Give me five!

Jul 1 2007 By The Sunday Sun

Sam Allardyce last night asked Newcastle's new owner Mike Ashley for FIVE YEARS to deliver glory and silverware to St James's Park.

But in warning the Toon billionaire - and Geordie fans - to have "low expectations" of the coming season, Allardyce insisted he is following the Sir Alex Ferguson blueprint for success.

Although Ashley has been expected to demand a rapid improvement in United's results and performances, Allardyce is unrepentant in his demand for patience - inside and outside the club.

"I need time and I need patience and I need support from everyone at the club - and I will need support from the fans," he said.

"We should start this season with a low expectation and try to over achieve. Let's have it low key. Let's grow - finish above where we finished last year, get more points, get higher in the league, and see any more than that as a bonus.

"We shouldn't say that if we don't finish in the top six then that is a miserable, underachieving season. That shouldn't be the case.

We are trying to build a side that can do more than last year and grow slowly and surely but more importantly successfully.

"Let's take the best in the world: Sir Alex Ferguson. It took him five years. He brings success on a regular basis and he destroys teams and rebuilds teams on a regular basis which very few managers are capable of doing.

"In the initial stages, there were no trophies and no titles for Sir Alex at Manchester United - and then in the end he got it right.

"Every manager who stays the longest at a football club brings more success than any club that changes their managers on a regular basis.

"I would hope that I would get those five years. If I am here for five years it would mean I have got what I want and the club have got what it wants . . . a successful business that has grown to be successful on the field.

Allardyce realises the challenge he faces in changing the culture of expectation - and subsequent disappointment - long endemic at Newcastle.

But he added: "We have to accept that we are not quite as good as we think we are. We have to build on that and make sure we get to the levels people expect as quickly as we can. But there is no magic wand I can wave.

"I'm not saying fans shouldn't air their disapproval when we aren't playing well, but that they try to do it without being disruptive to me and the players."