Big Sam in the Times today (Training ground/Dyer money/Solano)

[Rich]

Apologies if posted elsewhere, I did a quick search and scan but couldn't see anything:

 

The Times

 

August 17, 2007

Allardyce aims to raise standards at St James’ Park

George Caulkin

 

On the pitch and in the transfer market, Sam Allardyce has already made a substantial impact as Newcastle United manager, but it is at the club’s training ground where change has been felt most keenly. Alongside the recent influx of sports scientists, dieti-cians and psychologists, there has been a more rudimentary innovation; locking out latecomers.

 

At a club that has endured a recent history of indiscipline, Allardyce has taken forceful steps to root out tardiness among his illustrious first-team squad. Each morning at 9.45, the electronic gates of Newcastle’s Benton training academy swing shut, forcing sleepyheads to endure the embarrassment of leaving their cars and using a buzzer to request entry in front of autograph hunters.

 

On assuming his position, Allardyce complained that Newcastle’s facilities were more reminiscent of a “squash club”, than a centre of sporting excellence and he has implemented other measures to improve the focus of his team. Agents, relatives and hangers-on no longer have open access to the training site and are obliged to wait for players in a makeshift hut. It all forms part of a bigger picture.

 

As he did at Bolton Wanderers, Allardyce is implementing a culture of no excuses on Tyneside, one that supporters � who have had their fill of wasters and underachievers � will appreciate.

 

“You have a lot of very, very experienced, very, very talented human beings that have a desire to be successful and that’s why they are as talented as they are,” Allardyce said of his players. “You’ve got to live up to their standards and by the same token you’ve got to set your standards higher than them.”

 

Allardyce has been assured that he will be permitted to reinvest the £7 million Newcastle have received from the sale of Kieron Dyer to West Ham United and he expects to complete the signing of Abdoulaye Faye from Bolton Wanderers for about £2 million.

 

“I don’t know if anything has been finalised,” he said, “but we’ve been in negotiations. The chairman has been dealing with it.”

 

The position of Nolberto Solano, whose family have moved to London, is still uncertain, with the Peru international keen to leave. “Whether I can resolve that problem or not I don’t really know at the moment,” Allardyce said. “There has been no interest from any other club.”

 

More good stuff, if you ask me, all pointing to a more professional approach from the management - something we've been sorely lacking for as long as I can remember.

 

Also interesting to see the Times listing Dyer's fee at £7M and saying we're going to reinvest it further, Caulkin has a good reputation in my own personal opinion, I rate him quite highly.

[Tooj]

Well said Big Sam & Ricardo. 

[Mick]

Apologies if posted elsewhere, I did a quick search and scan but couldn't see anything:

 

The Times

 

August 17, 2007

Allardyce aims to raise standards at St James Park

George Caulkin

 

On the pitch and in the transfer market, Sam Allardyce has already made a substantial impact as Newcastle United manager, but it is at the clubs training ground where change has been felt most keenly. Alongside the recent influx of sports scientists, dieti-cians and psychologists, there has been a more rudimentary innovation; locking out latecomers.

 

At a club that has endured a recent history of indiscipline, Allardyce has taken forceful steps to root out tardiness among his illustrious first-team squad. Each morning at 9.45, the electronic gates of Newcastles Benton training academy swing shut, forcing sleepyheads to endure the embarrassment of leaving their cars and using a buzzer to request entry in front of autograph hunters.

 

On assuming his position, Allardyce complained that Newcastles facilities were more reminiscent of a squash club, than a centre of sporting excellence and he has implemented other measures to improve the focus of his team. Agents, relatives and hangers-on no longer have open access to the training site and are obliged to wait for players in a makeshift hut. It all forms part of a bigger picture.

 

As he did at Bolton Wanderers, Allardyce is implementing a culture of no excuses on Tyneside, one that supporters � who have had their fill of wasters and underachievers � will appreciate.

 

You have a lot of very, very experienced, very, very talented human beings that have a desire to be successful and thats why they are as talented as they are, Allardyce said of his players. Youve got to live up to their standards and by the same token youve got to set your standards higher than them.

 

Allardyce has been assured that he will be permitted to reinvest the £7 million Newcastle have received from the sale of Kieron Dyer to West Ham United and he expects to complete the signing of Abdoulaye Faye from Bolton Wanderers for about £2 million.

