Allardyce post-match patter

Officially now the Lord of the Moans, Sam Allardyce has surpassed himself with his recent whinges as he carps on about all and sundry, believing the world is on some kind of vendetta run against him. His latest selections from the Mighty Monologue Man are:

On the Stoke result: It would have been a shock if we had lost, that is for sure. But other people were putting more onto the result than they should have done. There is nothing I can do about that. I just have to keep my focus on the players and try to ensure they perform at their best. We need to put a few wins on the board and we need to find more of a cutting edge."

On the calendar congestion: "If not causing a serious injury, through fatigue or a late challenge, there will be problems later on in life when professional players will have massive problems with hip, knee and ankle replacements and arthritis. You wouldn't ask a racehorse to do this. We've had five games in two weeks with no rest. Foreign players like Claudio Cacapa, David Rozehnal and Jose Enrique think we're crazy.

It's like a mobile phone; you have to recharge the batteries. The players are the same - they need to recharge. It is over-demanding on high-performing athletes; it is dangerous. There's too much over Christmas, but our bosses won't allow it; they won't give us the courtesy to think about a break. If they want entertainment they have to put a break in.'

About Mark Viduka: "Whether he wants to get involved in that (World Cup Qualifiers), I'm not sure about. I'd prefer him not to.'

About Mike Ashley: 'It was very nice to see Mike back from his holidays and he was looking very, very well - certainly better than me, anyway. Four Premier League teams have gone out to lower league opposition and there was no game harder than this one, but we coped very well and we could have won it at the beginning of the first and second halves.'

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