Sam: United’s fitness is fine

Mar 6 2008 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

SAM Allardyce has denied suggestions his Newcastle United players were not as fit as he thought and blamed them as an “excuse” for their poor performances this season.

Last week winger Damien Duff told The Journal: “I don’t think we were the fittest before (Kevin Keegan) came.” That view was supported by Keegan who claimed the Magpies squad felt the new boss was training them quite hard, when he thought the opposite.

Now Allardyce, who has defended his brief spell as United manager since being sacked in January, has responded. The 53-year-old, renowned for the impressive condition of his players at Bolton Wanderers, claimed any physical failings the current squad was displaying were due to their minds, rather than bodies. “There was nothing wrong with the match fitness when I was there, so I think that’s a little bit of an excuse,” he said.

“Sometimes fitness is a mental thing and mental fatigue can hit the players more than anything else. That’s when it looks like they’re not trying or running as much as they possibly can because of the fear factor.” Allardyce, who would like to return to management this summer, believes the fans are partly to blame for sapping that confidence.

“It’s about the team living up to the expectations of the fans, that was always very difficult once one or two results go against you and I think confidence has dipped a little,” he argued. “They’re looking for a little bit of luck to go their way, Michael Owen to start scoring again, tighten up the defence a little bit and they’ll be okay.”

Keegan was very careful when commenting on Duff’s claims last week not to lay any blame at Allardyce’s door.

Since Allardyce left Newcastle in mid-January the club have been dragged closer and closer to the relegation zone – though whether responsibility for that lies more with him or Keegan is a moot point. And while still unlikely, the chances of them dropping out of the division at the end of season are increasing. The man who signed eight of the current first-team squad, though, does not think that will happen.

“They’ve obviously got enough not to go down, they’ve got a good squad when everybody’s fit, they’ve got experienced and talented players but they must get a result pretty soon,” said Allardyce in an interview on Sky Sports. “They’ve got Birmingham and Fulham in the next few games – they could be the big games, the turning point for Kevin and the team – but I can’t see them going down.”

Meanwhile, former Newcastle left-back Celestine Babayaro has been released by Major League Soccer side LA Galaxy after just one game.

The injury-prone Nigerian moved to David Beckham’s club after being released by the Magpies late last year. But manager Ruud Gullit saw enough in one pre-season friendly against Seoul to decide his former Chelsea team-mate had no future at the club.

NEWCASTLE striker Ryan Donaldson has been named in the England squad to play in the Uefa Under-17 Elite Round Tournament in Israel later this month.

Donaldson scored both goals as France were beaten 2-0 in last month’s Algarve Tournament and has been named in an 18-man party to play Israel, France and Russia from March 25-30. The group winners will play at the European Championships finals in Turkey in May.

ENGLAND UNDER-17 SQUAD: Declan Rudd (Norwich City), Wesley Foderingham, Matthew Briggs (both Fulham), Tom Cruise (Arsenal), Ben Gordon (Chelsea), Luke O’Neill (Leicester City), Jack Rodwell (Everton), Chris Solly (Charlton Ahtletic), John Bostock (Crystal Palace), Matty James (Manchester United), Jacob Mellis (Chelsea), Jordan Mutch (Birmingham City), Dean Parrett (Tottenham Hotspur), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal), Nathan Delfouneso (Aston Villa), Ryan Donaldson (Newcastle), Harry Forrester (Aston Villa), Andros Townsend (Tottenham).