Allardyce out /Southgate to take charge of England against Scotland
● Axed manager has made his country ‘the laughing stock of world football’ after his brief reign ends in humiliating fashion
Gareth Southgate will take charge of the England side which faces Scotland at Wembley in November following the departure of Sam Allardyce, pictured, “by mutual consent”.
Allardyce’s contract was terminated by the Football Association last night after he was targeted in a Daily Telegraph investigation into alleged corruption in English football.
Southgate, the England under-21 coach, will take the reins of the senior side for the next four games in an interim capacity.
First up for Southgate are the World Cup qualifiers against Malta and Slovenia next month.
England then host Scotland at Wembley on 11 November in a Group E clash before facing Spain in a friendly four days later.
Southgate is 6-4 favourite with william hill to land the job on a permanent basis.
And England fans would have thought it couldn’t get much worse after bowing out of Euro 2016 by losing to Iceland. That the 2-1 defeat which led to Roy Hodgson’s departure may have been something approaching a nadir.
Nope. Three months to the day after that embarrassment, with the news that Sam Allardyce has left because of some spectacularly boneheaded comments to strangers apparently offering massive wads of cash, England have plummeted out of the bottom of the barrel and gone hurling into what seems like a bottomless pit.
Back in the height of summer, following Hodgson’s meek exit, the Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn hinted that Gareth Southgate could be handed the England reins on an interim basis. Well, how prescient.
It is a shame that the Under-21 manager said at the time that he was not interested in the position, otherwise England supporters may have been spared the ignominy of the past three months. The vacuous tub-thumping by Allardyce. The flaccid performance during the only game that the former Sunderland manager took charge of. The ludicrous claim that Wayne Rooney could play where he likes.
Not long after Sunderland had given the FA permission to speak to Allardyce – 20 July to be precise – Glenn announced that it was the governing body’s hope that the new man must not be a “short-term mercenary’’. Call it old-fashioned, but going gaga when some so-called businessmen dangle £400,000 in your face for the small price of explaining how to circumvent a few rules is fairly far along the mercenary spectrum. Especially when you remember that Allardyce’s basic salary is £3 million a year.
Two days after Glenn’s insistence that the manager should be a steady hand, Big Sam was annointed, grinning ear to ear, promising he “will do everything I can to help England do well and give our nation the success our fans deserve”. He added: “Above all, we have to make the people and the whole country proud,” by which it is assumed he meant beating Slovakia unconvincingly before embarrassing himself in a Chinese restaurant.
The brief reign of Allarcyce as England manager is brought into focus given that his first squad was announced a mere 30 days ago. Heady days they were too, if your name was Michail Antonio or Danny Drinkwater.
A world away from the present omni-shambles which former skippers Alan Shearer and Rio Ferdinand claim has made England the laughing stock of world football.
I’m angry, I’m sad, I’m staggered at the misjudgment from a guy who openly admitted that it was his dream job,” Shearer told BBC Radio 5 Live. “I’m angry at the whole situation. I didn’t think England could stoop any lower from what happened in the summer in the Euros [losing] to Iceland. And now, here we are. We’re a laughing stock of world football. He wanted that job so badly, so to make such a huge error so early into the job, then you can’t look at anyone else but yourself.”
Ferdinand was similarly forthright in his assessment. “I think the rest of the foot- ball community around the world will just be laughing at us. It just feels like it’s become a comical event, the England manager’s role,” he said.
‘’This is the man who was probably the most vocal about getting the England job, the most passionate outwardly about getting the England job, but unfortunately he’s backed the FA into a corner and they’ve had to act because of his actions. Like we’ve said before, naivety seems to be the word that’s coming up more than anything and it’s just disappointing for English football more than anything.’’