Rich

If this turns out to be more hot air from Parky, then I'm heading to Germany and I'm not returning until I have his head on a spike. Failing that, I'm going to investigate into finding an "ignore" function for this particular forum software

They should make the players walk round the pitch and clap us, not the other way around That'd learn 'em.

Was going to post this up as well. Quite a decent little read that possibly offers a fairly more realistic/balanced outlook on the potential appointment of Allardyce than I've seen from anyone on Newcastle-Online so far. When Biffa's in the mood he can still churn-out some quality stuff and his latest match report (Reading) was another pleasure to take-in. "Sitting on the fence" is quite possibly the main thing that a lot of people will take from it and NUFC.com don't really seem to be committing either way. The real question that arises, though, if Roeder does leave are there genuinely better alternatives to Allardyce that we could attract here? Big Sam appeals to me more than anything because of the fact that he'd surely instigate big changes within the club from top-to-bottom, rather than just come in and "manage" like Souness and Roeder have done since Robson. Is there anyone else available who could offer the same?

(Just merged these two topics together, because they were exactly the same and NUFC06's was posted a couple of minutes sooner than James'. Hope it's alreet.) As for the subject matter at hand, it's not surprising to see him covering all the bases in the media, I suppose. He also doesn't say that we definitely wouldn't spend cash on a 30+. Surely if they improve the squad for a season or two then a bit of money would make it worthwhile!? I don't understand his points, sometimes. Crazy bloke.

Assuming Sam Allardyce is indeed appointed as our new manager ... 1. How much time are you willing to give him before you demand success? He will need time, but as long as there are fairly speedy signs of improvement then I think he'll be given enough time to further improve things here if he does come. There are a lot of fundamentals wrong with the club/squad/staff at the minute and there are probably a lot of things, simple things, that Allardyce could do from a fairly early time that would swing the mood into a more optimistic one. Even if a lot of his action is merely talk/planning at the outset, as long as he delivers some feasable manifesto that goes hand-in-hand with what the majority think to be best for NUFC then I think he'd be given at least a season or two. He'd have to go some stretch to do worse than this season, mind. 2. What's the target you set for him? Within a few seasons, if we'd continued to spend fairly big, then we simply have to be looking at challenging Tottenham for 5th - in reality the gap is tiny when compared to the gap between us and the current "top four". Even this season, with Roeder in charge, I can't help but feel we'd have been right up there had we not have been "crippled" by the infamous injuries. Despite us all being fed-up of hearing about it, you simply cannot compensate for missing your best striker (and one of the world's best) for an entire season of football. If Spurs had been without Berbatov, or Blackburn without McCarthy, then they'd be lower/as low than/as us in the table right now. I know it's an easy get-out, but it is a massive factor in how poor this season has been. Still doesn't change the fact that Roeder hasn't done enough on any other fronts to prove he's the right man for the job. He's as clueless as Souness from what I can see. However, you don't get any prizes for 5th, so it would be nice if within 2/3 seasons we were pushing for Champions' League football. 3. If we play ugly, but get results, are you happy? If we play ugly, yet results are not good, will you still be happy? I'm not sure if we've played anything other than "ugly" since towards the end of Bobby Robson's reign at the club and so I'm not sure if anything would really change? I'm expecting by "ugly" you mean direct/long-ball, two tactics that are FAR from ugly to watch when they're causing the opposition numerous problems and causing you to bang the goals in home/away. I cannot see how Allardyce could have us playing any worse or have us any more disorganised than Roeder has this season. To me, being disjointed and disorganised and playing in spells of 10 minutes of good football a game, being generous, is more ugly than playing to a direct gameplan and reaping the rewards of it. People are quick to forget that three of our four best Premiership seasons have come with a fairly direct style of football in tow. We have enough quality footballers at the club to make it so that it won't be purely God-awful anyway. 4. If Sam Allardyce decides to pick a fight (verbal or whatever) with someone (FA, Arsene Wenger, Roy Keane, Freddy Shepherd), will you support him? Well this is fairly ambiguous because it would depend on who was in the right, but if he's fighting his/our corner then it would be madness not to support him. 5. Will you applaud the board if the appointment of Sam Allardyce turns out to be a good one, eventually? Of course I will. They don't have an easy job, contrary to popular belief, and if they get the appointment after Roeder right (no matter how obvious it is) and then allow for a massive upheavel of club "strategy" (if we have one) and adhere to a Sam-led change of tact/direction then they will undoubtedly deserve credit for finally realising the error of their ways. I stand by the belief that a leopard doesn't change it's spots and I cannot see Allardyce having the freedom here that he did at Bolton under Gartside, which does worry me if he does end up here, but surely Shepherd realises it's getting to the point of boom or bust now. Say what you want about the Fat Man, but he'll probably be far more flexible now that it's beginning to be his neck on the line than he ever has been in the past. 6. Will you slag the board, if the appointment of Sam Allardyce turns out to be a sad tradegy? Again, it depends on how things go. If Shepherd appoints Allardyce and gives him cash and allows him free reign to do things EXACTLY as he did at Bolton (he pays the wages for massive numbers of new techniques and new backroom staff) and he allows Sam to bring in the players he wants to bring in within the budget, then how can we possibly slag the Board off for that? In that respect they would have done everything in their power to make Allardyce a success at the club and surely they couldn't be slagged further for it. However, if Allardyce was appointed and WAS NOT given some "slack on the lead" as to tackle the job in his way that was successful at Bolton then I'd be at the end of my tether with the current board myself. If Allardyce is brought in, he has to be fully supported if he wants to completely change the structure/philosophy of the club on a squad/staff level. 7. If Sam Allardyce turns out to be a success, will you gloat that you have always wanted him to be our manager? Well, probably, if there are some mongs who jump on the bandwagon when they've never supported Allardyce in the past. It's been clear for quite a long time now that Sam Allardyce would be a great solution to the current problems at NUFC if he was brought here and given instructions to "fix" the problems that have blighted us in recent seasons. Too many people think Bolton play shite football and are an ugly team without any real experience of them. There's no doubt that Allardyce has been a wanker in the past and probably still is a wanker today, but at least he'd be our wanker. 8. If Sam Allardyce does not turn out to be a success, will you gloat that you have always NOT wanted him to be our manager? Erm, probably not, because this message board has a fairly useful "search" function that could cause me some problems if I did. 9. Does it matter if Allardyce's recruitments are mainly foreigners, regardless if he delivers results? No, of course not. The squad is already massively pro-English and a lot of the English players we do have are as mercenary as they come, at times. I'd like it if we kept an English spine to the side, if at all possible, in regards to having at least one English/British/Irish player in the key areas of the field (GK, CB, CM, CF) but I couldn't complain if we were bringing in foreign players who: A) cost less than their British counterparts. B) were better footballers than their British counterparts and C) wanted to play for NUFC more than their British counterparts. The problem comes, and always has done, when people sign foreigners for the wrong reasons and when the player themselves is no better than someone they could have had for the same money from the same shores. 10. Will you be happy to trust the club's sizable (assumption) on Allardyce's hand? If this means what I think it does, in being that will I trust the club in thinking that Allardyce could change the philosophy/structure of the club for the better and backing him with staff/cash/players, then of course I'd be happy. Shepherd knows the appointment after Roeder has to be a good one and I think/hope if it is Allardyce that he'll be given his due from the board/club and that they support him in every which way. If it goes wrong, it goes wrong, but if this does happen it HAS to happen after the board/club has given them support in every aspect of his job. Too many times we've seen managers hung out to dry by the current regime, it cannot be allowed to happen again, not this time.

