Pressure? Get used to it

[Scottish Mag 3]

Sam Allardyce has warned Newcastle United's players they have to accept the pressure of public expectation on Tyneside despite the negative atmosphere which engulfed the club last season.

 

Allardyce's arrival as manager and new owner Mike Ashley's takeover has ushered in an exciting new era at St James's Park, but there is still much work to be done to persuade supporters that decades of under-achievement are finally over.

 

Several United players muttered their exasperation with the pessimistic mood which soured their relationship with the club's fans last season, but Allardyce has insisted it is part and parcel of playing football at a club where the passion of the fans has gone unrewarded for so long. United's new manager is keen to dispense with the disillusionment which characterised last season's dreadful campaign, but he admitted he will need players with the mental strength to cope with the challenge.

 

His predecessors, Graeme Souness and Glenn Roeder, made much of finding players with the right characters to succeed on Tyneside, but ultimately neither found enough of them as their bold boasts about recruiting proper men and their supposedly detailed research into a player's character came crashing down around them.

 

"Let's be honest, it's been more than a couple of years of negativity at Newcastle United," said Allardyce, who is determined to succeed where so many others have failed. "I've talked to Gary Speed about this before and this is a great place to play if you're winning, but it can be a daunting place if you're losing. The players have to know the expectations of the fans. Even when things aren't going well, the fans still attend games, they still fill the stadium.

 

"A lot of fans would just stay away, but the flip side of that is Newcastle fans do show their disapproval if they don't think players are playing well. That is what you have to live with when you play here. We have to be very careful about the character of the players we bring to this big and very famous football club."

 

Several Newcastle players, including former captain Scott Parker and England internationals Michael Owen and Kieron Dyer, were booed by their own supporters last term as their patience, after decades of disappointment, broken promises and shattered dreams, began to snap.

 

There were also intermittent protests against chairman Freddie Shepherd and the board throughout the season, while fans called for the sacking of Roeder after the final home game of the season against Blackburn Rovers - a protest followed by his resignation just 48 hours later.

 

Allardyce hopes his arrival, as well as Ashley's seizure of ultimate power from Shepherd in the boardroom, will help bring a divided club back together. However, the former Bolton boss has also re-affirmed his desire - perhaps as a boundary marker to both Shepherd and Ashley - that he has to be given full autonomy when it comes to making the decisions which shape the playing side of things at St James's Park

 

He said: "Newcastle haven't had enough top-six finishes in the last 10 years for whatever reason. This club has not been as successful as it should have been. It's been a hugely frustrating time and that's what makes it such a difficult job for me. There have been a lot of managers who have preceded me who have done their best, they've had a real go, but it hasn't worked out.

 

"It's my time now and I've got to do things my way. It's got to be my way, I can't have anyone trying to influence me about what should be the way forward for Newcastle. That's my main focus, it's got to be my way or not at all because I believe that's the best way to bring success to this football club."

 

Meanwhile, Newcastle have been linked with another batch of transfer targets this weekend, with former West Ham striker Frederic Kanoute, now at Seville, rumoured to have been lined up as a possible replacement for either Michael Owen or Obafemi Martins. However, The Journal understands Allardyce is more interested in two of his former players at Bolton, Nicolas Anelka and El Hadji Diouf.

[Sima 0]

Michael Owen wasn't directly booed tbh. You might as well say Given was booed

[Dr Gloom 22510]

Anelka and Diouf?

[Shearergol 0]

Anelka and Diouf?

 

Yes please.

[tinofbeans 91]

both want to play for allardyce....