ON 606, the assessments of Sam Allardyce seemed to follow a theme. ‘He’s a very good manager, but…’

Safe to say, no-one was backing Big Sam to be the next boss of Real Madrid.

It is hard to suggest that Allardyce should be managing one of the world’s top clubs, as the man himself infamously did last week, albeit slightly tongue in cheek.

But his record does at least suggest he should be attracting offers from elsewhere.

And yet his eight months at Newcastle, however unfairly, may have pigeon-holed him forever.

Just as Vinnie Jones must scratch his head at continually getting offered the role of the hard man in movies, Allardyce is viewed as the perfect man for the club with the shoestring budget but the wrong man for the club with higher expectations – in terms of results and the football that should be played.

That is how most view Allardyce and it may be no bad thing for Blackburn Rovers.

Had he never managed Newcastle, Allardyce might currently have been the boss of Aston Villa.

There would have been worse choices to replace Martin O’Neill.

But chairmen perhaps remember how things turned out at St James’ Park and think better of it.

So instead Villa opted for a 63-year-old Gerard Houllier.

El-Hadji Diouf may not be the most reliable judge on these kinds of things, but one suspects he may have views on who is the better manager. Ask Nicolas Anelka, too.

Allardyce will never be universally popular, and he rather opened himself up for criticism last week.

Robbie Savage voiced his disapproval, while one 606 caller comically insisted he disliked Sam because ‘he sits up there chewing his gum like he’s some kind of football godfather’.

Yet few can deny that Allardyce is a good manager. And Real Madrid did employ John Toshack. Twice.

If Sam really has ambitions to move to one of the top clubs one day, it seems the only way will be to follow the path taken by Toshack or Steve McClaren.

Move to Europe with a club like Real Sociedad or FC Twente, display an adaptable playing style and challenge for honours, then see what happens.

One suspects that the Bernabeu may be beyond him, though.

It would be better if Allardyce was content with managing Rovers for the rest of his career, since he is doing a fine job.

But the signs suggest that might not be the case.