Sam Allardyce to manage Newcastle United? Thanks, but no, thanks. With all due respect to the man nicknamed Big Sam, Newcastle need someone bigger. A new Kevin Keegan, Bobby Robson (get well quickly, Sir) or Kenny Dalglish, in fact.

Glenn Roeder had to go. Yep, there was no point in him staying after he lost the board's support and the players' belief. Belief – not respect. The Newcastle footballers respect Roeder for his integrity, effort, diligence and seriousness, but they no longer believe he is the manager who can put them on a pedestal, who can turn mediocrity into style and success.

Unfortunately. Allardyce is not the solution, either. He is a pragmatist, not a stylist. He may be very good at wheeling and dealing, but his success with Bolton Wanderers was mainly achieved because of his knack of convincing big-name has-beens to join the unfashionable Lancashire club. Fair enough, it's a nice coup to persuade Youri Djorkaef, Jay Jay Okocha, Ivan Campo, Nicolas Anelka and their likes to come and ply their trade at the Reebok Stadium. But whichever way we look at it, those are footballers for whom Bolton Wanderers represented the twilight zone.

Ruud Gullit may have been a failure, but he at least tried to generate what he called "sexy football". Can Allardyce even mutter those two words together?


Allardyce walks tall despite a tag of the 'long-ball preacher'. He prides himself, and justifiably so, on achieving history with Bolton – taking the Trotters into Europe in the UEFA Cup for the first time three seasons ago. The problem is that Newcastle United are in search of a totally different piece of history.

St James' Park craves not only prizes and titles (the last one almost 40 years ago), but sheer excitement and inspiration all the way to the trophy. Ruud Gullit may have been a failure, but he at least tried to generate what he called "sexy football". Can Allardyce even mutter those two words together? Not on the basis of the Reebok evidence.

When Big Sam was denied the England manager's post, he claimed he would have got it had he been called Allardici rather than Allardyce. While the complaint carries some weight – Allardyce's football was not all dour, dull and efficient – the stigma and the prejudice are a result of the 52-year-old's philosophies, mainly the superiority of graft over craft.

Newcastle should not allow hard work to replace imagination. The Magpies need to fly to the top on the wings of inspiration. The road may be winding and long, but there is no point prolonging it – and the agony – with handing the helm to a very nice, likeable, down-to-earth gentleman, who seems to lack flair and the courage to play entertaining football.

Martin O'Neill, Martin Jol, Steve Coppell and Mark Hughes are the sort of managers with style and balls, who can combine pragmatism with romanticism. Allardyce isn't. It seems to me that even if somehow Big Sam  manages to win something at St. James', it will be to the accompanying chorus of 52,000 fans snoring.

Is BR Eloise right? Do Newcastle need a bigger name than Big Sam to achieve the success they crave?