SAM ALLARDYCEÂ’S career was flying high as he circled St JamesÂ’ Park in a helicopter the day he became Newcastle boss.
But anyone who reckons Big Sam has crashed and burned just eight months on should think again.
Allardyce has vowed to show Newcastle they were wrong to sack him so hastily.
He told me: “I want to be a manager again, I’m addicted to it. I’ve not done my time anyway.
“I said in the past I could pack in at around 55 but I’m only 53 and I might revise the timescale if the right offer comes along.
“When I do a job I’m fully committed and I know what works. I believe it would have worked at Newcastle.
“There’s been no edge taken off the belief I have in myself. There’s no need to doubt my abilities.
“Things like this make you stronger and more determined to prove people wrong.
“I’ve had loads of brilliant text messages from friends and other managers all over the country.
“Football has a way like that, the community rallies round you. When somebody loses their job others show compassion.
“There was pressure at Newcastle but I expected that. I don’t feel any sense of relief now it’s gone.”
I was there on May 15, accompanying Allardyce on that flight to Newcastle for his first day in charge.
And I remember him looking down at the famous 52,000-seater stadium below as he asked the pilot to make a sweep of the ground so he could drink it all in.
Allardyce had worked hard for that moment. He had put in the years at Preston, Limerick, Blackpool, Notts County and Bolton to earn his black and white stripes.
He knew he was taking on a big job, he knew the fans expected miracles and knew he needed time to give them what they wanted.
But time was something he never got and yesterday I shared Big SamÂ’s despair as he spoke of his frustration at not getting a chance to succeed on Tyneside.
Allardyce knows he is a good manager, it is the near universal opinion of observers in the game.
Yet almost immediately Mike Ashley completed his takeover — weeks after Allardyce accepted the job from previous chairman Freddy Shepherd — stories emerged that Big Sam may not be staying long.
He led Newcastle to their best Premier League start in 10 years but as soon as he lost a couple at home to Portsmouth and Liverpool the pressure started.
But Big Sam always believed he would survive.
As player and manager he experienced the school of hard knocks, knew how to get through — and pass with A-stars at the end.
That faith was not shared by Ashley and Allardyce is now preparing to pack up with wife Lynne and get out of Toon.
First stop is a holiday to recharge the batteries, then he will consider his options. They will be queueing round the block to give Allardyce a job — starting with the Irish FA. Newcastle’s loss will be someone else’s gain.
Allardyce said: “It’s hard to say what I’ll do. When you’re as shocked as I am at the moment you can’t be sure what the future will bring.
“You need a clear focus and I need to get away for two or three weeks.
“Part of me says I should resist jumping back in too quickly but saying that, it depends what sort of club might want you.
“I thought I’d have a rest after leaving Bolton but Newcastle came in and you can’t say, ‘Hang on, come back in six months’ because the game doesn’t work like that. When the opportunities arise you have to take them.
"I donÂ’t feel scarred as I donÂ’t think itÂ’s my fault. I donÂ’t feel itÂ’s damaged me or the reputation IÂ’ve built up as a manager over the last 16 years.
“I said it would take three to five years to build a club of this size up.
“But to go through your career as a football manager and not get sacked is virtually impossible nowadays.
“Nobody has any time, everything has to be instant. Plenty of managers have been sacked and gone on to do well. It’s part of football life that these things happen. It’s high risk.
“I wouldn’t say I had more of a hard time from the supporters than any other previous Newcastle managers did.
"Yes the fans get frustrated on occasions. They are how they are. Kenny Dalglish and Graeme Souness got it the same. But criticism of our style of play was rubbish. Our long ball was ArsenalÂ’s long pass.
“It’s been a label stuck on me since Bolton through the jealousy of other managers I’ve beaten.
“At Newcastle we produced the best football with the personnel available.
“Even when we lost at home to Manchester City most people accepted we were the better side but we had to get results.
“I’ll be back, although jobs are harder to come by for us English managers. We are going out of fashion in this country which makes life very difficult. And we’re not in fashion at all abroad.
"I know what IÂ’m good at. I know how to structure a club and get the best out of players, the team and backroom staff.
“I get enjoyment from building something, watching it develop.
“My career may not be lined with trophies but it’s full of successes — from when I ran the Preston youth team and we won the league to Bolton being promoted to the Premier League, reaching an FA Cup semi-final, Carling Cup final and Europe.
“You know you’re good at what you do when you’ve done all that for so many clubs who were neither the most fashionable nor had the most money.
“There’s plenty of football life left in me. When I retire from the game I want to do it on my terms — not someone else’s.”