United boss has courage under fire
Nov 9 2007 by Luke Edwards, The Journal
SAM Allardyce believes he has been the victim of some unacceptable criticism this week, but the Newcastle United manager is adamant he will not be crushed by the pressure that comes with managing English football’s perennial under-achievers.
Allardyce has received a sharp lesson in the criticism and abuse which is almost inevitably aimed at a Newcastle manager following a defeat as deflating as last weekend’s 4-1 pummelling at the hands of Portsmouth.
But the Magpies boss has warned his critics his skin is thick enough, and his shoulders broad enough, to deal with the heat as he once again underlined his belief that he has the skills and ability to launch a new successful era at St James’s Park. “It is probably more volatile and more unacceptable than I expected,” said Allardyce when asked about the pressure he was under after two back-to-back defeats had led to the first reports suggesting his job was under threat. “You don’t speculate about someone taking over someone else’s job when you lose two games on the trot.
“Am I angry about the speculation? I am hardly happy about it, am I, but it goes with the territory unfortunately. There is so much pressure in the Premier League. It is important I keep getting results and keep winning football matches. My fears have already been realised this season. Four managers have gone, four sacked. There is massive pressure with the extra money. There is very little reality going around at the minute.”
Thankfully for Allardyce, United’s chairman Chris Mort has already moved this week to squash speculation about the manager’s position by insisting the former Bolton boss is an integral part of his long-term plans.
Allardyce, though, is intelligent enough to realise that, while it might take him three to five years to get everything in place to breed sustainable success at Newcastle for the first time in more than half a century, he knows he needs to constantly prove himself with good results on the pitch.
He said: “My long-term is only going to be long-term if I get results. I know, as good as Mike (Ashley) and Chris (Mort) the chairman are, if I don’t get results there is going to be a huge pressure put on them, never mind me, so results are the name of the game for me.
“The longevity of my period at this football club is to make sure I build, or help them build, something from the bottom to the top. I can only do that by making sure the top is right first, results wise, and then putting all the stuff that needs to be put into place to make this club fundamentally sound to sustain success.
“It’s not as if I’m starting from a position where I am trying to get the club back to where it was because this club has achieved very little in the last three or four years. It is about progress. Whereby some fans want it to be instant, it cannot be. Instant is not sustainable. Instant goes to bankruptcy in business.”
Nevertheless, while the abuse he has received during and since the defeat to Pompey has angered Allardyce, he argued the pressure he is under at Newcastle is still more enjoyable than the pressure of trying to keep Bolton in the Premier League when they first returned to the top flight eight years ago.
He explained: “I don’t think there is greater pressure for me at Newcastle than there was when I was living at the bottom of the Premiership with Bolton, going 10 games without a win and planning to go away and keep the score down if you can.
“The dark days then were much more pressured than the pressure at Newcastle United. There is a different pressure here by the expectation and the demand for quick success, but it isn’t worse. What Sam Allardyce gives out is only what he wants to give out as a manager. I am my own man. I don’t copy people or follow other managers. I do my job the way I think it should be done and, luckily enough for me, I must have some talent because you don’t stay as long as I have in this volatile world without it.
“I haven’t been sacked since 1995 at Blackpool and I don’t want to be sacked again. Wherever I have been, a club has been more successful than when I took over and I hope that’s going to be the case here.”
Am I angry about the speculation? I am hardly happy about it but it goes with the territory unfortunately
