Jimbo 133 Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 Unrest in the dressing-room adds to trouble for Sam Allardyce Matt Dickinson, Chief Sports Correspondent Sam Allardyce heads into a testing few weeks as the Newcastle United manager, yet to convince his own players that he can turn around the club’s fortunes. Senior members of his squad are known to be at odds with Allardyce, who has picked up just one Barclays Premier League point in nine before matches against Liverpool, Blackburn Rovers and Arsenal. Allardyce’s tactics have already caused some disquiet among the club’s fans, but there is also unease in his dressing-room. The manager is aware of the unrest, which may explain why he recently spoke about needing three to five years to bring success to Newcastle. It is a familiar story on Tyneside, where the club seem to be constantly on the brink of crisis. The picture is complicated by the fact that the owner, Mike Ashley, did not appoint Allardyce but inherited him after his takeover of the club in June. Chris Mort, the chairman appointed by Ashley, has been critical of recent performances, which have included a 4-1 defeat at home to Portsmouth. The big question is whether Allardyce will get proper backing, and patience, from the board. Six months is no time at all to judge whether the methods that were so successful at Bolton Wanderers can work at St James’ Park but he will not be helped by the whispers of unrest. Related Links Allardyce is trying to change the club at many levels, from a new gym and massage rooms to the style of play. His training methods are believed to be far more rigid than the previous regimes of Graeme Souness and Glenn Roeder. Allardyce would say that that is a good thing, but it seems to have come as an unpleasant shock to some of the players. The manager admitted to teething problems in a recent interview. “I think the difficulty at the moment lies with everyone being so new,” he said. “I don’t think anyone realises that when you change so much it is difficult to get things right overnight.” The board backed him recently in the recruitment of Paul Barron, one of the country’s outstanding goalkeeping coaches, from Middlesbrough, but they will want to see results improve. That is unlikely in the short-term as they face Liverpool today before the trip to Ewood Park and then the meeting with Arsenal. Allardyce revealed the pressure he is under when he snapped at the local media last week. He accused them of whipping up supporter disenchantment with his direct style of football. “It is probably more volatile and more unacceptable than I expected here,” he said. As Newcastle host Liverpool, it is a confrontation between managers who are not only uneasy at their clubs but also uncomfortable in each other’s company. Asked to describe his relationship with Rafael BenÍtez, Allardyce was pointed: “Average - a bad average I would say,” he said. “He doesn’t like me.” Why? “Because we beat them. And Bolton were not supposed to beat a team like Liverpool. We played a different game with different rules, apparently. But I didn’t see any referee’s report saying we played outside the rules, so it was just a bit of self-protection [from BenÍtez].” Newcastle will be without Michael Owen, who strained his thigh on international duty in England’s game against Austria. The forward’s bad luck with injuries is another cause of frustration on Tyneside. Damien Duff has been another long-term absentee, but he is back in training. It remains to be seen how Allardyce intends to shape his team when everyone is available. He arrived at the club with plans for 4-3-3 but has been forced to chop and change. He ruled himself out of the running for the England job this week, but he would not be in contention this time around. BenÍtez, though, has expressed an interest, which gives the rivals something to talk about in Allardyce’s office. “I don’t see why I won’t be inviting him in for a glass of wine afterwards,” he said. “I went in for a glass of wine when Liverpool beat us 2-0 and he’d spoken about me in the papers the day before. I was big enough to walk in and test how good his red wine is.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gloom 20106 Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 what is it with football managers and their post match glass of red? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 9174 Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 so absolutely NO quotes of dressing room unrest then... how do they get away with this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo 133 Posted November 24, 2007 Author Share Posted November 24, 2007 so absolutely NO quotes of dressing room unrest then... how do they get away with this? Are you shagging Allardyce or something ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammynb 2932 Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 so absolutely NO quotes of dressing room unrest then... how do they get away with this? Are you shagging Allardyce or something ? It's all very Gemmill and Souness AND look where that got us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jusoda Kid 1 Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 so absolutely NO quotes of dressing room unrest then... how do they get away with this? Are you shagging Allardyce or something ? I'm not sure what he's trying to prove tbh Jimbo, but he's making himself look a bit of a tit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russyy 0 Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 The teams body language says it all,they look pissed off show no passion and look beaten before they get started.Discontentment in the players spells only one thing disaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jusoda Kid 1 Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 The teams body language says it all,they look pissed off show no passion and look beaten before they get started.Discontentment in the players spells only one thing disaster. You'd be pissed off if you were being played out of position every week or replaced with a player who hasn't got a position Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howay 12496 Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 Get shot of the fat cunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shearergol 0 Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 Smith and Beye didn't look happy with each other today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 9174 Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 so absolutely NO quotes of dressing room unrest then... how do they get away with this? Are you shagging Allardyce or something ? tbf it's less about Allardyce and more about the meeja, how they can put a title like that with nothing to back it up I'd have said the same if it was about Gullit, Souness or Roeder. I agree there's something wrong at the club, but I don't know how papers can have non-stories like this, without quotes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo 133 Posted November 24, 2007 Author Share Posted November 24, 2007 so absolutely NO quotes of dressing room unrest then... how do they get away with this? Are you shagging Allardyce or something ? tbf it's less about Allardyce and more about the meeja, how they can put a title like that with nothing to back it up I'd have said the same if it was about Gullit, Souness or Roeder. I agree there's something wrong at the club, but I don't know how papers can have non-stories like this, without quotes? A source is hardly going to offer his name to such an article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 9174 Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 (edited) howay Jimbo man, this is yet another in a long list of non-stories that attain print by virtue of hysteria and with no basis in fact or substantiated claims. You're pissed off and that's unsurprising, but this is a non-story and you know it. Edited November 24, 2007 by The Fish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo 133 Posted November 24, 2007 Author Share Posted November 24, 2007 howay Jimbo man, this is yet another in a long list of non-stories that attain print by virtue of hysteria and with no basis in fact or substantiated claims. You're pissed off and that's unsurprising, but this is a non-story and you know it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 9174 Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 howay Jimbo man, this is yet another in a long list of non-stories that attain print by virtue of hysteria and with no basis in fact or substantiated claims. You're pissed off and that's unsurprising, but this is a non-story and you know it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peasepud 59 Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 Smith and Beye didn't look happy with each other today. And neither looked happy with Geremi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JawD 31 Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 Smith and Beye didn't look happy with each other today. And neither looked happy with Geremi Quite justified. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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