The Big Goodbye

Another one bites the dust. This time new management finally gave Big Sam the Big Sleep half-way through what has been a very poor season for Newcastle. I never liked Allardyce, even when Bolton seemed to be on the verge of a Champions League spot and many were chiming for him to take the England job after Sven, back when everyone was so naïve about domestic managers, so care free…

It was a long-ball too far for Allardyce whose playing style didn’t exactly capture the imagination at St. James’ Park. Things started to go ass-over-tea kettle for Newcastle after a series of hopeless home losses, the most brutal to a merciless Portsmouth four-one. The hope at the beginning of the season seemed to vanish almost on the first day; I remember the lovely August morning when I had to sit out on the balcony and tune the radio to hear the Toon rip into Bolton three-one as my new cable subscription went all stillborn after one day of service. Anelka’s second-half strike seemed to telegraph Big Sam’s failures early on; a bad defence and the incapability to impose a game-winning presence on inferior sides.

It’s funny but no one has mentioned even in passing how awful Newcastle’s players have been up to this point. Martins, Viduka, Alan Smith, Joey ‘Ubermensch’ Barton, what a handful of steaming chum in Big Sam’s giant hands. Admittedly, skill-friendly formations may not have been Allardyce’s strong suit; the fact that Ivan Campo still managed to make the first team at the Reebok was in part indication of Sam’s preference for the ugly ‘hoof-and-chase’ of yore. But it should be noted that despite all the negative hype this is still the preferred method of some fairly successful managers in the Premiership, Svenny G included.

So the verdict? It’s good to remember that Real Madrid in the 50s and early 60s, one of the best European sides in history, basically ran on managerial autopilot because of the discipline and technical standards of the players on the pitch. Maybe if England focussed less on bringing up children who think they can break the big time by acing Football Manager on difficult, and more on bringing up children who can work a football through the midfield and into the box, we might rely less on the Allardyces of the world and more on the Leonel Messis.