Crystal Palace vs Middlesbrough: Sam Allardyce claims his struggles are down to players not following his orders

SAM ALLARDYCE claims his struggles at Crystal Palace are down to players not following his orders.

Palace are next-to-bottom after just one win in eight games under Big Sam.

But he claimed: “I am struggling with the players staying with the game-plan.

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“If they do that, they’ll have a better chance of a result. So the players are responsible.

“My experience and  qualifications are far greater than theirs. Eventually I hope they will grasp what I tell them because there is still time to turn it around.

“When they talk about tactics and systems, that’s fine.

“But they are players and they are paid to play.

“I’m the manager and the system and tactics are my expertise, not theirs.

“The advice I’ve given over the years has to have been pretty good because I’ve been managing at this level for a long time now.”

Allardyce took charge when Alan Pardew was sacked by Palace before Christmas.

The former England boss has a reputation for  winning relegation battles at Bolton, Blackburn, West Ham and Sunderland.

But Palace’s players are taking longer to adapt to his methods.

Allardyce, 62, added: “My experience comes from talking to players at this top level for many years and from being able to produce a team that wins matches.

“I’m trying to pass that experience on to the  players and  I’m a little frustrated they haven’t quite grasped that yet.

“Maybe it’s because it’s been going on so long now. But we all have to change and pull in the right direction.”

Injured skipper Scott Dann misses today’s clash with fellow strugglers Middlesbrough when Palace are chasing only their THIRD home league win of the season.

Allardyce said: “With regards to us not being able to win at home, I was in the same position at Sunderland last year.

“I looked at our home record there and thought ‘Oh, man, we are going to have to change to get out of trouble’. And we did.

“We beat Manchester United, Chelsea and Everton at home to turn it around.

“And if we did it up there, we can do the same here.”