'Forgot Bolton record' - Sam Allardyce makes Newcastle…

'Forgot Bolton record' - Sam Allardyce makes Newcastle United job claim after he left Wanderers

Sam Allardyce believes his time at Newcastle United was the 'wrong place at the wrong time' for him after he left Bolton Wanderers.

From 1999 to 2007, Allardyce managed Wanderers in the First Division and the top flight which took them to the Uefa Cup in 2005. It was one of the most glittering and successful spells in the club's history.

It followed making just shy of 250 appearances in a Wanderers shirt during his playing career and celebrated a Second Division title in 1978. He represented the club in two spells during his playing career.

Allardyce resigned for his position at Bolton at the end of April 2007. A few weeks later, he was confirmed as the new boss at the Magpies on a three-year deal.

But Allardyce's time at St James' Park did not go anywhere near as successful as it did at Wanderers. The two parties parted company in early January 2008.

The former Bolton boss has now reflected on his first job after he left Wanderers and conceded it was the wrong place at the wrong time for him. He believes his achievements with the Whites were forgotten about and a takeover by Mkie Ashley saw his time at Newcastle come to a conclusion.

Allardyce told Kammy and Ben's Proper Football Podcast: "I suppose looking back on my career, being in the wrong place at the wrong time, that was particularly Newcastle. I think people forgot the Bolton record because it's a considerable amount of time ago.

"When I took the Newcastle job, that was going to be the big one that was going to escalate my career beyond what we had achieved at Bolton which was pretty major. Unfortunately, a takeover meant that I lost my job and couldn't build Newcastle into what Freddy Shepherd wanted them to be.

"Mike bought the club out and moved me on, so it was the wrong place at the wrong time. Whatever anybody says, no matter how good you were before then, that affects your credibility as a manager. You've got to go and prove yourself again, and then of course I was building Blackburn Rovers back into something and they sold that club.

"All of a sudden, the axe fell then. I was taking the club into mid to top table, and the club got sold again and I got moved on. That affects your credibility as a manager so then it just became a question of what are you going to do and how are you going to do it."

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