Allardyce retrospective. (If you're looking for a long read).

[Parky]

Another manager comes and goes at the toon, achieves bugger all and leaves with his trousers stuffed with so much cash he has to be carried off in a removal van.  Different face, same story but I’m trying not to feel too sorry for Allardyce;  the millions will dull the pain of his dismissal, as will the luxury holiday in the Caribbean shortly before his next lucrative job offer.  Not that I’m bitter, I just wish I could get that kind of contract for my own job.

 

Unlike his predecessors Roeder and Souness, I didn’t greet his appointment with dismay (or in Souness’s case, dismay, disgust, disbelief and nausea, the whole shebang).  At the same time, I didn’t particularly like Allardyce’s style of football at Bolton and, to be frank, I thought he was a whingeing egotistical git.  However he had the reputation of a meticulous planner and organiser, someone who could rebuild the foundations of the club which was badly needed, and eradicate the injury curse which had bedevilled us for seasons.  I reckon many people felt the same way; given the state of the club, Allardyce wasn’t so bad (Bolton after all had just qualified for Europe) - maybe even the best we could get given the state of the club - and should be given a chance.

 

So, as the bellboy famously said to George Best (as he laid spreadeagled on a bed covered in cash next to Miss World), where did it all go wrong?  It was all so different when Big Sam breezed into town, confidently predicting that he would get the club back on its feet with his methodical approach, vast backroom staff and use of sports science.  Eight months later, his fat arse hits the toon scrapheap with a resounding clang and we are left scratching our heads wondering what the hell went wrong.  Here’s my take:

 

1.  The demise of the Axis of Evil (aka the Halls/Shepherds)

 

No doubt to Allardyce's dismay, the club changed hands barely before he’d had time to unpack his medicine balls and chewing gum.  In retrospect, one of the key reasons he was appointed by Freddy Shepherd was probably his ability to wheel and deal in the transfer market; the club was after all heavily in debt and transfer funds would be limited pending an upswing in the club's fortunes.  Mike Ashley on the other hand had plenty of cash for the right man to spend on his new plaything; unfortunately Allardyce was not Ashley's man.  As a result, whilst Ashley wiped out the clubs debts, the club stalled on signings in the summer - which Allardyce complained about at the time, claiming that the change of ownership had lost him many of his key targets - and only a modest amount of signings were made which were largely funded through player sales (the net spend was only 7m or so). 

 

The clear message was therefore “prove to us that you’re the right man to spend the big bucks”.  Sadly Allardyce was unable to do this in many ways.  Whether the impetus for his dismissal was a row with Ashley over cash for transfers, the style of football or the lack of results, Allardyce was never likely to get the same patience from Ashley that he would have had from Freddy Shepherd. 

 

2.  The dodgy transfers

 

Allardyce deserves credit for clearing out much of the dead wood of previous administrations with the likes of Moore, Bramble and Luque hoyed out amidst much rejoicing by the faithful.  For cancelling Babayaro’s contract alone, I will shake his hand if I ever meet him (provided he hasn't read this), and my only regret in this respect is that he didn't get round to our other perma-crock Stephen Carr at the same time.  However the squad was already thin in numbers and with transfer funds evidently limited, he needed to bring in quality at a cheap price, something he was renowned for at Bolton.

 

A plethora of new signings were duly made before deadline day with the likes of Beye, Cacapa, Rozenhal, Smith, Faye, Enrique, Geremi and Viduka coming on board.   On paper, these players seemed just what was needed towards adding strength and depth to the squad.  However, how many of these players has really done the business for us over the 24 matches he was in charge?  Possibly only Beye and Faye emerge with any real credit;  for the rest, they have either needed to settle in (Cacapa, Rozenhal), lose weight and find some bloody motivation (Enrique, Viduka) or play in their proper position (Smith).  I'm sure he will feel that many of his signings let him down.

