Allardyce has never been relegated as a Premier League manager and fans had high hopes when he was appointed to replace the sacked Alan Pardew in December.
But he is yet to win a Premier League game in eight attempts and takes on Middlesbrough today with his side second bottom in the table.
“Where I’m struggling at the moment is with the players staying with the game plan,” said Allardyce. “At the end of the day my experience and my qualifications are far greater than theirs. They are paid to play but I’m the manager and the system and tactics are my expertise not theirs.
“When I set them out they have to put it into practice. In possession they make the decision where and when they pass the ball. If they get that more correct than they have been, we’ll produce more results.
“The biggest problem for me is we keep losing, but it’s our responsibility to deliver. It’s difficult to deal with being at the bottom for so long. It makes life really unpleasant but we have to live with it, get to grips with it and start producing top-level performances.
‘My message is, ‘Just stop the goals lads’. It’s not a difficult question for them to answer or a difficult task for them to do for me.”
Quite what response Allardyce will get from that outburst remains to be seen. Indeed, it was not pretty and to that end he has called on his side to win ugly to help avoid relegation.
“We must show more will, more spirit, determination and fight,” he said. “We are going to have to be a bit uglier if we are to get out of this situation, deal with the pressure and deliver our best performances home and away, starting with Boro.”
Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka could have been forgiven for wondering what might have been had he chosen Palace ahead of Boro when he had the chance to join the Eagles in November 2013 following Ian Holloway’s exit.
Since then, Neil Warnock and Alan Pardew have been and gone while Boro remain remarkably stable.
“It was the right choice then and I still think so today,” said the Spaniard, whose side could tumble into the drop zone for the first time this term if they lose.
“To start my managerial career, I needed a team and a club which could offer me confidence and at that time, Steve Gibson gave me that confidence.
“To start without any Premier League experience would have been difficult. But three years later, the only thing I can say is that I was right.”
When Palace beat Boro this season, Karanka excused his side’s defeat, believing their opponents would be flying high in the table.
Instead, despite having on paper a far superior side, Palace are three points below Boro with the anticipated revival under Allardyce having failed to materialise.
That surprises Karanka who said: “When you have his experience and a squad full of quality players, I thought they would have done better. You would have expected a reaction.”
This will be Palace’s first home game since losing 4-0 against Sunderland but Karanka knows it will be very different today.
“I would love to go in to the changing rooms four up at half-time but that is not going to happen,” he said. “It will be a very difficult game for us.”
