Tuesday, 27th November, 2012

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has criticised Newcastle United for not giving Sam Allardyce a chance to make his mark at St. James’ Park.

Ferguson enjoys a deep mutual respect and friendship with Allardyce, who he is due to meet tomorrow when the Red Devils host the former Newcastle manager’s new club, West Ham, at Old Trafford.



The legendary boss has kept a close eye on Allardyce’s progress within the game and feels that he is quite clearly underrated and has suffered some fates he did not deserve, particularly at Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle.

Now Ferguson sees Allardyce working wonders once again, this time at Upton Park, and defying his critics.

"Big Sam went to Upton Park a year and a bit ago and the cynics said he’s not a West Ham manager as he doesn’t play football", Ferguson told his club’s official site.

"What was his mandate? To get them up into the Premier League as quickly as possible and he got them up within a year. Tell me someone else who could’ve done that?

"He’s also had to rebuild the team and get two or three players out because of their salaries."

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And the 70-year-old Champions League-winning manager sees Allardyce as an underrated commodity.

"He’s very underrated, it’s as simple as that. There’s a sort of impression about him being a certain type of manager. It’s not really fair and I’m pleased he’s back in the Premier League."

Ferguson then reflected on how Allardyce was treated at Blackburn and, in particular, Newcastle, where he feels the charismatic manager was not given ample opportunity.

"The Blackburn situation was one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen but I think Sam was more disappointed with what happened at Newcastle.

"He was unlucky that a new owner came in and wanted a certain type of manager. He didn’t get a chance in his first really big job with the expectation and fan base up there – he didn’t get a chance to do the job right."

Allardyce managed to gain some measure of revenge on Newcastle earlier this season, when his West Ham side visited St. James’ Park and came away with a precious 1-0 victory.

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