 

And then there’s Joey Barton.  Allardyce will have staked a huge amount of personal credibility on Barton’s signing, citing his successful record with bad boys like ‘Le Sulk’ Anelka and El Hadji ‘I spit in your face pigdog’ Diouf.  Barton repaid Allardyce’s faith in him with indifferent displays on the pitch – at a time when we desperately needed him to fire – and by getting banged up over the festive season on charges of assault and battery (Happy New Year Sam, love Joey).  It’s difficult to imagine that Ashley or Mort were impressed with his advocacy of Barton given what happened and what it said about Allardyce’s judgement.  That’s like the chief engineer on the Titanic attacking a passenger with a monkey wrench and getting locked up in the brig with the iceberg looming.  Nice one, Joey!

 

Given all of the above, with the new transfer window in full swing, it seems that Mike Ashley was not prepared to bankroll another round of Allardyce’s signings. It’s not difficult to see why when these are likely to be expensive signings rather than free dips into the bin ends of smaller European clubs.

 

3.  The results

 

A win ratio of 33% was never going to good enough to keep him in a job (Roeder got 40% for God’s sake!) but more tellingly it was the nature of our defeats that counted against Allardyce most.  Allardyce’s football philosophy seems to be that you 'win ugly' with percentage football – long balls pumped into the 'right areas' to win throw ins, corners and free kicks, scoring scruffy goals from set pieces – unfortunately more often than not, he only managed to lose ugly.  Worse still there were some embarrassing results – losing to Derby and Wigan for instance, or the total shoeing off Liverpool – where we bent over and bared our cheeks before a ball was kicked.

 

While initially results were good (notwithstanding an embarrassing reverse at Derby),  as time went on, the results got steadily worse.  All the time, Allardyce refused to budge from his mantra of percentage football, stopping the opposition playing (regardless of whether they were any good), picking his favourites regardless of form or position, or making any concessions to entertainment.  Perhaps more telling was the lack of ambition showed against the basement opposition, with a lucky draw at Sunderland incensing many fans in particular due to his tactics and team selection.  This, I believe, proved to be dangerous when the owner stands with the fans to watch the match. 

 

All of this would not have been an issue if Allardyce had got the results he needed, but the repeated spectre of a team in disarray, pumping the long ball forward and mustering precious little goal threat over the 90 minutes was always likely to be fatal against a backdrop of losses and lucky draws and a downward trajectory in the league table.  Little wonder then that he was vulnerable when the paying customers booed the team off the pitch at home and away, and even memorably booed Allardyce when he caught the ball.  Personally, I do not believe that Ashley was unduly swayed by the fans’ poor opinion of Allardyce, but fan hostility added to unacceptable results and boring football usually adds up to a P45 in the world of football.

 

For me, the most disappointing aspect was that there was little sign that the team was actually improving, notwithstanding that we seemed to be making clear progress in reducing the injury list and having a fuller squad to pick from than Roeder or Souness.  The Holy Gospel according to the Press, Premier League managers and TV pundits (many of whom are Allardyce’s mates) is that he should have been allowed much more time to get things right.  However, if the team is going backwards, the punters are walking out 20 minutes into the second half and the football’s dreadful after 8 months of intensive coaching, you might be tempted to conclude your manager doesn’t have a clue how to sort things out. 

 

4.  Player power

Strong rumours have persisted throughout the season that Allardyce had lost the dressing room.  These rumours cited differences over tactics, team selection and favouritism, with senior players in open revolt over Allardyce’s emphasis on stopping the opposition from playing and percentage football. At one point, it was felt necessary for certain senior players to issue a press release denying the truth of these rumours.  Then there was the issue of the players travelling rather than being at home over the Christmas period, where Allardyce it seems was forced to back down in the face of player pressure (thus ironically allowing Barton to go out on the lash).

 

It was however notable that Allardyce became more and more openly critical of his own players as time wore on.  Surprisingly he admitted that many of his new defensive signings were not his first choice, as if he expected the men in question to be flattered by this admission.  Then he began to pick on individual performances and name players he was disappointed with – when have you ever heard Ferguson or Wenger criticise their own players in public?  Finally towards the end of his reign, he openly said he was not happy to place his trust in the players he had to safeguard his position.  Hardly a vote of confidence in his own team then.

