... and another one's gone and another one's gone. Another one bites the dust.Poor Sam.
Where did it all go wrong?
Well after 8 years of success at Bolton, who he not only took into the Premiership, but to just below the big 4 in the tables, I guess you can see why he was looking for a new challenge. Newcastle is bigger and seems a 'hungrier' club. I have heard numerous commentators in recent weeks talk about the 'unrealistic expectations' of Newcastle fans who are ambitious and think they are bigger than they are.
How different it might all have been if his bid to succeed Sven as England manager had succeeded. (I wonder if he would have done any better than Steve McLaren). Or if Newcastle had not had a change of chairman within just a few weeks, Freddy Shepherd being replaced by Mike Ashley. And what if some of his purchases had proved better quality, rather than the likes of Joey Barton, who whatever his skills, has suffered injuries and more recently spent the New Year in prison.
Life is full of "what if's" of course but you can't help feeling some sympathy for the man. Because when it actually boils down to it, the team is currently 11th in the Premiership (higher than they were this time last year) and he has only held the tenure for 8 months. Hardly sufficient time to turn things around.
The most distasteful aspect of all this for me, however, is the suggestion that Alan Shearer should be his successor. Untried as a manager at any level (he is not even a qualified coach), my impression of him (admittedly based upon only a few appearances as a Match Of The Day pundit) is that he is uninspiring as a person, whatever his achievements as a player.
All I can say is if it really was fan pressure that led to today's events, getting Shearer as a manager is probably what they deserve.
