The Saviour Of Newcastle?
Last updated : 22 January 2009 By Footy Mad - Editor
A man who has nothing to do with Newcastle United; probably never set foot in St James' Park in his life; but - apparently - he knows the problems and says the club were SHAMEFUL for sacking Sam Allardyce.
Now that Big Sam is at Rovers, and stuttered to a 1-0 FA Cup win at Blyth (who had not won a league game in two and half months!) the man is a hero.
The very fact that Sam was on the back of the shit cart for a year after his sacking, no-one willing to offer him a job, perhaps says a lot.
But give Mr Flanagan his 15 minutes of glory, as he kicks us in the nuts while we're struggling.
But let him stick to reporting on the relegation of Blackburn Rovers (fingers crossed) rather than poking fun at Newcastle United and it's fabulous fans.
Chris Flanagan - 
Almost exactly a year ago, Newcastle United were 11th. And, in one of the most shameful episodes in Premier League history, Sam Allardyce got the sack.
One might deduce that the discarding of Allardyce after just 24 games in charge got Newcastle precisely nowhere.
Newcastle, once the heart and soul of the Premier League, are the club that no-one cares about any more.
St James' Park, despite its magnificence as a structural entity, no longer generates the atmosphere that once made it one of the most vibrant grounds in the country.
Newcastle pooped their own party years ago, and under Mike Ashley are fast becoming what Aston Villa were in the latter days under Doug Ellis.
Unexciting, uninspiring and a waste of a place in the top flight.
Admittedly, Big Sam had not exactly endeared himself to the locals on Tyneside, even if much of that was to do with the long-ball reputation first whipped up by Graeme Souness to explain away a defeat at Bolton during his Newcastle days.
But Newcastle were not as far behind the elite 12 months ago as they are now and far less vulnerable to the drop.
And, if they'd bothered to let him hang around and prove it, they actually had a capable manager on their hands who could have taken the club forward.
Newcastle had time to build, but Ashley opted not to do so with Allardyce.
Instead, he chose to chase the hopelessly impossible dream under Kevin Keegan.