Jimbo 172 Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 The 37-year-old midfielder, who played in Europe's premier club competition during his six and a half years at St James' Park and also reached a UEFA Cup semi-final, is convinced Allardyce is the man to bring the good times back to Tyneside. Speed spent the seasons working under the former Bolton boss at the Reebok Stadium and is ideally placed to assess his appointment as Glenn Roeder's successor. He said: "This is a brilliant move by Newcastle United, appointing Sam Allardyce as their new manager. "It is great for my old club and I have no doubt there are exciting times ahead for them. "Sam will whip Newcastle into a decent side - and mark my words, it will not be too long before Newcastle are challenging again for a Champions League spot." Speed was taken to St James' by Kenny Dalglish when he completed a £5.5million move from Everton in February 1998. He made 285 appearances for the club and scored 40 goals before Allardyce snapped him up for a bargain £750,000 in July 2004, and three campaigns on, he is still going strong after being named as new boss Sammy Lee's assistant following the new Newcastle boss's departure. The former Wales international, who worked under Dalglish, Ruud Gullit and Sir Bobby Robson on Tyneside, knows Allardyce's management style better than most, and is confident he has what it will take to revive the club's fortunes. He said: "Sam Allardyce meant a lot to a lot of people at Bolton Wanderers, no more than me. He is the best coach I have ever worked with. "Sam is a great fella, but he has not got where he is today by being a nice guy. "Yes, he will give his players a right old rocket, but he never holds a grudge. "Looking at the situation at St James' Park, I would say Sam Allardyce will suit Newcastle United and Newcastle United will suit Sam Allardyce. "There are exciting times ahead for the Geordies. He will certainly get Newcastle United winning games again, and that's the most important thing." Allardyce has held initial discussions with chairman Freddy Shepherd over his recruitment plans and offloaded five players yesterday as he prepared to rebuild. He is already being linked with a growing list of potential targets - among them Bolton defender Tal Ben Haim, Portsmouth's Sol Campbell and Middlesbrough striker Mark Viduka. However, while defence will be a priority, particularly following the departures of Titus Bramble and Craig Moore, his plans could be dictated by the answers he gets from strikers Michael Owen and Obafemi Martins over their respective futures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 10674 Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 Gary Speed is probably the best kind of person to have in your corner, and the praise he throws at Allardyce is impressive. Bearing in mind he's got a fair bit of experience behind him, it's good to hear him so effusive in his support for Allardyce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMoog 0 Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 Gary Speed is probably the best kind of person to have in your corner, and the praise he throws at Allardyce is impressive. Bearing in mind he's got a fair bit of experience behind him, it's good to hear him so effusive in his support for Allardyce. True, imo Speed is someone who I'd take quite seriously in this. Eee, I'm getting all excited about the Toon's future! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 Signing Speed was just another of Allardyce's masterstrokes tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adios 717 Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 Gary Speed is probably the best kind of person to have in your corner, and the praise he throws at Allardyce is impressive. Bearing in mind he's got a fair bit of experience behind him, it's good to hear him so effusive in his support for Allardyce. Well said. I'd like to see him brought in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 10674 Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 Signing Speed was just another of Allardyce's masterstrokes tbh. £750,000 for a player who was thought to be "past his best", Not only kept him fit but imo improved the overall fitness of the player he inherited from Newcastle Got another 3 seasons out of him without looking like he's lost it. even SSH has to admit that's good management. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Kelly 1217 Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 Gary Speed is probably the best kind of person to have in your corner, and the praise he throws at Allardyce is impressive. Bearing in mind he's got a fair bit of experience behind him, it's good to hear him so effusive in his support for Allardyce. Well said. I'd like to see him brought in. I'd prefer to see a more experienced coach tbh but I wouldn't object to him being one of a team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 Signing Speed was just another of Allardyce's masterstrokes tbh. £750,000 for a player who was thought to be "past his best", Not only kept him fit but imo improved the overall fitness of the player he inherited from Newcastle Got another 3 seasons out of him without looking like he's lost it. even SSH has to admit that's good management. Nah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 10674 Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 Nah. .. yeah I was being silly... can't help it it's the weekend in 25 minutes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super_Steve_Howey 0 Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 Signing Speed was just another of Allardyce's masterstrokes tbh. £750,000 for a player who was thought to be "past his best", Not only kept him fit but imo improved the overall fitness of the player he inherited from Newcastle Got another 3 seasons out of him without looking like he's lost it. even SSH has to admit that's good management. Nah. I admitted it. Now tell me why it makes Allardyce the best man for the NUFC job? As if Speed was sold because he was unfit, total crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 10674 Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 Signing Speed was just another of Allardyce's masterstrokes tbh. £750,000 for a player who was thought to be "past his best", Not only kept him fit but imo improved the overall fitness of the player he inherited from Newcastle Got another 3 seasons out of him without looking like he's lost it. even SSH has to admit that's good management. Nah. I admitted it. Now tell me why it makes Allardyce the best man for the NUFC job? As if Speed was sold because he was unfit, total crap. wahey! