Sam Allardyce didn’t count on the sack as Newcastle supervisor. It was a gray Wednesday in January 2008 when, on the membership’s coaching floor, a message was relayed that he was wanted for a gathering with chairman Chris Mort at St James’ Park.
Assuming it was switch enterprise — he needed Arsenal’s Lassana Diarra and Manchester United’s Wes Brown — he caught a carry with a member of employees throughout city. The compact automobile was lacking a wheel trim — a low-budget hearse, on reflection. Allardyce was nonetheless sporting his membership tracksuit and gold chain round his neck. A golden handshake, nonetheless, was ready for him within the boardroom.
Not that Allardyce felt like shaking anybody’s hand. After simply eight months, 24 video games and with the crew eleventh within the Premier League, he was shocked. Mort mentioned they’d kind the precise particulars of severance later however Allardyce, as was his proper, refused to maneuver. Lastly, after 5 hours and by way of telephone calls to attorneys in London, phrases had been agreed.
Newcastle’s gamers had been shocked, too, studying of the information by way of tv and telephone calls from journalists. That’s not to say a few of them weren’t relieved.
Allardyce had landed on Tyneside in a helicopter in Could, with an ego the dimensions of a jumbo jet. His inventory was excessive after his work at Bolton, however not practically as excessive as his opinion of himself. With skilled, worldwide stars corresponding to Michael Owen, Shay Given and Nicky Butt, some felt somewhat extra humility was essential.
Sam Allardyce arrived on Tyneside with the ego the dimensions of a jumbo jet after working wonders with Bolton
![The atmosphere at the club soon turned sour with fans and some players never taking to him](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/05/11/23/70884925-12074477-image-a-24_1683844341535.jpg)
The ambiance on the membership quickly turned bitter with followers and a few gamers by no means taking to him
![Mike Ashley was all too happy to settle the extortionate bar bills of the pre-season trip](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/05/11/23/70884919-12074477-image-m-26_1683844382453.jpg)
Mike Ashley was all too blissful to settle the extortionate bar payments of the pre-season journey
One supply mentioned: ‘He got here with numerous concepts round sports activities science, preparation, restoration and information. That was all properly and good, nevertheless it was as if he was saying all the pieces the gamers had been doing their total careers was unsuitable. It rubbed folks up the unsuitable means virtually instantly.’
A pre-season journey to the Austrian city of Stegersbach didn’t go down properly, both. Not in addition to the ale down the throats of Allardyce and his employees, that’s. It’s mentioned the ingesting periods took priority over coaching periods and gamers had been miffed when some membership employees stank of alcohol throughout morning exercises.
‘A stag do’ — they performed golf and went canoeing — was how a type of current described it, and a five-figure bar invoice — brandy, cigars and all — was fortunately settled by the membership, by now below the possession of lager-swilling Mike Ashley. Certainly, the person who appointed Allardyce, co-owner Freddy Shepherd, was gone inside a month of his arrival.
However the ingesting tradition was at odds with the supervisor’s obsession with sports activities science and medication. New backroom employees, from analysts to psychologists, in addition to laptops and state-of-the-art gear had been arriving on the coaching floor virtually by the hour. Vitamin was reviewed and Allardyce ordered a discount on pasta and potatoes. There have been 9 signings, too.
On the apply pitches, the supervisor was mic’d as much as booming audio system on the touchline, utilizing them to ship his message. He needed his crew to get the ball ahead rapidly. When goalkeeper Given booted it downfield for goal man Mark Viduka, gamers would chortle on the sound of Allardyce salivating via the audio system… ‘Oooohhhh’.
Some favored his man-management and, to this present day, communicate properly of his ‘old skool’ values in that regard. However they joked in regards to the techniques, insisting the crew of masseurs had been solely there to appease their necks after watching the ball fly via the air.
Allardyce would shout ‘POMO’ (Place of Most Alternative) throughout coaching and matches. A participant mentioned: ‘It was like a secret code for “Launch it ahead”.’
![Senior players were rubbed up the wrong way by the tone of Allardyce's messaging](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/05/11/21/70880695-12074477-image-a-4_1683837613552.jpg)
Senior gamers had been rubbed up the unsuitable means by the tone of Allardyce’s messaging
![Fans wanted Allardyce out of the club within months of his arrival and they got their way](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/05/11/23/70884921-12074477-image-m-28_1683844468874.jpg)
Followers needed Allardyce out of the membership inside months of his arrival they usually bought their means
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/05/12/01/70887699-12074477-image-a-49_1683849752572.jpg)
POMO turned a time period of enjoyable across the coaching floor. He additionally had a phrase — ‘nullify their strengths’ — that he repeated again and again in crew conferences. As soon as, after a prolonged evaluation of the opposition, a world raised his hand and requested: ‘What will we do after we’ve bought the ball?’