 

Of course, the players continued to make positive noises about ‘being right behind Big Sam’, but often the lacklustre performances on the pitch suggested otherwise.  My impression was that all was not well between manager and playing staff and in these days of player power, a manager who loses the dressing room tends not to be employed for long.  Perhaps we’ll have to wait for Michael Owen’s autobiography to learn whether there was any substance in the rumours.

 

5.  The Panorama effect 

 

Freddy Shepherd was hastily booted out of St James’ Park and his corporate box was cancelled.  The gossip at the time – which has not been substantiated in any way – was that this was connected with allegations of impropriety over the transfer of Boumsong and the police raid on the club in connection with these.  At the same time, Allardyce was Shepherd’s pick and had allegations levied against him in a BBC Panorama expose of football’s murky world of transfer dealings involving his son at Bolton. To date, those allegations have not been rebutted as far as I'm aware and Allardyce has maintained a determined boycott of the BBC in response.

 

Whilst Allardyce denied any wrongdoing and to date has not been charged with any offence, it may be that a scrupulously proper City lawyer like Chris Mort would be troubled by the association with Allardyce.  To my mind, this would not be a decisive factor in any move to dismiss Allardyce, but would be another reason for his card to be marked.  You may find it ironic that we then chased Redknapp, but then he was never really fingered by the programme and he certainly was never Shepherd's man.

 

6.  Clash of the Titans

 

Finally, the impact of egos in all of this cannot be underestimated.  Ashley and Mort are very successful businessmen who are not used to people saying no.  Indeed, Ashley is noted for ‘parking his tanks on the lawn’ in business situations to get his own way, and the manner in which he comprehensively outmanoeuvred Freddy Shepherd in buying the club illustrates the decisive and impulsive way in which he does business.  Allardyce by the same token has complete conviction in his footballing methods, and a precondition of accepting the manager’s job was that he would be allowed to run things as wanted.

 

Whilst he has been allowed to make the changes to the coaching, scouting, training and medical set ups at the club that he demanded, it does not seem too far fetched to imagine that there was a ‘come to Jesus’ meeting with Mort and Ashley at which certain demands for improvement in performance and results were made, which Allardyce refused to accept or acknowledge.  Indeed, it is probable that Allardyce continued to maintain that all was rosy in the garden when the evidence was obvious that the whole garden was riddled with blackspot and greenfly and needed to be burnt to the ground.  Allardyce probably felt secure enough for the remainder of the season to put forward a ‘back me or sack me’ line, believing that he would turn it around eventually.  In Wild West terms, at that point Ashley kicked over the table, drew his gun and filled Allardyce with lead, with Mort left as the undertaker.

 

In retrospect, I reckon Allardyce was a man who simply could not hack it in the white hot cauldron of pressure that is Newcastle.  Certainly there seemed to be a palpable sense of relief about him once it was over, despite his claim of crushing disappointment at leaving.  I've even heard it suggested that he hastened his own departure on purpose, the idea being that he was only too glad to get away with a bumper pay-off, a large dollop of sympathy from the press and his reputation intact.  Personally I don't buy that;  Allardyce has always struck me as a man of convinced of his own ability, unshakeable in his belief in himself and his methods, the man who should be managing England.  Whilst he will be relieved to be out of the firing line, and the money will no doubt soothe the pain somewhat, I don't think he will be happy about failing - although I doubt he will blame himself, as usual.   

 

In the meantime the club's been royally savaged on all sides for its apparent presumption in sacking Allardyce after 24 matches, when apparently with more time and backing he would have been just as good as Ferguson or Wenger.  Or even David Moyes perhaps! Now, you can criticise the timing of the decision and the fact that no-one was lined up to replace him, or even the lack of ambition in pursuing Harry bloody Redknapp, but in my opinion all the time in the world would not have made Allardyce a top class manager or Newcastle a top side in his hands.  We would have had a nice empty stadium though.  Say what you like about Allardyce, his sides are by and large terrible to watch, and Mike Ashley is a man who likes to win and have fun doing it.  Exit Not-So-Big-Sam-After-All, tail between legs.   

