Tumbling Allardyce
Newcastle’s failure to play a more attractive style of football under Sam Allardyce was a big factor in the manager’s departure.
Tony Cascarino, 22 Jan 2008
The style of football Sam Allardyce employed at Newcastle was a big factor in his departure from the club. Particularly since the Kevin Keegan days, Toon fans have always loved to see the team play an attractive, attacking type of game. They weren’t losing too many matches under Sam, but when you’re using defensive tactics and the supporters aren’t happy, it’s going to cause you problems in the long run.
In addition, a lot of the signings Sam made during the summer backfired on him. To be frank, defensive players like Enrique, Beye and Cacapa have failed miserably, and the team haven’t looked like they can get goals either. I also think there’s been a bit of unhappiness in the camp; I’m pretty sure that both Shay Given and Michael Owen were on the transfer list.
Of course, Sam was appointed by the previous chairman, Freddy Shepherd, as opposed to Mike Ashley. Ashley is a guy who’s a supporter, he sits in the stands with the fans, and if he’s picking up on any discontent, he’s going to do something about it.
He also has to be careful because if they have a mediocre season Newcastle could lose 10-15,000 season ticket sales. Ashley obviously has big ambitions for the club and the fans expect success – and I don’t think Big Sam was too suprised when he was fired or, to use the preferred euphamism, “left by mutual consent”!
Sam has been linked with the Ireland job, but I don’t think that’s a real possibility. It would probably be perceived by some people as a return to the Jack Charlton style of football, but I don’t think Sam would want it, and I think there are better candidates out there.
Some people have suggested that the search for a new Ireland manager is taking too long, but I don’t think it is. There’s no rush. If the new manager’s appointed before the Brazil game, that would be perfect. I think it’ll happen before the end of January. We need to appoint someone who will lead us through not one campaign, but two. Personally, I think Terry Venables is at the right stage of his career and would be a great choice.
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