Jimbo

Dec 27 2007 by Alan Oliver, Evening Chronicle NEWCASTLE United chairman Chris Mort was tight-lipped when he left the JJB Stadium after the dismal defeat by Wigan Athletic. But in contrast, a lot of supporters were up in arms against manager Sam Allardyce after what can only be described as a wretched performance and result by United, coming hard on the heels of the embarrassing 2-2 home draw with Derby. United had a magnificent and vocal 5,000 following at the JJB Stadium – but their chants after Wigan took the lead left nobody in any doubt what they thought of the team. And they also included calls for Alan Shearer to be brought into the St James’s hotseat. A grim-faced Mort sat at the front of the directors box, but the man who makes the big decisions – owner Mike Ashley – was right in the middle of the Toon Army once again, wearing his black-and-white strip. Nobody knows what Ashley is thinking, but Allardyce still has two-and-a-half years of a £3m-a-year contract to run, and there is also the little matter of the 20 or so backroom staff who have joined the club recently, and who are presumably under contract. When I approached Mort after the game he was friendly and affable, but he refused to make any comment. To be fair to Allardyce, he did not duck the situation and he told me after the match: “It’s the same old story isn’t it? “You lose a game – and lose it badly – and you are under the cosh, especially if you are the manager. “I cannot blame the fans for what they were singing. We weren’t good enough and you don’t need to be an expert to see that. “They spend their hard-earned money and they want to see us fight and do an awful lot better than we did here today.” It was noticeable at the JJB yesterday that, unlike 11 days earlier at Fulham when there were chants from the United fans of “Big Sam’s black-and-white army”, there was no support for the manager. This was probably payback time for Derby when United’s loyal fans must have thought things could not get any worse – until yesterday. I watched United file off the bus at the JJB Stadium and they looked a beaten team before the game. I hate to think what they will be like when they arrive for Saturday’s game with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge – a ground where they have never won in 14 visits in the Premier League. After that United’s next four away League games are at Manchester United, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Liverpool, with a potential banana skin in the third round of the FA Cup at Stoke City a week on Sunday. By then Oba Martins, Geremi, Habib Beye and Abdoulaye Faye will be heading to the African Nations Cup, and Alan Smith’s booking yesterday means both the stand-in skipper and Nicky Butt are now both just a couple of yellow cards away from a two-match ban. On a rare bright note, Michael Owen was at the JJB Stadium in the company of Joey Barton yesterday, and when I asked him about his fitness he said that he expected to be on the bench at Chelsea on Saturday. Indeed, Allardyce added: “Michael has not had enough match practice under his belt and it’s the same with Damien Duff – he’s not fully match fit yet, but he’s back in where he wants to be. “Joey Barton has a bit of an ankle problem. He could have started at Wigan, but another knock might put him out for a while, and we want to make sure he’s free from any pain he might have.” Chelsea are having their problems for the visit of United, where they are protecting a run of 72 matches unbeaten in the Premier League. They are without injured pair John Terry and Didier Drogba, while Ashley Cole and Ricardo Carvalho were sent off in yesterday’s thrilling 4-4 draw with Aston Villa and face suspensions, although Cole has appealed.

