Refs on attack against Sutton
Refs blow the whistle on BT Sport mouthpiece
BT SPORT have been told to muzzle Chris Sutton – if they want referees to co-operate with them.
Craig Thomson, branded a “bottler” by the pundit a fortnight ago, reacted by kicking off Celtic’s visit to McDiarmid Park last Saturday one minute early.
That left the broadcasters in a desperate scramble to fit the action into their advertising schedules.
BT called a meeting with the SFA on Friday. But the TV executives were told if they want future assistance, Sutton (right) and other and pundits will have to cut out personal criticisms of referees.
SAM ALLARDYCE admits that his new job will inevitably bring him into conflict with Jose Mourinho sooner or later.
The England boss selects a squad for the first time this evening and while he might steer clear of trouble with the Manchester United boss this time, Big Sam isn’t naive.
He’s been a Premier League manager for 14 years and knows that the priorities of international and club bosses can be very different.
“Jose and I have got on well,” says Allardyce. “But I’m not saying we won’t have a fall-out now and again because we’re both passionate about what we do.
“So there may be a time when it gets a little sticky, when he doesn’t agree with me or I don’t agree with him. Hopefully that’s miles away.”
Allardyce’s squad to face Slovakia in next Sunday’s World Cup qualifier will include several United stars.
Wayne Rooney is a given, but Luke Shaw is still feeling his way back after injury, Chris Smalling hasn’t been playing, neither has Marcus Rashford, which according to Allardyce is “a great shame.”
Mourinho has already marked Allardyce’s card. All charm on the surface but the message is clear.
“My relationship with Sam is very good,” he said. “He knows that any time he wants to call me, he calls me. Any time he wants to know about my players, he will know.
“For us, it is an honour that our players go to the national team.
“But I am not sure Luke is ready for an accumulation of matches at this moment.
“I am sure Sam has other good left-backs to choose. It’s up to him.”
Allardyce was not singling out Mourinho. He knows he might experience similar issues with Jurgen Klopp, Arsene Wenger or Mauricio Pochettino.
He’s wary that two years ago, Daniel Sturridge picked up a serious injury training with England and Liverpool were furious that Roy Hodgson hadn’t adhered to the player’s customised recovery plan.
For Allardyce, building trust with the clubs is a major priority
“We want to send a player back in as good a condition as when he arrives,” he says. “I think that’s one of my challenges. That builds confidence between us and the clubs.
“We’re borrowing their players for a short period and we’re going to look after them.
“We’ve invested in the staff at St George’s Park. All the heads across the different departments are fulltime. We’re communicating with all the clubs and hoping we can get as much information as possible.
“Obviously if a club chooses not to communicate with us, that’s their prerogative. But then they can’t really complain about what we do.
“We’ll try to get the broad basis of where the players are – he’s not played much, he’s played a lot, he’s in the middle – so our programme won’t be the same for everyone.
“If someone has a specific regime we’ll stick to it.
“I’ve been a club manager and there was slight trepidation when my players went off on international weeks, especially in the early years.
“Later it was great to get away, watch from afar and get some sunshine on my back!”
Allardyce spurned the chance of a Wembley friendly ahead of the trip to Trnava next weekend, partly because he was anxious to keep the clubs onside and partly because he didn’t want the distraction.
“The last thing the players needed was a friendly,” he says.
“The last thing I needed in my first get-together was to have to think about who to play at Wembley and then only have two days to prepare for Slovakia. It’s about being together, training and getting to know each other.”
Allardyce has had to formulate his squad after just three Premier League games while dealing with several, perhaps unexpected, situations surrounding senior players – Joe Hart being axed from by Pep Guardiola, the John Terry issue resurfacing, the Rooney captaincy, James Milner’s retirement.
He is buoyed, though, by the thought of working with two of the younger squad members – Eric Dier, arguably the single success at Euro 2016 and John Stones, who didn’t kick a ball in France.
“Eric Dier? What a player, eh?” are Allardyce’s first words at the mention of the Spurs midfielder.
“He looks very comfortable in that sitting midfield position. There aren’t too many English players who play that role.
“When I was at Bolton, I had Ivan Campo and Fernando Hierro, who’d
We want to send a player back in as good a condition as he arrives in
also been centre-backs.
“Eric was right-back or centrehalf then Mauricio switched him to the sitting midfield role. He seems to have mastered it very, very well.
“It’s made him a better player. He probably wouldn’t want to go back to defence.
“At Tottenham he’s the link. The ball moves forward through him. When out of possession he keeps pressure off the back four with his reading of the game.
“People might suggest that Stones isn’t my type of centreback but that’s not strictly true.
“When I played at Bolton, I played with Paul Jones, who was quite similar to John.
“He could come out the back, coast, change gears. Good partnerships are very important.
“With Stones the mistakes have been highlighted and seem to have knocked him back a bit.
“England lost their opportunity to go farther in France because of our mistakes, not the opposition’s brilliant football.
“So you have to make sure you make fewer mistakes at international level than at Premier League level.
“Everyone gives the ball away but if the mistake costs a goal, it’s a problem. As he gets more experienced he’ll learn when it’s too dangerous to hold on to the ball and when it’s right to come up and play.
“We’ll see how well he handles the challenge of the £47m fee at such a young age, but I don’t intend to change him that much.”
Allardyce reveals that although Milner has stepped down from international duty, the door is not completely closed.
“James told me he can’t keep traipsing all over Europe and not playing,” he says. “But he stressed that he’ll always be there if there’s a crisis and that’s great from my point of view.”