Sam Allardyce

The former Newcastle United manager Sam Allardyce admitted yesterday that he is still resentful over his departure from the club and does not feel he was given a fair chance.

Allardyce parted company with the Magpies in January after eight months following a poor start to the season. But Allardyce, who was appointed by former chairman Freddy Shepherd before last summer's takeover, claims he was not given the backing he had been expecting.

"I am smarting," Allardyce said, working as a pundit for Sky Sports at the Newcastle game yesterday.

"I think that for me [given] the timing, and the few games I had, it was a massive shock when they said they were going to make a change. At the start of the season we had a short window with the new owners to work with. We had not as much money as I expected. I didn't really come for that – I came to spend big money, which is what Freddy did – he was obviously the man that employed me."

"I explained that to the new owners and said somewhere down the line we'd get a bit of stick, and they haven't been able to withstand that by the looks of it. I'm a casualty of that.

He continued: "I don't think in any way, looking back, any of that was my fault. At the time I considered myself to have a chance but since I've left, things have been said that I was never their man."

Allardyce firmly believes he could have proved a successful Newcastle manager had the circumstances been different. The 53-year-old is proud of his managerial record with clubs such as Blackpool, Notts County and particularly Bolton Wanderers, and hopes his ill-fated spell at St James' Park has not tarnished that.

"You make the right decisions by your own track record," he said. "I think I've made the right decisions over the last 16 years by the clubs I've been at, building my reputation.

"That's the disappointing thing for me. I hope it hasn't damaged my reputation."