 

Overall, I believe that Allardyce was sacked because he was not Ashley’s man and the results were not good enough.  The fact that his teams played awful football and he was unloved by the fans and players did not help, and I am sure that his unwillingness to compromise hastened his departure.  Worst of all, it seems obvious now that he was dismissed on impulse without a better alternative being signed, sealed and delivered to take over.  As we look back on this whole sorry episode therefore, it will seem to the seasoned observer that not much has changed since the haphazard hire ‘em and fire ‘em days of the Halls and Shepherds, and we have not learned from our past mistakes whilst the rest of the footballing world hoots with delight.  God help us all.

 

 

 

Kitman.

 

 

 

http://www.newcastle-online.com/

 

 

Comments on front page appreciated.

 

 

[Geordie Boot Boy]

It's a canny read but the content of the concluding paragraph is stuff most people on the board would've thought anyway.

[Teasy]

As we look back on this whole sorry episode therefore, it will seem to the seasoned observer that not much has changed since the haphazard hire ‘em and fire ‘em days of the Halls and Shepherds, and we have not learned from our past mistakes whilst the rest of the footballing world hoots with delight.

 

As far as I can see it could only look that way to people who don't know all the facts, or just don't want to see them.  Lets see how Ashley and co treat there own choice as manager, then we can judge how different they are to the Halls/Shepherd in that respect.  Good read overall though.

[ChezGiven]

Commercial decision by Ashley to ensure 08/09 ST sales were on target.

[Guest guyb]

"at that point Ashley kicked over the table, drew his gun and filled Allardyce with lead, with Mort left as the undertaker."

 

I'd love to have seen that (although Fat Sam looks more like the undertaker in western)

[Cheshire Mag]

That you HTT?

[Incognito]

We all agreed on Fat Sams appointment that a 3,4 or 5 year plan needed to be set in place.What we didnt think was that it involved Championship football,and had he stayed in place,and it still might,we could have been relegated.

[Lotus]

We all agreed on Fat Sams appointment that a 3,4 or 5 year plan needed to be set in place.What we didnt think was that it involved Championship football,and had he stayed in place,and it still might,we could have been relegated.

Tbh, i have been asking myself if we'd have spanked quite as badly under Sam as we have been under KK these past few games.

[ChezGiven]

We all agreed on Fat Sams appointment that a 3,4 or 5 year plan needed to be set in place.What we didnt think was that it involved Championship football,and had he stayed in place,and it still might,we could have been relegated.

Tbh, i have been asking myself if we'd have spanked quite as badly under Sam as we have been under KK these past few games.

Would have been worse according to some on here as apparently we've been 'making progress' since he left.

[Guest shaun11177]

i think he spent all pre-season like a chicken with its head off trying to get players in and then thought as the season opened-right now im going to play 433 just like Bolton-shit i dont have the players to play 433-bugger what do i do now and he never did work out what to do.

[Teasy]

We all agreed on Fat Sams appointment that a 3,4 or 5 year plan needed to be set in place.What we didnt think was that it involved Championship football,and had he stayed in place,and it still might,we could have been relegated.

Tbh, i have been asking myself if we'd have spanked quite as badly under Sam as we have been under KK these past few games.

 

So what if we would have conceded less?, we need points not to try to stay up on goal difference.  We never really had a chance of beating Arsenal, Manure or Villa.  What we need to do more then anything is take our chance in the games we should win, at home against lower table opposition.  If we went into the home games against Reading/Fulham ect with the same old "stop the opposition playing" s*** Allardyce forced us to play we'd come out of those games with few goals conceded as well, but even fewer points gained..  If we go into those games and try to play Football we have a good chance of winning some games..  Would I have preferred Keegan to play a more defensive formation against the best sides to try to scrape a draw and try to play Football against poorer sides?  Yeah I would (though I bet if that happened we'd currently have people stupidly complaining that Keegan's no different to Allardyce).  But one thing I certainly would never want is to have Allardyce still here so we can all feel great that Manure only beat us 3:0 instead of 5:1 while looking forward to going all out to try to scrape a draw against Reading at home 

[Teasy]

We all agreed on Fat Sams appointment that a 3,4 or 5 year plan needed to be set in place.What we didnt think was that it involved Championship football,and had he stayed in place,and it still might,we could have been relegated.

