Allardyce Losing The Battle
"There was the lad at Lyon (Eric Abidal) that went to Barcelona who is probably the best one around, but you look for the rest and say to yourself: 'Where are they?'
"A lot of them are converted left-wingers, so they're attacking-minded, whereas I've got the opposite slant on that.
"We're attacking-minded as a squad. I need defensive solidarity and players who think defensively; natural defenders. They're not easy to find.
"The choice is more limited here (in England). They are fewer and farther between than they were.
"If I had been quick enough or had been in place as Newcastle manager sooner, I'd have looked at more Premiership free transfers.
"I tried for one — Tal Ben Haim — and if Sylvain Distin had still been available when I'd been here, he'd have been here.
"If you put Ben Haim and Distin here now, it would make a huge difference. You'd already have secured the problems with your defence, basically.
"You'd probably just look for a left-back of the right sort of experience and, perhaps, a right-back and you'd be looking forward to August 11.
"But that centre-back we need may not be in this country now."