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With hindsight, yes, Sam Allardyce will fail as manager at Newcastle United. He was brought in after his successful stint at unfashionable Bolton Wanderers. But he lost his job just after Christmas as the Toon job once again proved to be a poisoned chalice.

The big issue now is surely whether he was given a chance. It seems the board caved in to fan pressure. Allardyce was hit by some bad luck with injuries, decisions going again the Magpies and loss of confidence. All clubs go through bad patches. It was a panic measure to show him the door.

Newcastle have had far too many managers in recent years. They have little success to show for it. Kevin Keegan got closest to winning any silverware, but in the end he finished just short in second place. But at least he brought a smile to the face of fans with the attractive attacking soccer he oversaw. The worrying thing is that a number of the bosses to who did not survive were big names who achieved success elsewhere Ruud Gullitt, Graeme Sounness, Bobby Robson to name but three.

Allardyce has gone now. Who is going to want to step into his shoes after the way he was treated? Surely they will realize it will be only a matter of time before they too are sacked. To build a successful team takes time. Allardyce was only given eight months. If he had had more time and money to splash out in the transfer market, he would have turned things round. It is ironic that he was not so long ago in the running for the England job before being pipped by Steve MaClaren.

Allardyce is now free from the stresses of one of the hardest jobs in English football. He will have pocketed millions in compensation and there is bound to be another chairman waiting to snap him up. Good luck to him. Let's hope the next Newcastle manager gets treated better than him.

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