On unstable ground

If Sam Allardyce's latest comments are anything to go by, it seems as though Liverpool aren't the only Premiership club with a manager and owner(s) / chairman conducting their private political wrangles in public: "Only our bosses can be more stable and be more supportive and I believe there will be no knee-jerk reaction from my bosses. They are very stable and very supportive, and I hope that remains the case".

Living more in hope than expectation, then, Sam? I don't blame you if you're not totally convinced by your own words, what with the managerial merry-go-round currently spinning at breakneck speed and the dreaded verbal vote of confidence having emanated from the chairman's mouth in the wake of Saturday's calamitous display. Historically speaking, Newcastle Utd is not the place to be if you want stability (and there could be more trouble on the horizon - see below...).

It's perhaps also revealing that Chris Mort's own recent comments hint at a reluctance to make significant funds available to the manager for the transfer window: "We have got to get the team performing on the pitch as a unit and I don’t necessarily think new players will sort that out. Sam’s working hard with the coaching team to get the current squad together as a unit and I think that’s the first priority". Which, put crudely, essentially translates as "You ain't getting any spends in January, so you'd best get polishing the turd you've got"...