Expectation can be a hard thing to live up to. Newcastle fans have been waiting for years now for their support and stature to be reflected in the end-of-season Premiership table (and the odd piece of silverware) which is undoubtedly what the 50,000-plus season ticket holders deserve.

Now a new era is in place at St James' Park and, yet again, a new era dawns, one that will finally put paid to the near 40-year wait for success, and clearly a Carling Cup triumph will not be sufficient!

By rights, Newcastle are a team that should have won things in recent years and at least continued in the Keegan-era vein of keeping in touch with the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool. But for a great many reasons they have fallen from grace. Many factors, from mismanagement by board members and a chairman's unwise managerial appointments, as well as big names not living up to their potential once they pull on that black and white shirt. The question pondered by the Toon army faithful is whether they can begin to dream again with the apparent dream ticket of Mike Ashley, Chris Mort and Sam Allardyce in situ.

'The question pondered by the Toon army faithful is whether they can begin to dream again with the apparent dream ticket of Mike Ashley, Chris Mort and Sam Allardyce in situ'


Allardyce seems to fit perfectly in the mould of Messiah. He performed minor miracles with Bolton year in and year out. Now he has taken over a huge club with investment to match, and time will tell if he can bring his experience and inspiration to bear on the North East club. Time is the key, a factor most Newcastle managers have not been afforded (and in most cases quite rightly so). St James' Park's managerial 'revolving door' policy is well publicised. I guess it is hard to avoid, given they have had an incredible 15 managers in the last 20 years, of which only one (at a stretch two) can be considered to have achieved any degree of success (I think we know who I am referring to and it's not Osvaldo).

On the playing side, Allardyce seems to have a talented pool of players, that will surely get bigger. In that pool there are a few world class players. Michael Owen, even given injury problems, should still figure as one of the best finishers in the country, and Shay Given is regarded by many as the best keeper in the Premiership. And you can add plenty of young talent, among them Steven Taylor, Peter Ramage, James Milner (still only 21 amazingly), Paul Huntington David Edgar and many others. These players shone under Glenn Roeder's stuttering reign, which to be fair, was not half as bad as the media would have us believe.

Many will be expecting success to be swift and that Europe, and even the top four, is within United's reach. I suggest that any success will come later rather than immediately. If Mike Ashley is liberal with the financial backing then Big Sam is the kind of manager capable of enticing to Tyneside the kind of players who, in the last couple of years, would not have found the move appetiziing. Taking a calculated gamble on Joey Barton may also prove to be a masterstroke. How many more can Allardyce pull off before the window snaps shut? Maybe he has designs on some of his Bolton stars. Kevin Nolan would surely be a tempting purchase and a quality midfielder who would suit them.

This season I am sure Newcastle will be looking, firstly, to finish ahead of the North-East pack which, given the re-emergence of a Roy Keane-inspired Sunderland, might prove harder than anticipated.

But I think that this season could be the beginning of a great new era for Newcastle. I know they have heard all that before a great many times, but it is more of a real prospect than it was under Messrs Keegan and Robson. Perhaps 1969 will be consigned to the dustbin in the same way that Tottenham are hoping to assign 1961 to the distant past. Maybe I am getting carried away, but now Titus Bramble has left anything seems possible!