Wrestling with the long-term argument

A year on the Wear:It is meant to be when a big game is won and lost that the senses are heightened. So considering it was a draw, no victors, no losers, the fall-out from last Saturday's Wear-Tyne derby has rumbled on all week quite defiantly. Maybe that says something about football in this area.

For Newcastle United it has been more uncomfortable than for Sunderland, which again is notable as Sunderland were at home and missed chance after chance to beat their great rivals on Wearside for the first time in 27 years.

One may have thought Roy Keane would have received the greater scrutiny of the two managers, and indeed there was much comment about Keane's most expensive signing, goalkeeper Craig Gordon. Yet it is Sam Allardyce who has been the subject of more criticism and rumour.

On the final whistle there were plenty of Sunderland fans heard muttering "the same old story" about their team's failure to kill off Newcastle, but there was an underlying acceptance that, Gordon aside, at least Sunderland had played well, as well as sometimes is possible in a fractious local derby.

As the week has gone on, in fact, Sunderland's display seems to have improved and Newcastle's got worse. It is one of those retrospective peculiarities that often occur in football. The reality may have been different.

Although the bottom line for Allardyce and every Newcastle fan was that they did not lose, once their performance had time to sink in, the view of their afternoon began to change. Some clung on to the argument - not invalid - that a team playing badly and not losing offers the hope that things might soon get better. Others saw Newcastle's inability to defend or attack coherently as part of a sequence of displays that do not bring much encouragement at all.

Thus, 12 Premier League games into his Newcastle career, there are question marks regarding Allardyce's future on Tyneside.

This will seem ridiculous to many observers - Allardyce's side are five places above Sunderland and have eight points more - and there are a number who think speculation is all a media invention. True, there are football reporters who are sometimes out there, as they say, on the extremes, but the bulk tend to reflect the everyday reality of any given situation.

Interpretation is often the crux. For example, how is one to read the post-match remarks of Newcastle chairman Chris Mort? "It was obviously another disappointing performance for all but 10 or 15 minutes in the second half," Mort began. "Fortunately, James Milner's goal saved us from what would have been a miserable international break. With the next three games being against Liverpool, Blackburn and Arsenal, we are about to have some stern tests of how much progress has been made."

You would not call that wishy-washy. If you were Allardyce, the use of "another" would not be reassuring, would it?

Not always aiding clear thought on Newcastle is that Allardyce was not appointed by Mort or his boss, the Newcastle owner Mike Ashley.

If the mood on Tyneside is excitable, partly because of that, on Wearside it is the opposite because Keane's position is so defined and entrenched.

The mere appointment of Keane, being a managerial virgin, was an expression of faith in the man. His contract is for three years - the same length as Allardyce's at Newcastle - but one reason Keane is more stable is because the job, the project, feels longer than that and his commitment to it feels that way too.

It is the old long-term, short-term argument that wrestles constantly - Mick McManus versus Giant Haystacks.

Newcastle dearly want some long-term stability, and Allardyce has talked of the need for five years, but know that short-term events can intrude, and rudely.

Sunderland, despite their position in the table, have a stronger sense of security, although the current hysteria in football means that can alter swiftly even with the presence of a man like Keane around.

The arrival of Derby County at the Stadium of Light in a fortnight will give Wearside differing scenarios at kick-off - Newcastle do not have a monopoly on anxious projection.

Aware of general flux, Keane said on Thursday: "I'm not under pressure here, but that might change, that's the way football is now - managers get sacked. When I took the job, I said it would take time to try to build something here. There is still a hell of a lot of work to do, but the fans appreciate the progress we've been making.

"It's good, from my point of view, that I have that support from Niall (Quinn) and the board. The successful clubs have stability, and I took the job here because I knew I would have that. I don't know how much time I will get, but it doesn't keep me up at night. That's the industry I work in. The people here understand football, and they know you need support to build something."

Keane recently cut short a reporter who was suggesting that a Sunderland player was justifying his fee by saying that two years, not a handful of matches, is the time to judge that. Allardyce would doubtless nod. It was a reminder that when defending some of Steve Staunton's younger players, Bobby Robson said it took him two years to acclimatise to international football.

If Keane and Allardyce offer a contrast this week, then longer-term, Keane and Robson provide a comparison. It took Robson two unglamorous seasons at St James' Park before he was established as manager.

But there was no rush to question him, Robson had the same bedrock of public and boardroom faith then that Keane has now. It is a vital cushion. Allardyce does not have the same level of protection. Yet no one ever denies that any manager needs time.