That bit was funny. Talking about commentators that "Dare they!! Dare they!!" thing his side kick kept saying when Osusuna were attacking in the final minutes was so annoying. He was doing that with Tottenham as well, the annoying fecker. "DARE THEY!?!" Would have probably shot his load if they did.

David Pleat is fucking mental. "I've never really seen that colour on a goalkeeper before..." "What? Pink?" "I think they call it aubergine, don't they?" "(Laughs) Aubergine is a completely different colour, David." "I must have got my colours mixed up there. I like green sweaters on goalkeepers anyway." Something along those lines, at least. Couldn't help but laugh. Sevilya!

Brum, what do you make of the new Villa logo? (Along a similar line to the thread, thankfully.) I heard it was shite, but upon seeing it I thought it looked smart. Some mong was on SSN saying that they were shocked that the claret/blue stripes had gone and that Newcastle would never take the stripes out... I couldn't help thinking his view was a bit wonky. Given the fact that Villa don't wear stripes on the actual shirt. Are Villa getting new home and away shirts? Is Hummel getting banished!? You answered this before I'd asked it - clever bastid.

Doesn't really fit Roeder's latest criteria though, does he? He's neither under 26 nor over 30 (and with a long and distinguished career behind him)! Not that we can take Glenn's foresight on transfer activity literally, but it would be cracking if we did get the 29-year-old Distin, if only to make his media comments all the more hysterical. Is he just winding Oliver up these days, you reckon?

Hoyte's a right-footed right-back mate, unless you have Solano at left-back, which would be equally gash. I won't say anything else about the rest. I'm sure someone else will.

