Big Sam Allardyce

Big Sam Allardyce

The tabloid rumour is saying we're lining up a move for Allardyce to replace Souness if we don't get a result at Villa.

I don't think he'd leave Bolton, but would be quite happy for him to replace Souness if he did.

He be mad to leave Bolton atm

He's been great at Bolton, i think it would be a step down for him to leave for Newcastle though.

i agree, they seem to be doing well and he has the foundations of a good team there, if he moved to Newcastle tbh he'd be taking on a right mess and probably have to start back at square one.

I wouldn't say we're a right mess like.

A step down? Haha. Newcastle are one of the biggest clubs in Britain. 9th largest in the world. If he was succesful at Newcastle he'd be a legend. If he won a cup at Bolton it's be forgotten about the next season. It's certainly not an easy job, and Bolton are doing well, but it would certainly not be a step down!

Miller.....

Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, AC Milan, Juventus, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Real Madrid.

theres 10 bigger clubs plus other Italian teams and Spanish.

Your not a big club and wont be for a while you havent played in the champions league for a long time that speaks fot itself.....you might have a big fan base and stadium but that means shit if your team isnt performing.

Fact is bolton are a better team than you and Allardice would be stupid to go to yous.

big club delusion is common amongst newcastle, spurs fans etc... however spurs are at least trying at the moment.

history means fuck all to anyone else so i dont see why people inflict the old 'we won a cup in 1949' or whatever. no one else cares. fan base? bollocks... most cities will have a big fan base, fans alone dont make a club big in world football. stadium, finances and all that... wow, darlington have a modern stadium

newcastle have been a big club in the past and have the potential to be a big club again, but at the moment they are no where near

Will he ever have the funds to make Bolton into a Champions League team? No. Have Newcastle not got the potential to be able to do that? Yes! Bolton will never ever be anywhere near as big as Newcastle. Even when they were playing Arsenal in the cup last season Sam was having a go about how many fans were there ffs! Would that happen at Newcastle? No. It might be stupid to take the job on, but no way is it a step down! What a fucking joke!

Just because we aren't doing very well doesn't mean we're not a big club you fucking idiot! 52000 every home game is not a small club!

touchy! bless.

newcastle are not a big club in anyones eyes at the moment. apart from deluded fans. under keegan newcastle were a big club, one of the biggest in europe but things have changed.

good turn outs dont mean a big club, there are bigger gates at many asian, african and south american teams stadiums but they arent always 'big clubs'.

i may say newcastle are a sleeping giant, fair enough, but a big club in todays game? get real.

It's an argument we could argue over for days, but how do you actually judge weather or not a club is big or not?

By how successful they are in the league and cup competitionsin recent years.

By your reckoning Leeds would still be a big club. they get just as many fans as some Premiership clubs at times but theyre in league one.

Like Smog said you were a big club but because you have alot of fans doesnt make you a big club the only big clubs in England these days are the top 4 the other clubs could beat anyone at any time.

You may have a good reputation because of previous seasons but im pretty sure that wouldnt make players want to sign for you in the hope of winning things at Newcastle.......in the hope of furthering their career and improving their prospets ( ala Kluivert thi he went wrong, and probably Michael Owen) they wouldnt move to you because they think your a big club who can win the league or do well in europe.

i think its a good debate. i wouldnt class boro as a big club because we dont do ourselves justice in the league season after season, one cup and europe is fantastic but it isnt gonna affect the powers of european football. newcastle havent done much for a few years now and only toon fans will care about the past.

when it comes to calling a club big i think recent success is the only factor that makes people sit up and notice. if its fan base, history and facilities there are countless clubs that can claim one or more that aren't even premiership... sheff wed, wolves, preston, blackpool, leeds, burnley, huddersfield, derby. many more prem clubs have great tradition etc but still aren't a big club.

the G-14 of superclubs are the biggest i suppose with a few more in tow. i'd say teams like toon and boro are just behind the trailing pack at the moment... still things can change very quickly.

Not atm, but we can compete with everyone in the transfer market bar Chelsea, and with the right manager there is no reason why we couldn't compete right at the top again.

Surely being a big club isn't just about results. If Portsmouth won the league twice in a row getting crowds of 19k would they be classed as being a big club, or bigger than Newcastle?

Middlesborough could never be as big as Newcastle purerly on fan base. Some of the crowds you get are fucking ridiculous. If you can't sell out for the Arsenal, Man Utd games then you never will!

Sheff Wed and Wolves are still quite big clubs on fan base, but the main thing which does exclude them is not playing in the Prem, which means they can't compete in the transfer market. Just have a look at Newcastle's turn over compared to most clubs. We will be in the Top 5 at least!

Results and performance do not just decide weather or not your a big club. Turnover, stadium, fan base, etc, etc are also massive deciding factors!

Miller both your arguments are on fanbase and finances.

Real Madrid are in a shit load of debt but theyre a bigger club.

Finance and fanbase mean nothing these days in my honest opinion, like you said if Portsmouth won the prem 2 years on the trot then yes.......im sure given a choice player x would move to portsmouth over newcastle if they had won the premiership.

Fair enough you have money to spend but it doesnt mean your bigger than the rest of the clubs, im sure if other teams could have afforded owen he wouldnt have went to you.

If Liverpool or Man Utd even Arsenal had the money he'd have went there because theyre bigger. Middlesbrough have spent alot and im not saying theyre any bigger but they will attract the same type of players as you because of their sucess where your club is getting them on reputation.

Reputation doesnt mean your still a big club.

Real Madrid are in debt, but that doesn't make a difference, they will still spend big because the Government put pressure on the banks to keep on lending to them because there a Spanish institution, so that point is shit.

Your missing the point when your talking about Portsmouth though. Just because they've won the Premiership twice, does not make them bigger than Newcastle! It might make them more attractive, but no way will it make them bigger, that's just plain stupid!

No one else went in for Owen apart from Wigan because they couldn't afford it, simply because they are not as big as Newcastle.

i get your points and agree to some extent. boro cant fill their stadium because we dont have the population, we are a small town. 150,000 live in boro... 30,000 average attendance is fucking good for that king of demographics... especially when we play dull uninspiring football most of the time. there isnt another club in the country that can boast 1/5th of its town/city population in a stadim on a matchday. fact. a few below par attendances doesnt make a difference... this is with a fanbase that doesnt fully support the manager and its not as if many boro fans can afford to fork out on ticket after ticket at the inflated prices of today... i think boro fans do fuckin well considering most clubs with our circustances would do well to get 20,000 in each week, especially as attendances have dropped all over

of course newcastle have financial clout and a lot of sway in areas, but so do dozens of other clubs. most people dont rate newcastle at the mo because the team dont do it on the pitch and that is the ultimate deciding factor.

europe is full of former great teams with massive stadiums and wonderful history. newcastle are just another. fan base is definately important but it wont make a big club... not all big/successful clubs come from big cities.

the problem with newcastle is that behind the scenes there aren't too many probs, the chairman might not be perfect but he certainly isnt the worst... however the team seem to underachieve and have done for a few years and the manager is unpopular. there's talk of keegan coming back now... i dont think he would repeat what he did in the 90's but he might at least guarantee europe each year and make toon big again.

are you taking the piss? the ninth biggest club in the world