Europe's a must

May 13 2007 By Neil Farrington, The Sunday Sun

Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd last night promised that Sam Allardyce will revive the club’s glory days – at home and abroad.

In breaking his silence on Allardyce’s imminent arrival at St James’s Park to the Sunday Sun, Shepherd laid out his expectations of the former Bolton boss.

And the Magpies supremo is convinced his new man will rise to the challenge of restoring United’s status as one of Europe’s biggest clubs.

But Shepherd – who hopes to unveil Allardyce as Newcastle’s new manager on Wednesday – also paid tribute to Big Sam’s predecessor in the United hotseat, Glenn Roeder.

“The first job for the new manager is to get Newcastle back into the top six in the Premiership and to make sure that the club is playing regularly in Europe. That is the minimum we expect,” said Shepherd.

“Where we are in the Premier League this season simply isn’t acceptable to either me or our fans.

“This managerial change is about re-establishing Newcastle United as a formidable power both in the Premiership and Europe.

“Sam Allardyce knows that a club with Newcastle United’s support, resources and wage bill must be challenging at the top end of the table.

“But you only have to look at what he achieved in transforming Bolton to know that his credentials match the job description.”

Shepherd, who will give Allardyce a four-year contract worth £10 million and a £20 million transfer kitty, reflected sadly on Roeder’s departure.

“Sam knows just how badly affected we were with injuries last season. He has a lot of sympathy for Glenn Roeder,” he added.

“But the performance against Blackburn simply wasn’t good enough and Glenn knew that.

“He did the honourable thing and resigned.

“I appreciate everything he did for Newcastle. He will remain a personal friend and a friend to Newcastle United.”

Allardyce has already begun the process of forming a new backroom staff and identifying players he would like to bring to Tyneside, with an unnamed French youngster set to arrive and Aston Villa defender Jlloyd Samuel a possible target.

But the Magpies manager- elect knows one of his key tasks is to keep Michael Owen at St James’s Park.

And that may be aided by the likelihood of Newcastle and the FA resolving the compensation row which had threatened the striker’s immediate England future.

United had threatened to issue an injunction blocking Owen from England duty while they demanded reimbursement from the FA for medical bills racked up during his recovery from injury suffered at last year’s World Cup.

But the Sunday Sun understands that the dispute is close to being settled, and that Owen is free to play in England’s friendly against Brazil on June 1 and the Euro 2008 qualifier in Estonia on June 6.