Don't forget the last-minute daft money offer for Zat Knight, mind.

Obviously, I should add, that he could have got crocked IF he did come here, or something odd might have happened, we'll obviously never know. It was undoubtedly a gamble but it seemed a no-brainer when you looked at our other options and when it was clear he'd be here on a free. I know he'd have cost more, but fucking hell the odds are that he'd have been massively more useful than Bernard has been to us since we brought him back. Like HTL says, it is easier with hindsight, but it doesn't change the fact that the sensible money was on signing him.

This might be the first shirt I've never bought, which is a bit of a shame really. It really is rank.

In ze fairness, this board was massively pro-Campbell unless my shite memory is massively mistaken. There were the usual hystericals calling him finished and a nutcase, but I think he had quite a few backers from the more sensible element. I'm prepared for egg on my face here though, my memory has never been my strong point. He did want to come here as well, despite the Chronicle doing a 180 on that after July, and then another 180 in August... then another one a few weeks ago... and then another one today...

Dear me lads, did you miss the patronising tone of the post? Suppose it's difficult to pick up via text, though People have been saying we need an experienced/proven defender for as long as I can remember now. ... and why has the age also gone up to 26 from 25? Glenn makes me chuckle sometimes. Glenn Roeder towards the end of the summer transfer window, when we've signed Steve Sidwell and nobody else: "We don't want to bring anyone in under 30... 35 at a push... maybe 40. Yeah. 40."

Fairly satisfied with that result, funnily enough. Towards the end when Milan were taking the piss I started to remember who they were actually playing and so I was chuffed with how it ended. Should be a belting final, but I can see the 'Pool getting tonked because of the motivation that seems to be filling the Milan squad. Me and my wallet still want Chelsea to win the league like. Thanks Phil Neville, you ugly cunt.

I'm fourthing this after Monday. Made me laugh a shitload

Aye cheers for clearing that up for me Dave, mate. Dead hard to understand like! Parky/TT: As far as "having the set-up" goes, you cannot tell me that Big Sam can be nailed-on to be as successful in running Newcastle United as he has been down at Bolton. It's a completely different kettle of fish, with a different chairman and with a structure that will require and complete and utter overhaul - something that could take years to fully accomplish. My point about Lee (a fucking top-quality coach, by all accounts) and the rest of Allardyce's team at Bolton was that it might be very difficult for him to recreate the success here, ESPECIALLY in the short-term - and it's not like managers have a long shelf-life here these days if we're not firing on practically all cylinders whenever we play. I would have thought that Lee was one of the most pivotal aspects of Sam's set-up (although I did mention the "rest of his team") in the same post. Wasn't he pivotal at Liverpool under Houllier as well? He has a massive reputation in the game, man. Sam's certainly not going to bring all of them to SJP, especially not quickly. Things could be a lot less clear-cut than people like you are predicting if he does ever come here. I've always been in favour of Allardyce coming here and I would still welcome it, but I'm weary of people expecting far too much of him if he does ever arrive and therefore giving him a snowball in hell's chance from the get-go by having massively inflated expectations of what he can do for us. You cannot fully compensate for having a team that has worked together for years, if they get split up. That was my point and I fail to see how it was that hard to comprehend, really. What have you heard about Sammy Lee, Parky? Isn't he all he's cracked up to be?

Hyypia? Well done to Glenn for realising what we need, like. We're crying out for an experienced head at the back.

What about the rest of them, then? I understand that he's the main man and quite probably the glue that holds it all together, but unless he were to bring some of his former colleagues/employees with him I couldn't see him being half as effective here - especially in the short-term. People shouldn't expect miracle cures and I could see him easily sliding the way of Roeder/Souness if he doesn't have a great first season. Still got to be a big, big miss losing Lee, though. Undoubtedly.

EH? He's about 22 you nulatic.

Will Sam Allardyce be as effective without Sammy Lee and no doubt quite a few other members of his Bolton backroom staff? Something that struck me the other day when Lee was announced as Bolton manager proper. Often these guys are good in their own right, but are made to look the bees' knees by the people they have around them being the ideal foil for them in other departments of the managing game. Of course it depends on if Allardyce could take "his "staff with him, but he's certainly lost Sammy Lee - a coach with a massive reputation in the game. Has to be taken into account.

Was at Big Shola, the pointing that Sky caught. He does look an utter fucker like, Pearson.

Some Scouse bird I was on the phone with today ended the call with "Come on you Reds!" Now that's passion. Didn't know her like.

Still think we should sign this "reformed character", do you mate? Think Jon's put the Indian sign on him since that comment... or he was just wrong