I have to say I am astonished and genuinely saddened that Newcastle United became the latest club to hit the managerial panic button this week.

Only last Sunday I was extolling the virtues of managers being given time to get things right. Four days later and Sam Allardyce becomes the eighth Premiership boss to get the chop this season. And we are only half way through it.

The situation is utterly ridiculous. The desire for quick-fixes now seems to take precedence over common sense with alarming regularity.

Nobody can persuade me that Big Sam was given anything like the time he deserved to turn this massively under-achieving club into a successful one.

When he took over he clearly stated he needed years to turn the club around. Instead he was given months. And let's not forget, it is not as if Newcastle's current mid- table placing is a comparative failure.

The club hasn't won a major trophy for nearly 40 years and it would be unjust to suggest Allardyce was any less successful that any of his recent predecessors.

Alex Ferguson took over at Manchester United 21 years ago and, despite a shaky start, has brought no fewer than 18 trophies to the club in that period. In the same timeframe, Newcastle have had 10 managers and won absolutely nothing.

Doesn't that tell you something? Isn't there a clue in that somewhere? The importance of continuity, maybe?

The problem at Newcastle is the weight of expectation that hangs over the club. They are burdened by the belief that their unfaltering, dedicated fan base, beautiful stadium and not-inconsiderable wealth should automatically deliver success.

Well it doesn't. We have had enough proof of that over the past four decades. I agree that the foundations are all there, but if they continue to lay a few bricks and then pull it all down again a few months later, they will never build any real, long-term success.

One of the biggest problems with the current Newcastle situation is the club's new owner - Mike Ashley. The billionaire bought the club just weeks after Allardyce was appointed and, in the time he has owned St James Park, has shown little evidence he has the slightest idea what owning a club is all about.

He insists on donning a replica shirt and sitting on the terraces with the fans to watch matches. A quaint idea, but not the behaviour of a man who knows what his real role at the club is.

Ashley should be sitting in the directors' box surrounded by people who know the game, designing a plan for the club's future and taking in the bigger picture rather than having his opinions poisoned by the passion of the terraces.

If a captain is looking for a way to steer his sinking ship to safety, he isn't going to find it by spending time with his panicking passengers. Fact.

You could argue that Ashley is still finding his feet at St James's Park. But couldn't the same have been said about Allardyce?

Luckily, as owner, Ashley doesn't have some trumped-up, football-ignorant, rich-kid breathing down his neck. Ashley is answerable to the fans and nobody else.

And believe me, the Newcastle fans will make him answer if he doesn't get his next move just right - finding a manager who can knock them into shape.

The fans are clamouring for Alan Shearer, but apparently he isn't ready to leave the cosy confines of the Match of the Day television studio just yet.

Which gives Ashley a major headache. If the man the fans really want is not ready for the job, they are hardly likely to accept just anyone as boss.

Mark Hughes and Harry Redknapp are the favourites with the bookmakers. And while both would probably do a good job - assuming they are allowed more than six minutes to do it - neither is likely to get the fans dancing in the street.

To my mind, only a big name will do - Jose Mourinho or Marcello Lippi, for example.

As for Big Sam, he has vowed to bounce back and I would be very surprised if he didn't. Some are suggesting that he has blown his only chance of a big-time job but I think not.

I wouldn't be surprised if he was back at St James's Park befor teh end of the season in charge of somebody else.

The January sales

As transfer windows go, this one is about as exciting as watching grass grow. Managers spend months moaning that they can't buy and sell players then, when the opportunity arises to do just that, they suddenly go all cheque-book shy.

Yes, there have been one or two moves. Liverpool have had a little dabble and Derby are busy trying to build an entirely new team for roughly €1.50. But nothing that's happened so far has really got the pulse racing.

There is, obviously, still plenty of time for things to hot up. And on Friday they did _ when Roman Abramovich found some loose change down the back of the sofa and spent a little bit of it on Nicolas Anelka.

I thought there would be more of a rush to bring in those desperately needed new faces that might just turn a mediocre season into a decent one.

Instead, all we hear is managers explaining that they don't want to be rushed into buying players, that they won't panic buy just because the opportunity is there.

Maybe I am missing something here, but just because you can't actually conclude a deal outside the transfer window, surely you can still negotiate one?

That would be the sensible thing to do - get your purchases all lined up before the rush starts and gazump your rivals in the process.

A team that is leaking goals because it has a donkey wearing the number 1 jersey doesn't need to wait till January to start looking at which goalkeepers might be able to fill the gap.

Previous experience tells us that there will more than likely be a rush as the window starts to close. And that is, to my mind, when the panic buying will take place.

And making your signings at the end of the window when despair has kicked in, automatically means you will be paying more than you would have at the beginning.

And then managers wonder why they get fired...

The League Cup is alive and well

Many, if not all, commentators would have us believe the Carling Cup is little more than an irritant. A competition clubs take part in almost entirely reluctantly, fielding weakened teams and breathing a sigh of relief when they get knocked out.

Well, apparently, nobody bothered to tell this year's semi-finalists. The matches between Chelsea and Everton, and Arsenal and Spurs, were both cracking examples of all that is good about the FA Cup's little brother.

I only caught the highlights of the Stamford Bridge encounter but I managed to watch the north London derby from start to finish and I was suitably impressed.

It was obvious from the starting line-ups that Spurs are taking this cup more seriously than their neighbours. Ramos fielded what was arguably his strongest side and it showed their dominance throughout the match.

Having said that, there was no lack of passion on display from either side and, all in all, it made for a cracking cup tie.

Ultimately Arsenal were exceptionally lucky to scrape a draw but at least Theo Walcott's double deflected goal sets up the second leg rather nicely.

And if that game lives up to the first, it may go a long way towards restoring everyone's faith in a cup which has been unfairly ridiculed in recent years.

sportscolumnnist@timesofmalta.com