Mike Ashley sacked Sam Allardyce in 2008 then spent the rest of his tenure looking for somebody like him to stabilise Newcastle United.
It's one of the biggest ironies of Ashley's ownership after he hastily got rid of the manager who has went on to forge a reputation for keeping clubs in the Premier League. Ashley was quite happy to finish just above the relegation zone, an area which Big Sam has delivered multiple times.
Back in 2019, Allardyce even suggested that Ashley had tried to appoint him just weeks before Steve Bruce took the job. Yet Allardyce's exit at St James' Park was unique in many ways as it was probably the only time Ashley took on board what fans were telling him at that time.