 

I dont know if anything has been finalised, he said, but weve been in negotiations. The chairman has been dealing with it.

 

The position of Nolberto Solano, whose family have moved to London, is still uncertain, with the Peru international keen to leave. Whether I can resolve that problem or not I dont really know at the moment, Allardyce said. There has been no interest from any other club.

 

More good stuff, if you ask me, all pointing to a more professional approach from the management - something we've been sorely lacking for as long as I can remember.

 

I honestly can't think of anything negative coming out of the club, the transformation has been as massive as it's been overdue.

[Tooj]

I reckon Mick's Mrs has been getting that honeymoon sex like over the past month or so.

[Guest Knightrider]

I'd love to see training open to the public like it was under KK. I genuinely believe a lot of the buzz and support at that time was helped along by every day fans watching their heroes in training, seeing for themselves what a great spirit the team had, what a great bloke KK was and what a sound bunch of lads we had. If fans can somehow get closer, I reckon if a player has a bad day or suffers form on the pitch, that player will get a lot more sympathy as fans will know first hand he's doing his all in training and isn't a bad lad. The benefits are huge and you can't fail with such schemes. KK knew that.

[Tooj]

Had some great memories of a kid going to the training under KK like, found all of the photos of me as a bairn with some of the lads. Was absolutely class.

[Mick]

I reckon Mick's Mrs has been getting that honeymoon sex like over the past month or so.

 

I suppose somebody had to spoil the thread. 

[Robster]

The more I read stories like this, the more it sends a shiver down my spine at what kind of condition the club has been in for the last few years.

Hang your heads in shame Messers Souness and Roeder.

[Rich]

I'd love to see training open to the public like it was under KK. I genuinely believe a lot of the buzz and support at that time was helped along by every day fans watching their heroes in training, seeing for themselves what a great spirit the team had, what a great bloke KK was and what a sound bunch of lads we had. If fans can somehow get closer, I reckon if a player has a bad day or suffers form on the pitch, that player will get a lot more sympathy as fans will know first hand he's doing his all in training and isn't a bad lad. The benefits are huge and you can't fail with such schemes. KK knew that.

 

Not a bad shout, would also demonstrate that Allardyce and his clan are doing things properly if people had more access to them. Certainly not for every single session, but wouldn't hurt as an occasional thing.

 

Would be surprised to see it happen in this day and age, but it would be a nice touch.

[Mick]

I'd love to see training open to the public like it was under KK. I genuinely believe a lot of the buzz and support at that time was helped along by every day fans watching their heroes in training, seeing for themselves what a great spirit the team had, what a great bloke KK was and what a sound bunch of lads we had. If fans can somehow get closer, I reckon if a player has a bad day or suffers form on the pitch, that player will get a lot more sympathy as fans will know first hand he's doing his all in training and isn't a bad lad. The benefits are huge and you can't fail with such schemes. KK knew that.

 

I agree with that, the PR would be excellent, the kids love going to watch the players train during the holidays.

[Rich]

The more I read stories like this, the more it sends a shiver down my spine at what kind of condition the club has been in for the last few years.

Hang your heads in shame Messers Souness and Roeder.

 

I have to say, it's always my first thought as well, both at boardroom and management level.

 

Quite disgusting for a multi-million pound business which is the heart and soul/figurehead of an entire region.

[Robster]

I'd love to see training open to the public like it was under KK. I genuinely believe a lot of the buzz and support at that time was helped along by every day fans watching their heroes in training, seeing for themselves what a great spirit the team had, what a great bloke KK was and what a sound bunch of lads we had. If fans can somehow get closer, I reckon if a player has a bad day or suffers form on the pitch, that player will get a lot more sympathy as fans will know first hand he's doing his all in training and isn't a bad lad. The benefits are huge and you can't fail with such schemes. KK knew that.

 

I agree with that, the PR would be excellent, the kids love going to watch the players train during the holidays.

 

Maybe Sam will move towards this kind of thing once he is happy that the attitude is right with the players and people connected to them

[Mick]

 

Not a bad shout, would also demonstrate that Allardyce and his clan are doing things properly if people had more access to them. Certainly not for every single session, but wouldn't hurt as an occasional thing.

 

Would be surprised to see it happen in this day and age, but it would be a nice touch.

