Sam Allardyce’s appointment at Newcastle United will be confirmed at a specially convened board meeting today, but as well as hiring a new manager, the club are eager to bring structure to a traditionally febrile organisation. Allardyce is set to return to Bolton Wanderers, his former employers, in an attempt to bring key members of his erstwhile coaching set-up to Tyneside.

Bolton have acted to secure the future of Mike Forde by offering their innovative performance director an improved contract and the newly created position of general manager, but Allardyce is determine to move for the man he took to the Reebok Stadium eight years ago. During that time, Forde has kept Bolton at the forefront of technological developments by studying the working methods of other sports.

Visits to NBA and NFL franchises in the United States and talks with experts in tennis and rugby – as well as exchanging ideas with Saatchi and Saatchi, the leading advertising agency, in New York – were regarded as pivotal to Bolton’s ability to punch above their weight in the Barclays Premiership. In total, Allardyce worked with 21 members of staff at Bolton, of whom he also wishes to sign Mark Taylor, the head of sports science and medicine. Nigel Pearson, Lee Clark and Terry McDermott, Newcastle’s present coaching team, are likely to remain in their posts for the time being.

“Building the infrastructure was always the most important thing,” Allardyce said yesterday of his spell at Bolton. “It has taught me that, wherever I go, it becomes the essential thing to do, to organise a group who are qualified in what they do, give them the responsibility to do it with me overseeing it, then delivering it to the players in order to make them better and enjoy playing football more than they have anywhere else.”

It is a quality Newcastle – with their history of figurehead managers and high-profile players – have lacked; stability, as well as success, is craved. It was something Glenn Roeder, the former manager, always recognised, but it can be argued that he did not possess the charisma to enthuse his underachieving squad.

Allardyce should not suffer the same disadvantage, although some Newcastle supporters may view his hopes of signing the trouble-prone Joey Barton from Manchester City with dismay. Indiscipline has long been an issue on Tyneside and Barton’s reputation precedes him.

Whatever else, Allardyce’s four-year contract, worth about £3 million a season, will come with high expectations and, according to reports, a £20 million transfer kitty. “The first job for the new manager is to get Newcastle back into the top six in the Premiership and to make sure that the club is playing regularly in Europe,” Freddy Shepherd, the chairman, said.

“Where we are in the Premier League this season [13th] simply isn’t acceptable to either me or the fans. This managerial change is about re-establishing Newcastle United as a formidable power both in the Premiership and Europe. Sam Allardyce knows that a club with Newcastle’s support, resources and wage bill must be challenging at the top end of the table.”