Brown urges patience over Allardyce

Newcastle supporters have been told to "take a reality check" by Sam Allardyce's former assistant Phil Brown.

Magpies manager Allardyce, who only took over at St James' Park in the summer is coming under increasing pressure from fans after a disappointing run of results.

But Hull boss Brown, who worked under Allardyce at Bolton, told BBC Radio Five Live: "The sooner all parties - including supporters, including the media - take a reality check (the better)."

He added "Newcastle have only won one trophy in the last 50 years. All of a sudden, a new man comes to the helm and everyone expects immediate success. It's ridiculous to expect it.

"Unless you get a £100million purse, as in Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, or a lot of money such as Sven-Goran Eriksson at Man City, I think it's ridiculous to expect immediate success."

Allardyce arrived at St James' Park with a reputation for playing less attractive football than that which the supporters usually demand.

But Brown insisted such a tag was unfair, pointing out the number of "world-class" players he brought to the Reebok Stadium.

"The list is endless of world-class players. Do you expect them to play long football?" Brown said, before urging the Newcastle board to back Allardyce in the January transfer window.

"He needs to get to the transfer window. He needs to bring in players that he wants to bring into the football club.

"The guy needs time. It's back to the old Sir Alex Ferguson adage where, three years into the job he was staring at the sack, 21 years later he's won everything."