 

What would stop it from happening?

 

I can't see any reason for it not being allowed as long as it was controlled.

[Guest Knightrider]

Had some great memories of a kid going to the training under KK like, found all of the photos of me as a bairn with some of the lads. Was absolutely class.

 

Used to get upwards of 10,000 just watching training. I used to go a few times too, loved it, happy happy days. Todays young fans are missing out big time.

 

KK used to say it kept everyone on their toes and helped forge strong relations between fans and players. He also said it made going into training following a defeat all the better, because the gathered crowd was like a pick me up with their "hard luck Kevin, never mind you're doing a great job"

[Rich]

 

Not a bad shout, would also demonstrate that Allardyce and his clan are doing things properly if people had more access to them. Certainly not for every single session, but wouldn't hurt as an occasional thing.

 

Would be surprised to see it happen in this day and age, but it would be a nice touch.

 

What would stop it from happening?

 

I can't see any reason for it not being allowed as long as it was controlled.

 

Allardyce wanting to run a tight ship? Being paranoid about his training practices becoming public knowledge?

 

Surely he sees what he does during the week as of pivotal importance and there's always the worry of giving opposition managers too much information, and all that.

 

Haven't a club just banned spectators from training for that exact reason?

[Tooj]

Saying that like, compared to today's modern facilities, that training ground at Durham was a shit hole.

[Guest Sniffer]

Why limit the criticism to souness and roeder? I doubt if it was any better under robson and, in fact, considering the way dyer and his posse seemed to run things it was probably worse.

[Mick]

Could this be one of the ideas put to the club?  I would think that it's an easy one to do and the costs would be very low unless they had to police it, even then I'm sure they could make some cash out of it if they opened a club shop or something outside the training ground.

[lovejoy]

this is all fantastic stuff.

 

we have waited a long time for this man

[Mick]

 

Allardyce wanting to run a tight ship? Being paranoid about his training practices becoming public knowledge?

 

Surely he sees what he does during the week as of pivotal importance and there's always the worry of giving opposition managers too much information, and all that.

 

Haven't a club just banned spectators from training for that exact reason?

 

I doubt we do too much that would be classed as secretive, how many players have moved away from Bolton or Newcastle while he's been here?

 

They could even open it up while the players have a kick about or something, it wouldn't have to be the full training session.

[Guest Knightrider]

 

Not a bad shout, would also demonstrate that Allardyce and his clan are doing things properly if people had more access to them. Certainly not for every single session, but wouldn't hurt as an occasional thing.

 

Would be surprised to see it happen in this day and age, but it would be a nice touch.

 

What would stop it from happening?

 

I can't see any reason for it not being allowed as long as it was controlled.

 

Allardyce wanting to run a tight ship? Being paranoid about his training practices becoming public knowledge?

 

Surely he sees what he does during the week as of pivotal importance and there's always the worry of giving opposition managers too much information, and all that.

 

Haven't a club just banned spectators from training for that exact reason?

 

There could be a solution as the club now have two training sessions a day don't they? Fitness and then tactics etc. If so open the doors to fitness training, i.e player warm ups etc.

[Robster]

Why limit the criticism to souness and roeder? I doubt if it was any better under robson and, in fact, considering the way dyer and his posse seemed to run things it was probably worse.

 

I seem to remember SBR implementing similar kind of disciplines when he first arrived. Things like, when the players all had lunch, no-one left until everyone had finished. Before hand people had just been dribbling out at will and drifint goff to do what they wanted. I think he also insisted on the players wearing suits and being drssed smartly (might be wrong about that).

I just seem to remember he introduced a lot more professionalism and a sense of appreciating your teammates - more than was around from when Gullit was in charge.

 

[Guest Knightrider]

Can anyone remember the open day last summer at SJP? That was basically a few fitness drills followed by a mini game at the end, something like that put on for fans every day would be great.

[Mick]

Why limit the criticism to souness and roeder? I doubt if it was any better under robson and, in fact, considering the way dyer and his posse seemed to run things it was probably worse.

 

Sir Bobby went mad about our training facilities, he was forever complaining about being unable to do anything during the colder months when the ground was frozen and he as forever complaining about having players training amongst pot holes.

[Keefaz]

Roeder did the thing with mic, didn't he?