Sam Allardyce was scathing of his players after this defeat and said he was not happy to have his future as Newcastle United manager in their hands. "It was a poor performance," he said. "We couldn't cope with Wigan being high-tempo and hard-working. Some of our players have not lived up to their reputation. The front players have not held the ball up and the creative players have not created. Today the appetite to beat the opposition was not there. I'm not happy to have my future in their hands. We can't shrivel up and die under pressure." United have wasted an easy run of fixtures with a home draw against Derby County and defeat yesterday. Even this season they can rarely have played as badly as this, devoid of passion and purpose. They handed Wigan a first clean sheet for 16 matches, a record that stretches back to mid-August and a 3-0 defeat of Sunderland. Steve Bruce, Wigan's manager, had been up half of Christmas night with a bug and a burst blood vessel in his eye. "I can't keep anything down," he said - but he might yet keep Wigan up. Bob the Builder was the winner of the Boxing Day half-time fancy dress competition and, on the evidence of the season so far, he would not particularly fancy either of these rebuilding jobs. Can we fix it? "More than my job's worth, mate." But Wigan's hopes of escaping relegation will be rekindled after Ryan Taylor's 65th-minute free-kick gave them only their second win in 16 games and lifted them out of the bottom three. Taylor's winner was a heart-warming Christmas tale of which Dickens would have approved. He broke a leg badly in a reserve game against Newcastle and, given a first-team chance in the final game of last season against Sheffield United, broke it again. Perhaps life is beginning to go his way. When he stroked the ball into Shay Given's top-right corner, it was the only decent shot from both sides in the game. "He has a great delivery of the ball," said Bruce, "as good as anyone you have seen. We won't go overboard but we look as if we have the stomach for the fight. We showed a lot of endeavour and for a couple of minutes we saw a bit of football." It was an execrable first half. Nothing of any consequence happened, no skill to stir the soul, no rumbustious physical confrontation to make the heart beat faster, no comic moment to give us all a laugh. It was 52 minutes before either goal was threatened. Mario Melchiot, his ponytail quivering, dallied in front of his own goalkeeper, Damien Duff challenged, Mark Viduka attempted an overhead kick but Paul Scharner raced back to hack off the Wigan line. Allardyce immediately resorted to 4-3-3, bringing on Obafemi Martins on the right of the attack and his enterprise made him comfortably the most dangerous of Newcastle's strikeforce. How any manager of a struggling side can stomach Viduka's immobility remains one of life's mysteries. Given went on to give Newcastle palpitations eight minutes from time when, under pressure from Steven Taylor's back pass and with Marcus Bent bearing down, he chipped up a volley and then contrived to back kick it wide of his own posts. This team will never perform for Allardyce and he knows it but his record suggests that Newcastle should entrust him with the rebuilding work. Bruce remains a fan. "Sam got the job because of his great record at Bolton," he said. "He can turn this round. He needs time to put his stamp on it." Man of the match Ryan Taylor Provided the one moment of skill in a match where Wigan showed endeavour and Newcastle revealed nothing Best moment The deft free-kick which earned Wigan a rare victory

It was mentioned when he took over the club but I don't believe it came from a direct quote, although Sir John Hall might have mentioned it in his statement.

I agree, although I seem to be chairman of the Sham Sam out campaign, sacking him without any plans of a replacement would be foolish (although I do wonder if Pearson or Round as caretakers could do worse) what Mort and Ashley need to do is find a replacement and then and only then sack Allardyce.

Agreed, his record in his final months was worse than Roeders. and as for losing it on the pitch, that is quite correct, but the architect of this failure is the man that selects formation, players, tactics and motivates them, of course the pitch is the arena of failure or success, but ulitmately it is the preparation and decision making that is the under-riding reason.

