The bullet Sam never saw coming

Jan 10 2008 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

If Sam Allardyce had any idea his job was under threat he is a better actor than a football manager. Luke Edwards shares his memories of Big Sam’s final minutes as Newcastle United manager.

HE laughed, he smiled and he joked. He looked calm, confident and relaxed, secure in his belief he was the right man for the job and that the job in question was safely his. Less than two hours later Sam Allardyce discovered the time had come for him to depart as manager of Newcastle United.

Big Sam’s final day at St James’s Park was unremarkable; it certainly did not give any indication of the drama that would follow shortly after 5pm last night when chairman Chris Mort informed him his services were no longer required.

The regulation official club statement later declared manager and football club had parted company by “mutual consent”. The circumstances suggested the manager had been pushed, rather than jumped.

Yesterday was, to all intents and purposes, just another regular day at the office for a manager looking to turn the club’s fortunes around.

A training session in the morning, followed by a tactical meeting with his coaches and backroom staff ahead of the trip to Manchester United at the weekend, a spot of lunch with the players in the club canteen and then a couple of hours spent sharing his views with the media.

In the morning, Allardyce had confided in those close to him he was confident Newcastle would win the race to sign Arsenal’s French international Lassana Diarra. He was, he admitted, rather less confident about Manchester United’s Wes Brown, but he was equally adamant he would not be selling any of his players following speculation several could be on their way.

As Allardyce held his pre-match Press conference for Saturday’s visit to Old Trafford to take on the Premier League champions, he clearly had no idea of the cruel fate awaiting him.

Men on their way to the gallows do not crack jokes, the condemned do not share anecdotes and they certainly do not do funny little dances when trying to emphasise the fact the club’s best young player, Steven Taylor, is not for sale.

Even Allardyce’s critics, in light of the briefings emanating from senior officials at St James’s Park over and since the Christmas period, including chairman Mort, believed the manager’s future was not a topic for immediate discussion.

He might have been in the middle of a storm because of the style of football he had introduced and a run of results which had seen the Magpies fail to win once in their last five attempts – but it was a storm he looked certain to ride out.

There had been a torrent of speculation but, it was presumed, managers whose jobs are under threat do not get the green light to sign new players.

At yesterday’s Press conference, for the first time in weeks Allardyce was not asked about his future in the job.

Instead, he was given the chance to talk about his hope of signing three new players before the close of the January transfer window, he discussed the merits of the Turkish midfielder Emre and his need for more consistency if he was to earn a regular spot in Newcastle’s midfield, he pondered the availability of Obafemi Martins for the weekend’s game and he talked about what would be needed to beat Manchester United. By the time he left Newcastle’s training ground in Benton it was past 3pm. By half past five he was out of a job and all that was left was a depressing trip back to the training ground to collect his things and drive back to the home he shares with his wife in County Durham.

As manager of Newcastle United, Allardyce had been adamant he needed to move to the North-East if he was going to commit himself properly to the job. It was a job he believed would take him at least three years to succeed in. It was a job he managed to hold for less than eight months.

In the Mafia, when the end comes, they say your killer will be a friend, a smiling assassin sent to end your days. The same is often true for football managers when their P45 arrives.

Only last week, Allardyce described the support he had received from Mort and club owner Mike Ashley as “absolutely fantastic” from the day they arrived at St James’s Park.

He believed he had become their friend as the new men on Tyneside shared the Newcastle United rollercoaster ride. But there is no room for sentimentalism in the boardroom, whether it is a multi-national company or a football club. When the end came it was quick and it was clinical.

Allardyce simply did not see it coming.