Tbh, i have been asking myself if we'd have spanked quite as badly under Sam as we have been under KK these past few games.

Would have been worse according to some on here as apparently we've been 'making progress' since he left.

 

Progress in playing Football, not progress in limited every defeat to as few goals as possible, which was all Allardyce seemed to really care about..

[ChezGiven]

You're judging the progress on your view of what 'might' be against the smaller clubs when we play them.

 

We played Boro under Allardyce and he got the same result, we played Bolton under him and he got a better result. We played Villa under him and he got a better result.

 

We played Arsenal under him (but lets not compare to an away game, lets do another the other top side, Man U) and we got a better result.

 

I'm not defending Allardyce but there is absolutely no hard evidence of progress under Keegan, just sentiment and thats great for now but thats all it is.

 

 

[Teasy]

You're judging the progress on your view of what 'might' be against the smaller clubs when we play them.

 

We played Boro under Allardyce and he got the same result, we played Bolton under him and he got a better result. We played Villa under him and he got a better result.

 

We played Arsenal under him (but lets not compare to an away game, lets do another the other top side, Man U) and we got a better result.

 

I'm not defending Allardyce but there is absolutely no hard evidence of progress under Keegan, just sentiment and thats great for now but thats all it is.

 

 

 

Of course its just my opinion, just like its your opinion, and not fact, that we'd have conceded less under Allardyce.  BTW, I don't think there's any merit at all in comparing various fixtures several months appart.  Especially with the way the players confidence had gradually deteriorated under Allardyce.  Even worse if you're going to compare two different sides (Manure and Arsenal).

 

After the second game against Derby, when we once again went out to try to "stop them playing" and were desperately lucky to scrape a draw, did you have any confidence left in you that we could beat anyone under Allardyce?  Because I didn't.  At least against Boro we had some kind of excuse (disallowed goal), and Bolton just came for the point (11 men behind the ball).

 

Lets put it this way.  Since Allardyce left we've made progress in trying to actually play Football, the way the players pass the ball is obviously better.  What hasn't improved at this time are the results.

[ChezGiven]

We were very unlucky not to get a result at Chelsea, that was the week after derby.

 

This isnt about defending him though, its just to say that if you compare the same fixtures (as close as you can get to comparing like for like but i take your point about different times etc) then there isnt much evidence of improvement.

 

If we dont get 3 points this saturday, its irrelevant anyway, as then its not important how we play, only that we get points. That would be slightly ironic btw.

[Tsunami]

BS's signings have not come good & his tactics were never going to win the fans over.

 

He failed miserably in getting in a decent midfiled & the failure to add a target man was unforgiveable - Viduka & Ameobi as options was never going to be enough.

 

He got rid of better players in midfield than he replaced with: Dyer, Parker, Solano replaced by Barton, Smith, Geremi. FFS. Yes all 3 wanted to go but the quality of replacements was woeful.

[Tsunami]

You're judging the progress on your view of what 'might' be against the smaller clubs when we play them.

 

We played Boro under Allardyce and he got the same result, we played Bolton under him and he got a better result. We played Villa under him and he got a better result.

 

We played Arsenal under him (but lets not compare to an away game, lets do another the other top side, Man U) and we got a better result.

 

I'm not defending Allardyce but there is absolutely no hard evidence of progress under Keegan, just sentiment and thats great for now but thats all it is.

 

 

 

KK is reaping what BS sowed. We were in false position after lucky, late, points against Wigan, Fulham, Birmingham, Derby...............

