Speaking on the CFB Podcast, Sam Allardyce has been discussing his managerial career and his time at Newcastle United.
Allardyce was one of the hottest properties in management when he joined Newcastle in 2007. He’d just left Bolton Wanderers after making the Lancashire club a staple in the top six, and given the size of Newcastle United, he was expected to help the club kick on and become Champions League contenders once again.
Sadly, it didn’t quite work that way. Allardyce says that Mike Ashley didn’t deliver the project that Freddy Shepherd had initially pitched, stating that it was the right club at the wrong time for him.
Allardyce’s Newcastle regrets
The gaffer spoke about his time at St James’ Park.
“The Newcastle job was the right place at the wrong time. Freddy Shepherd was the number one at Newcastle and we spoke for a while about if it was possible for me to go there. I resisted before, but when they moved Glemn Roeder on I thought it was the right time for me. It was going to be an exciting project, but the project was cut very short when Mike took over,” Allardyce said.
“We ended up just putting the squad together to get through the season and to see if Mike could find his feet but that didn’t happen for me and we parted company in January. That was it, it was the right place at the wrong time.”
What could have been
Allardyce may be derided in footballing circles these days, but in the mid-2000s he was genuinely one of the best managers in the country.
We can’t help but wonder what could have been if he made the move to Newcastle earlier.
Allardyce had a great knack for building exciting teams around that time, and he could have been the perfect successor to Sir Bobby Robson upon his departure.
Sadly, we’ll never know what could have been with Allardyce at Newcastle under more stable ownership.
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