Vibration plates, to strengthen muscle core, had gamers operating to the bathroom, and that was the course through which supporters feared their crew’s soccer was heading.
Allardyce needed to imprint an ‘up and at em’ model, but signed some gamers who had been extra ‘down and out’. When the free switch of Geremi from Chelsea was mooted, Sir Bobby Robson tried to warn the membership, relaying a telephone name with Jose Mourinho through which the midfielder’s ‘40-year-old’s legs’ had been questioned.
To suppose, the choice was a 21-year-old from Croatia referred to as Luka Modric. That was till Ashley, realising the extent of the membership’s debt, put the freeze on spending.
Brazilian defender Claudio Cacapa additionally arrived from left discipline however exited stage proper after 18 minutes of November’s house match with Portsmouth, with the crew trailing 3-1. It was right here, throughout a 4-1 loss, that followers first turned on Allardyce. His spouse, Lynne, vowed by no means to go to video games once more.
![Players would love when Allardyce could be heard ooo'ing over Shay Given's long balls in training](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/05/11/21/70881027-12074477-image-a-7_1683837846994.jpg)
Gamers would love when Allardyce might be heard ooo’ing over Shay Given’s lengthy balls in coaching
![Mark Viduka was an outlet that Allardyce used to the max during his spell with the club - an approach that never truly endeared him to the supporters](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/05/11/21/70881035-12074477-image-a-8_1683837849305.jpg)
Mark Viduka was an outlet that Allardyce used to the max throughout his spell with the membership – an strategy that by no means really endeared him to the supporters
Joey Barton, one other signing, labelled the gang ‘vicious’. He was arrested the next month for assault and affray and later sentenced to 6 months in jail. Allardyce referred to as him a ‘bloody legal responsibility’.
The entire episode captured the membership’s ‘cleaning soap opera’ popularity that Allardyce had supposed to scrub clear. Fats likelihood. He misplaced Kieron Dyer to West Ham on the eve of the season after the England midfielder complained of a fallout with followers through which his home and automobile had been vandalised by eggs. Dyer had clashed with Barton. Throughout a pre-season five-a-side, Barton mentioned to him, ‘You suppose you’re f***ing Pele’, to which he replied, ‘I’m f***ing Pele, in comparison with you’.
Fan favorite Nobby Solano was pulled apart by Allardyce and advised he was not wanted, Barton then broke his foot in July and senior gamers weren’t satisfied by the standard of their new team-mates.
For all that, the season began with a 3-1 win at Bolton and Allardyce, thrilled to beat his outdated membership amid acrimony over the various employees he had taken, partied lengthy into the night time. There have been later beers with Ashley and Mort in Newcastle, journeys to London casinos with the proprietor and, after six matches, Newcastle had been fifth.
![The problems surrounding Joey Barton were well-documented and they contributed to the feeling of significant unrest](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/05/11/21/70880771-12074477-image-a-6_1683837739411.jpg)
The issues surrounding Joey Barton had been well-documented they usually contributed to the sensation of serious unrest
However supporters by no means took to Allardyce and outcomes dipped, the crew taking one level from 12 over Christmas. Given Ashley stood and drank amongst these followers on the terraces, he listened. Strikes had been made to line up Harry Redknapp, who indicated curiosity. Allardyce even rang him to confront him in regards to the rumours, however he denied contact.
After Allardyce was sacked and Redknapp bought chilly toes, Ashley turned to Kevin Keegan. He was alarmed, on his first morning, when 25 of Allardyce’s backroom crew squeezed right into a small room for a employees assembly. He used to chortle that his hardest resolution for away journeys was which of the employees he needed to depart behind.
In the meantime, Allardyce was taking a telephone name from Shepherd, inviting him to his Barbados retreat, a proposal he accepted. If solely Massive Sam had refused Shepherd’s preliminary supply eight months earlier, his ‘St James’ Farce’, as he later referred to as it, would have been prevented.
He would definitely take pleasure in a Leeds victory over Newcastle on Saturday. However his new gamers should first keep in mind this: POMO.