Allardyce close to breaking point at Newcastle By Mark Ogden Last Updated: 9:53pm GMT 26/12/2007 Wigan Athletic (0) 1 Newcastle United (0) 0 Having been subjected to nothing short of a savaging by his own club's supporters as his team suffered one of their more depressing defeats of a turbulent season, manager Sam Allardyce treated his Newcastle United players to a similarly stinging rebuke after Ryan Taylor's second-half free-kick pushed him closer to the precipice at St James' Park. Booed en masse by the 5,000 travelling supporters when he merely caught a ball on the touchline, and treated to chants of "Shearer, Shearer" by the disillusioned Geordies, Allardyce opted to go on the front foot in an effort to restore his authority and shift the spotlight of blame on to his failing players. It is a risky tactic. Dressing-room discontent has already been mooted on Tyneside, but if the players are unhappy, they will be even more so after having their commitment, desire and quality questioned by Allardyce - rightly so in most cases - after this woeful performance. "I don't blame the fans. If I was one of them, I'd be singing what they were singing because it just wasn't good enough," Allardyce admitted. "I'm a top man in my field and I know it's not good enough. They have been watching for long enough, so it doesn't take them long to realise it isn't good enough as well. They are not daft. "These are the players that I've got, but too many are showing me what they are about on the bad side of the game. In the end, some of the individuals in my team failed to live up to their reputations. "The level of form that they drop to is unacceptable, but they have to accept the pressure and use it as a positive, not shrivel and die. Roll your sleeves up and go and fight because we can't rely on ability alone." advertisement Mike Ashley, the Newcastle owner, probably kept a dignified silence when the supporters alongside him in the away enclosure at the JJB Stadium began to vent their anger at Allardyce by chanting Shearer's name towards the end of this dismal defeat. Ashley might have bitten his tongue, but he would not have been able to cover his ears to blank out the discontent. Allardyce has lost the support of the demanding Newcastle public, who continue to adore former club captain Shearer, and he will not win it back if his side continues to play as badly as they did against Steve Bruce's team, who escaped the bottom three for the first time since October thanks to Taylor's second-half goal. "We're s*** and we're sick of it!" was another chant aimed in Allardyce's direction after Taylor's 20-yard free-kick. Too many of Allardyce's charges let him down, but changing a manager is easier than shipping out 20 players and that is Allardyce's problem - and Ashley's. # Football fans' forum For Bruce, only a month into his job at the JJB, the honeymoon period is still in full swing, however, and the former Birmingham manager is now confident that his team can escape relegation. He said: "A month away, we looked adrift with Derby, but we have now shown that we have the stomach for the fight. Let's hope we can stay out of the bottom three all the way now."

Aye, he had a face like a slapped arse, I've only ever seen him grinning.

Some folk call that humour.

Top marks, you are willing to defend the undefendible, that takes guts, hats off to you kid for your bravery.

Was he filling out a P45 ?

Players must shoulder some of the blame but the majority of it must always be the manager, it is he that selects the team, selects the formation and delivers the team talk, is it any coincidence that so many of our goals conceeded are within ten minutes of the start ? or half time ? perhaps his team talks aren't as inspiring as he'd have us to believe !

Is it any coincidence that all thost teams have new managers ???? Of course not, changing manager does nothing, does it ? Missed Bolton as well. I'd rather have fans snigger at us for changing manager than sniggering at us week in week out for fucking up against the likes of Derby and Wigan etc.

Is it any coincidence that all thost teams have new managers ???? Of course not, changing manager does nothing, does it ?

Has he really been found out ? look at his final months at Bolton they took sixteen points from a possible forty-eight and were conceding two goals a game. In the same period Newcastle under Roeder also won four and gained one more point than the Trotters. In both cases, it was relegation form over an extended period. It was enough to get Roeder the sack, and yet Allardyce got the Newcastle job. Is it any surprise he's performing so badly ?

That speaks volumes.

Why has it got to be someone thats "available" ?

and there was me, foolish enough to expect some progress. We've progressed in that we're higher than we were last season. I still can't see how we're any worse though. Watch the highlights, I'm sure you'll change your mind.

and there was me, foolish enough to expect some progress.

Its ok lads ! Just think how great we'll be in 5 years time ! Sam said so !

Talksport commentator at the JJB: "3 points for Wigan lucky for Newcastle cannot be deducted points for this shambolic performance" Big Sam's black and white army !

FYP

A change of manager has clearly had no benifit to Wigan has it.

look at that.. liverpool drawing with derby. Sack Benitez!!! omg lolz11111 Is it at Anfield ?

I predict a win for Newcastle just to keep the Allardyce sympathisers perculating.

Your a journalist's dream, the kind who'd rather lose playing well in a 5-4 than win but not in a pretty way. I'd take 38 1-0 wins all with own goals if it meant success. The Keegan years are long gone, get a reality check. If you're happy with the brand of football on display at St James' park, then good for you, welcome to the Allardyce brand of football, don't expect a graceful evolution into anything better, this is it ! this is as good as it gets under Allardyce. All I know is that its not the kind of football I want to be watching, especially when you are watching it when you're struggling against the likes of Derby, Fulham and Birmingham to name but a few.