Newcastle 'Not Big Enough' For 'Long Ball Fat Sam'!

The former Bolton boss had all the high-tech gear; a backroom staff of 23 'hangers-on'; a wad of cash to spend; and still he used tactics that would have been out of date when Wor Jackie and Bobby Dazzler were gracing the St James' Park pitch.

Tactics are NOT Sam's strength. "Hoof the ball and see where it lands" is not what Sir Alex Ferguson or Arsene Wenger tell their playing staff.

Allardyce, who has yet to take a new role in football, has absolved himself of any blame for his aborted stint with United.

Allardyce: "When you get sacked, reflection is a difficult scenario. The one thing you have tio evaluate first and foremost is how much of it was your fault.

"I think you can accept it a lot more if you can come to terms with the fact that a good percentage of it was your fault - but that doesn't apply to me at Newcastle.

"The usual rubbish that goes when someone like me is sacked from a club like Newcastle is that that job was too big for me. That's just not true.

"If I'm honest the reverse is probably true. Newcastle probably wasn't big enough for me - it didn't live up to my ambitions in the short time that I was there. And because it didn't do that the club missed a chance to realise its own ambitions.

"The more I analyse it, the more I come to the conclusion that it was never about me or results.

"It was about things they wanted to put in place."

For a man who has never won so much as a tea-cup as a player, coach or manager ... he has a mighty high opinion of himself!