Bez on boss

In between baiting Colin Cooper and Kevin Ball on Soccer Night, John 'Bez` Beresford has taken some time out to give his tuppence worth on the new man in the hotseat:

"He is the best manager at the moment that Newcastle could even go for. For Sam Allardyce to be successful they have got to give him at least two or three years. He is not going to come in and all of a sudden get them in the top four. It's a big job but I think he's the right man for it, given time. The biggest problem Sam has got is the expectation at Newcastle, they want instant success and that's why a lot of the managers have fallen by the wayside there.

As much as Sam thinks he knows what he is in for he isn't until you have lived and breathed it up there. It's very intense. They expect a certain way of playing and a certain way of winning. They will allow him until Christmas but if they are in the bottom half he will see the monster raise its head because they are an impatient crowd. Probably they have been spoilt, especially from 10 years ago maybe when I played and we played a certain style of football. Now they will put up with maybe not as much attractive football if they are winning. He has to try and find that balance.

If you spend £11 or £12 million on a player like Albert Luque and he struggles to make the bench that is not good business. When Sam Allardyce comes in he has got to look long term and think 'right, the players I'm buying are good characters and in the long run they will be a help. They have not scored particularly many goals and they have let goals in. It's all about balance. If you can get everyone pulling the same way, Newcastle have some good players - the problem is they haven't got a good team. It's like a jigsaw, they have a few pieces missing but if they get them it's an unbelievable club to manage.'

Join Vital Newcastle United

It's easy to register for Vital Newcastle United, simply click the link and enjoy getting involved (you can even win prizes!) To visit the Vital Newcastle United message board, click here.

Get involved

This website is your website and we are looking for people to help run the site. Do you go to most of the games and have an opinion? Why not write a match report? Perhaps you are a budding journalist or even just someone who is very opinionated? Well why not join our team? If this interests you please contact Vital Newcastle.

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.