Newcastle players back Allardyce

Newcastle goalkeepers Shay Given and Steve Harper have come out in support of their manager Sam Allardyce.

The players have released a statement refuting claims that a string of experienced players complained to Allardyce following their heavy defeat to Liverpool.

Harper and Given, the club's longest-serving players, have taken the unusual step of releasing a statement on the club's official website giving their full backing to the former Bolton boss.

They said: "The story that has appeared is total and utter nonsense. Sam Allardyce has the full backing and support of every Newcastle United player and we are all working together as one to bring success to the football club."

Earlier Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce said his strong relationship with the club owner will see him ride-out recent poor results and unrest.

"I saw Mike Ashley after the game on Saturday, shook hands and had a good chat with him," he said.

"Players are not happy about a lot of the stuff I do because they're players and I'm the manager. I'm the man who knows what's right for them and I know it more than they do."

But the former Bolton boss admits he is "under the cosh" after watching his struggling team claim just a single point from their last five Barclays Premier League games.

And with Newcastle legend Alan Shearer recently suggesting he might be ready for a first taste of management, Allardyce knows that a potential replacement with overwhelming public support is ready and waiting.

"If Alan decides to take my job, I hope it'll be when I've decided to leave because I've made the club successful, but if it's the other way then you have to live with it."

Allardyce scoffed at any suggestion of his having lost control of the dressing room, insisting confrontation is a fact of life for a football manager.

"There's always something a player doesn't like. I just find it disappointing it ends up in the paper, but that's life," he said.

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