The Times Reports 'Unrest At St James Park'!

Sam Allardyce heads into a testing few weeks as the Newcastle United manager, yet to convince his own players that he can turn around the club's fortunes. Senior members of his squad are known to be at odds with Allardyce, who has picked up just one Barclays Premier League point in nine before matches against Liverpool, Blackburn Rovers and Arsenal.

Allardyce's tactics have already caused some disquiet among the club's fans, but there is also unease in his dressing-room. The manager is aware of the unrest, which may explain why he recently spoke about needing three to five years to bring success to Newcastle.

It is a familiar story on Tyneside, where the club seem to be constantly on the brink of crisis. The picture is complicated by the fact that the owner, Mike Ashley, did not appoint Allardyce but inherited him after his takeover of the club in June.

Chris Mort, the chairman appointed by Ashley, has been critical of recent performances, which have included a 4-1 defeat at home to Portsmouth.

The big question is whether Allardyce will get proper backing, and patience, from the board. Six months is no time at all to judge whether the methods that were so successful at Bolton Wanderers can work at St James' Park but he will not be helped by the whispers of unrest.

Allardyce is trying to change the club at many levels, from a new gym and massage rooms to the style of play. His training methods are believed to be far more rigid than the previous regimes of Graeme Souness and Glenn Roeder.

Allardyce would say that that is a good thing, but it seems to have come as an unpleasant shock to some of the players.

The manager admitted to teething problems in a recent interview. "I think the difficulty at the moment lies with everyone being so new," he said.

"I don't think anyone realises that when you change so much it is difficult to get things right overnight."

The board backed him recently in the recruitment of Paul Barron, one of the country's outstanding goalkeeping coaches, from Middlesbrough, but they will want to see results improve. That is unlikely in the short-term as they face Liverpool today before the trip to Ewood Park and then the meeting with Arsenal.