SAM ALLARDYCE
England candidate has what it takes
THE last time Sam Allardyce was interviewed for the England job, he was unable to give his prepared PowerPoint presentation.
The FA didn’t have the right technical equipment.
Times have changed. At their state-of-theart St George’s Park HQ, there are now computers, laptops, tablets and wi-fi connections in every room.
The one thing FA Technical Director Dan Ashworth and his team have in abundance is modern technology. What they don’t have is a football manager.
Allardyce last interviewed for the job in 2006 when Sven Goran Eriksson left.
At the time Big Sam was managing Bolton Wanderers. Not a very glamorous position — though more glamorous than it is these days!
Allardyce had made the Lancashire club a mid-ranking Premier League outfit. Their football was pigeon-holed as “long-ball”, though it actually wasn’t.
It was organised, disciplined and exuded team spirit. It was also based on technology.
Allardyce was one of the first managers to embrace computerised analytic programmes that these days the FA themselves set such store by.
Back in 2006, it was deemed that Allardyce wasn’t “sexy” enough to manage England.
He would be a retrograde step, it was said. England needed to look to the tiki-taki academies of Spain, not to a manager whose public persona was grit and determination.
Steve McClaren, who had a reputation as a modern, innovative coach, got the job – and was a disaster.
The FA were then seduced by Fabio Capello’s reputation. He fitted in with the governing body’s high opinion of themselves, and of the status of English international football. Another failure! Roy Hodgson was earnest and solid, but in his three tournaments, his performance level went from mediocre, to poor, to downright abysmal.
So back to Big Sam, who met Ashworth, FA Chief Executive Martin Glenn and ViceChairman David Gill last week.
Since his previous interview, Allardyce has managed Newcastle United, Blackburn Rovers, West Ham and Sunderland, mostly in the Premier League.
He’s not won much, just the Championship Play-Off Final with the Hammers, but he saved the Black Cats from relegation last season and his value to Newcastle, Blackburn and Bolton has been witnessed by what happened to them after he left.
But if the FA want to go English – and that’s their preference – then Allardyce tops a very short list of credible candidates.
He was one of just three Englishmen operating in the top flight last season. Eddie Howe and Alan Pardew were the others.
It could well be that the characteristics that put the FA off Allardyce in the past are now the very characteristics that make him appealing.
Everyone saw what Portugal, Iceland and Wales did in the Euros. They made the most of limited resources by putting in place a strong team ethic, a distinctive playing method, a huge collective desire and, above all, a sense that the coach knew what he was doing.
All those phrases have applied to Allardyce throughout his 956 matches as a club manager.
No England boss in recent times has been able to harness the individual talent available and produce a true team.
England have failed at tournaments, not through lack of talent but lack of organisation and mental strength.
Allardyce has a reputation as a fire-fighter, coming into clubs in crisis and saving them.
In terms of competition football, England are in crisis. They’ve won just four of their last 18 tournament matches. That’s relegation form. That’s Allardyce territory.
There is a legitimate concern that Big Sam needed a long time to get the message across at Sunderland and they only just scraped to safety.
He was on the training field drilling his players day after day and was able to replace those not up to the job in the transfer market.
He won’t have either luxury with England. He’d get a couple of days before most international games and obviously would have to make do with players of a single nationality.
Yet the coaches of Portugal, Iceland and Wales managed just that very nicely at the Euros in France.
The three wise men making the decision will also have to factor in the FA’s vision of an England DNA – a distinctive way of playing common to its representative teams throughout the age levels.
It would be stupid to appoint Allardyce, then order him to play like Gareth Southgate’s Under-21s or Aidy Boothroyd’s Under-19s.
Despite England punching below their weight for at least 20 years, some still argue that such a huge international job deserves a huge international name.
Those people should get over themselves. England are no more a big country than Newcastle United are a big club. In theory maybe, but the trophies say different.
Right now, England would be lucky to get Big Sam.