciting football.

They want to be a regular top-six team.

Instead they are now languishing six points behind seventh-placed Burnley. And the defeat left them 11 behind Arsenal who occupy sixth position – that could be 14 points if the Gunners beat Brighton on Sunday.

To be fair to Allardyce he hasn’t obviously had long to work with the players there.

But he must have been selected to make best use of the likes of Gylfi Sigurdsson and Wayne Rooney.

That’s not really happening.

In their last three games they got hammered by Arsenal, beaten by Watford and now defeated at Burnley.

It’s not good news and if the results continue like that they will be looking for another manager sooner rather than later.

The difficult thing for Allardyce is that his style of play just doesn’t suit Everton.

But does he have any other tricks to turn the tide?