[Ronaldo]

Enrique lose weight, what?

[Teasy]

As I said, the results haven't improved yet, but its got to have been extremely difficult to improve those results with the run of fixtures Keegan's started with.  Confidence is important, and when you have four almost unwinnable games in the space of a month, it must be just about impossible to raise confidence for the winnable games.  Which so far there's only been two of against Bolton and Boro (even then he'd only been in charge for days before the Bolton game.. and against Boro we should technically have won).

 

Basically I believe that the way we're now trying to play will stand us in much better stead against teams like Reading and Fulham, confidence is all we need now, and I'm hoping that can come once we aren't being being forced to play the top four every week.

[Guest gggg]

We all agreed on Fat Sams appointment that a 3,4 or 5 year plan needed to be set in place.What we didnt think was that it involved Championship football,and had he stayed in place,and it still might,we could have been relegated.

Tbh, i have been asking myself if we'd have spanked quite as badly under Sam as we have been under KK these past few games.

Would have been worse according to some on here as apparently we've been 'making progress' since he left.

 

Progress in playing Football, not progress in limited every defeat to as few goals as possible, which was all Allardyce seemed to really care about..

 

That's alright then. At least we're 'trying' to play nice football while getting battered every week.  mackems.gif

 

Results please. 

[Teasy]

We all agreed on Fat Sams appointment that a 3,4 or 5 year plan needed to be set in place.What we didnt think was that it involved Championship football,and had he stayed in place,and it still might,we could have been relegated.

Tbh, i have been asking myself if we'd have spanked quite as badly under Sam as we have been under KK these past few games.

Would have been worse according to some on here as apparently we've been 'making progress' since he left.

 

Progress in playing Football, not progress in limited every defeat to as few goals as possible, which was all Allardyce seemed to really care about..

 

That's alright then. At least we're 'trying' to play nice football while getting bettered every week.  mackems.gif

 

Results please. 

 

Are you interested in actually reading the discussion and taking part in it, or posting diatribe with a few silly smillies?

 

Nobody has ever claimed that results have improved yet, that's the point that seems to have wooshed a mile over you're head..

[oldtype]

so given the option, would people jump on a time machine, go back to January, and convince Ashley to give Allardyce until the end of the season?

[Tsunami]

so given the option, would people jump on a time machine, go back to January, and convince Ashley to give Allardyce until the end of the season?

 

MA will be wishing he'd got rid of BS as soon as he took over. We'd have a different set of players & he wouldn't have had to play the bring back KK shit or bust card.

[Wullie]

Enrique lose weight, what?

 

Even accusing him of lacking motivation is totally without credence.

 

Oh, sorry he's foreign, forgot about that. The lazy greedy fat bastard.

[Unbelievable]

so given the option, would people jump on a time machine, go back to January, and convince Ashley to give Allardyce until the end of the season?

 

I think I would. Still believe any new manager needed time to implement changes (as people are now advocating in favour of Keegan; they are right of course). I believe we would not have been relegated and results would have either improved (setting us up for next season) or remained the same (shit), meaning we would have still sacked Allardyce and possibly still replaced him with Keegan, but this time with a full summer of feel good atmosphere and squad rebuilding. I was happy to see Keegan come because I hoped the feel good factor would reverse the spiral of shit that our season was up till that point, but at this point I am not convinced of this effect at all. Keegan desperately needs to get the squad to play better, winning football, or the fans will turn on him and we will be back to where we started (again!). In hindsight we are playing a very risky strategy here, and I remember being shocked when Allardyce was let go, so I think it's fair to say given the opportunity I would have tried to convince Ashley to keep his hand off the trigger a wee bit longer. I was mainly unhappy with Allardyce's tactics and preference for certain underperforming individuals, but not much seems to have changed for now unfortunately. The money we spent on buying out Allardyce's contract (and his following) would have been better spent on a player of some ability on the pitch if we wanted to avoid the drop. Failing that, sacking Allardyce and replacing him with a top class manager whose signature was all but secured would obviously have been an even better scenario..