Sam Allardyce is a victim not only of his own mistakes but the impatient nature of modern football and a lack of success at Newcastle United that goes back decades. Their fans may be passionate, but they are among the most ferocious and difficult to win over. The level of abuse from the stands for a team in mid-table that, realistically, can aim only for fifth or sixth place is ridiculous.

Fans always say that they love their club, but often have a strange way of showing it. They are partly to blame for today’s boom-and-bust culture, partly responsible for the pressure that managers such as Allardyce are under after only a few matches. These days at wobbling clubs it is a mass of power struggles between board, manager, players and fans. Usually, everyone loses.

Ranting supporters encourage a negative atmosphere, while others grow indifferent and stop turning up, forcing the board to act because it fears a loss of revenue. Newcastle could lose 10,000 fans next season if this campaign is bad and that worry could make the board sack Allardyce, even if they feel that it would be premature.

Allardyce was up against it from the start because of his reputation for direct football. Newcastle fans want flair. It is wrong to say that Allardyce does not know what he is doing, but the personnel do not fit the plan and the manager has found it difficult to implement the methods that worked so well at his previous club.

To play like Bolton Wanderers, a team need forwards who work their socks off, a tenacious midfield and a tight defence. Newcastle do not have enough in the first two categories and are well short at the back as we saw against Arsenal last night when they conceded a careless goal early on.

At Bolton, Allardyce signed hungry men, who wanted to make a point. That burning desire is lacking at St James’ Park. The club have a lot to prove, but that does not seem to motivate the squad.

Up front, Mark Viduka does not roll up his sleeves. Behind him, Joey Barton has that “in your face” determination, but Nicky Butt cannot get around the pitch as he used to. The defence is a disaster, but it is a monster of Allardyce’s making. He signed Claudio Cacapa, Habib Beye and David Rozenhal from France and José Enrique from Spain; only Beye looks up to it. Cacapa and Rozenhal just cannot defend well enough. Rozenhal is a tin man – he is lightweight.

Any manager will struggle when most of his key signings do not work out. Allardyce made a few poor ones at Bolton but earned the reputation as a master risk-taker in the transfer market. Because of the success of players such as Iván Campo, El-Hadji Diouf, Youri Djorkaeff and Jay-Jay Okocha, we forget Mario Jardel and Jared Borghetti.

Viduka is the most frustrating player I have watched. So much talent, so little effort. I have heard that on the training pitch at Middlesbrough, his previous club, he resembled the Michelin Man, wrapping himself in multiple layers, more interested in trying to keep warm than in improving his game. He was great at Middlesbrough last season – when he was coming to the end of his contract.

Working as a pundit, Allardyce once criticised Michael Owen and I suspect that their relationship will never be close. That is a problem because Owen is the most important player at the club. With his massive salary and reputation, Owen, like Alan Shearer before him, is in a more secure position than the manager. When he is fit, Owen has to play – but does he work up front with Obafemi Martins, who does not deserve to be dropped? It is one of many selection problems for Allardyce that must make it hard for him to form a deep bond with the squad. There may not be resentment or dislike – as was claimed, then denied – but there is not enough positive feeling.

A team cannot feel confident when they think they are going to concede a couple of goals every game. So the temptation for a manager in a weak situation is to overload the defence and midfield. Allardyce deserves credit for resisting that impulse – Newcastle were ambitious last night, pressing tenaciously, taking their cue from the way Aston Villa played against Arsenal in the second half last Saturday.

Managers always call for time – Allardyce deserves some – but for a club with a huge fan base, reputation and budget, Newcastle should be in the top six. I can see results improving under Allardyce, but not enough to satisfy the support or the board. No matter the nature of a club’s problems, the manager is always held accountable – and sacrificed.