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fop 1 Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 Signing Speed was just another of Allardyce's masterstrokes tbh. £750,000 for a player who was thought to be "past his best", Not only kept him fit but imo improved the overall fitness of the player he inherited from Newcastle Got another 3 seasons out of him without looking like he's lost it. even SSH has to admit that's good management. Nah. I admitted it. Now tell me why it makes Allardyce the best man for the NUFC job? As if Speed was sold because he was unfit, total crap. wahey! In fairness Speed looks after himself like few other players do (very, very few in fact), and I suspect would have had another few decent seasons almost anywhere, having said that I think Allardyce pretty much got the best out of him and the environment there can only have helped to keep him going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 10674 Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 wahey! In fairness Speed looks after himself like few other players do (very, very few in fact), and I suspect would have had another few decent seasons almost anywhere, having said that I think Allardyce pretty much got the best out of him and the environment there can only have helped to keep him going. not disagreeing with you, but Speed specifally cited Boltons training regime as the reason behind his continued "all action" performances Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 Exactly, the man's a genius. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fop 1 Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 wahey! In fairness Speed looks after himself like few other players do (very, very few in fact), and I suspect would have had another few decent seasons almost anywhere, having said that I think Allardyce pretty much got the best out of him and the environment there can only have helped to keep him going. not disagreeing with you, but Speed specifally cited Boltons training regime as the reason behind his continued "all action" performances Aye it probably helped, but he's talked about Strachan having a huge influence on him in his early career and later here people like Pearce (both players that kept themselves going long after their likely sell by date). He didn't just do what he had to to keep himself fit and playing, but he looked after himself in general too, and whilst the sort of environment fostered at Bolton will have been ideal, Speed himself probably deserves most of the credit for his longevity and maybe relative lack of injury. But from how he's gone on and learnt from people throughout his career I'm sure did he take on board all the positives at Bolton and appreciate the environment and extra stuff he learnt there, which is maybe something that could make him a good coach as well in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazarus 0 Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 Speed could just be bigging him up in order to wangle a move back to the toon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fop 1 Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 Speed could just be bigging him up in order to wangle a move back to the toon. Nah there's plenty of people that have said that side of Bolton is absolutely first class, and really that might be one of the best things Allardyce could bring. Not helping the Gary Speeds of this world play longer, but maybe helping reduce our stupidly high injury rate (and maybe to a certain degree increase our standard of fitness). Although Speed could well be an asset here, still even as a player but certainly as a potential coach as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shearergol 0 Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 Speed has always been fit, but he wasn't fit enough to carry Jenas every match. That's why he started looking poor here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill 0 Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 Speed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Kenneth Noisewater 0 Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 Speed has always been fit, but he wasn't fit enough to carry Jenas every match. That's why he started looking poor here. FACT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted May 18, 2007 Share Posted May 18, 2007 Speed has always been fit, but he wasn't fit enough to carry Jenas every match. That's why he started looking poor here. FACT! Plus, he never hid, whereas Jenas nearly always did. Especially in his last season here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandman02uk 0 Posted May 18, 2007 Share Posted May 18, 2007 Speed has always been fit, but he wasn't fit enough to carry Jenas every match. That's why he started looking poor here. FACT! Plus, he never hid, whereas Jenas nearly always did. Especially in his last season here. the mark of the man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manc-mag 1 Posted May 18, 2007 Share Posted May 18, 2007 Bring back the glory? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted May 18, 2007 Share Posted May 18, 2007 Bring back the* glory? *comparative Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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