Until recently I would have confidently predicted Newcastle United would qualify for Europe next season, but it seems Sam Allardyce has rather more work to do than we first thought at St James’s Park.
I’m not going to join the hopelessly premature calls for the manager’s head or anything like that. To call for a manager to be sacked after nine competitive games in charge is like calling for a General Election a couple of weeks after the votes have been counted.
Allardyce wasn’t everybody’s first choice for the job - I personally advocated Sven-Goran Eriksson’s case - but it is far too early to be writing him off just because of a couple of bad results against Derby and Manchester City and a cup defeat against Arsenal’s reserves.
In an ideal world managers would get at least 12 months before they are put under pressure, but, in reality, that is never going to happen because everyone wants to see instant results. Nevertheless, can we at least wait until after Christmas before we start labelling Allardyce the new Kenny Dalglish as I’ve seen some do elsewhere?
Allardyce is a pragmatist and he will not play entertaining football just for the sake of winning a few admirers. He wants points first and then, after the team has become more settled and have a better understanding of each other’s games, better football.
It is difficult to ask a Newcastle fan for patience after so many years of under-achievement, but too often the mood on Tyneside swings from one extreme to the other. A period of some stability is needed at St James’s Park and let’s at least give Sam a few months at his desk before we urge him to clear it!
There is one major cause for concern for me so far and that’s Newcastle’s midfield. Put in simple, unequivocal terms, playing Alan Smith, Geremi and Nicky Butt in a three-man midfield has all the variety and excitement of a night out in Rotherham. It is predictable, one-paced and unimaginative and good Premier League teams, especially away from home, will dominate offensively as a result.
It is all good and well having players who run a lot, work hard and have an excellent attitude, but if they can’t do much else other than pass the ball sideways or backwards 10 yards, they aren’t much of a threat to the opposition. Newcastle have relied too heavily on James Milner and Charles N’Zogbia for creative impetus, opposition teams have worked this out and they make sure they mark these two players extra tightly.
Newcastle have had 68 shots on goal this season - only Derby County, Birmingham City and Sunderland have had less and they are all new to the Premier League. It’s no good having a quality strikeforce if you don’t give them any ammunition to fire and Newcastle’s lack of cutting edge up front is worrying, but it has not prompted me to suddenly believe Allardyce will be a failure.
The midfield is my only real concern at this stage. It is a concern which may grow into a major problem in weeks to come, but with Emre, Damien Duff and Joey Barton to add options in this area, it is also a bone of contention which may disappear.
Newcastle beat West Ham 3-1 in their last home game and, in the second half, looked consistently dangerous going forward. I know a lot of that good work was undone at Manchester City a week later, but at least there was a suggestion that Allardyce’s team can cut loose every now and again.
That is the benchmark and Newcastle need a similar performance and result against Everton on Sunday to maintain whatever optimism there is surrounding the club.
Whatever Allardyce has planned for the future will take time to implement, but he needs good results and performances, particularly at home, to buy him that time. Patience is a virtue, but is never in abundance at St James’s Park.
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