Newcastle deny Allardyce's job is under threat
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Chris Mort, the new Newcastle United chairman, felt compelled to dismiss reports linking other managers to Sam Allardyce's job yesterday. "This kind of story does not merit a response, it is ludicrous," Mort said, but Allardyce is discovering the intensity of life on Tyneside after Saturday's embarrassing 4-1 home defeat by Portsmouth, which followed the previous weekend's reverse at Reading.
Newcastle's players gathered at the club's Benton training ground yesterday morning for a review of the videotape of the Pompey game, a meeting goalkeeper Steve Harper described as "a bit of an inquest.
"We were in on Sunday for a bit of a recovery situation and then that meeting needed to happen. It wasn't great viewing, but we needed to see it," Harper said. "We felt we had to analyse what happened in those 11 minutes [on Saturday]. By 12 minutes past three, it was almost like a bomb had gone off."
The local mood is one of anger on-hold due to Allardyce's freshness in the post, but the atmosphere will sour should Newcastle lose at Sunderland on Saturday. Damaged pride would be one thing, but a third consecutive defeat would precede the visit of Liverpool and Arsenal to St. James', with a trip to Blackburn in between.
Blackburn's manager Mark Hughes is one of those being linked with Newcastle, but it is premature speculation and Alan Shearer is a much more likely contender to be the next manager at Newcastle. Owner Mike Ashley knows Shearer via their connection with Umbro, a company Shearer has long represented as a sporting ambassador and which Ashley took his stake in to 29 percent last week.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments