I mean, seriously, can anybody get enthused or even remotely excited at the prospect of Fat Sam, or old tomato nose being the next England manager.? It doesn't get any more uninspiring than this!...
I don't have a problem with Sam getting the job. I believe he is far more tactically savvy than he is ever given credit for. I do like Steve Bruce as a bloke, in fact it is difficult to dislike him, but I do put Sam ahead of Steve in the managerial pecking order. What I will say though, is that Harry Redknapp's status in 2012 was considerably higher than Allardyce's is in 2016, which in my view makes the appointment of Hodgson over Harry look even more ridiculous now than it seemed at the time. My personal vote would have been for Harry as first choice, if not, then the excellent Eddie Howe, who I do believe is a future England manager in the making.
I think Sam will bring a dose of realism. We are not a top footballing nation. When was the last time we beat a top team in a meaningful game? We are still light years behind countries like Spain, France, Italy, Germany and the South American teams for skill and technical ability. We still have a system of youth development which makes of far easier for the big lad or the athlete to succeed. Every England manager takes on a team of moderate talents whose personal success has been achieved at club level because they have played alongside better players from overseas and have had all he advantages associated with big money clubs. We are a last 16 - at best Q-F - team in the natural order. But international football has changed over the past 10-15 years. So called lesser nations (like Iceland) have become competitive by being well coached. They are organised, disciplined, play to set tactics, play as a team over a prolonged period (which helps create team spirit and understanding) and are selected and coached in defined roles. There is continuity in all aspects of this. Sam can bring that to England. I'm sure he will quickly identify the best way to play to make England hard to beat. That's a starting point. I'm sure that he will also identify the players he wants to build his team around for the World Cup and stick with those players in a preferred set up - rather than chop and chop personnel and formations and bring in and drop players on a whim because somebody is in or out of form etc. That would be real progress.
I hope you're right, Luke, but I disagree. It all smacks of desperation from a bunch of clueless tossers!....
Great, we can schedule Dele Alli for neck surgery next season due to him watching all the hoofballs go overhead...
Hodgson was supposed to be the sophisticated choice. Broadsheet journos were falling over themselves to praise the selection when Roy got it, as if he was some great football philosopher that would solve everything by scratching his chin and pondering awhile. It was Roy's do-nothing approach that led us into a Euros looking at least a year of international football away from being prepared. Harry was the bloke down the pub's choice. Scaring off the FA with the possibility that he might tell it like it is and improve performances by motivating the players with archaic techniques like talking to the players, rather than the clearly superior spreadsheet presentations. I'd have liked to see England playing Howe's football but Allardyce is far an away a better selection, in my view. We need someone in there that's strong enough to lay down the law, not just to the players but the FA too and I'm not sure Eddie has the clout to do that at this stage of his career. I actually think he's arguably a better choice than Harry was in 2012. He's shown time after time that he can make a huge difference to a club's existing squad, regardless of how bad they appear. He also understands the quality that you can bring out of unfashionable players by simply setting out a balanced side with a clear purpose. I have very high hopes for Big Sam's England.
Redknapp missed out to Hodgson because of his off-field activities, in my opinion. That and his tendancy to be rather outspoken. Both of those are apply equally to Allardyce, who I fear is going to attract a lot of press attention.
I'm ok with Allardyce. He is a decent manager. He has sorted out every car crash club he has managed and got them playing effective football that is 'successful' relevant to their means and potential. That's what Team England is right now and he will improve matters. Personally, I picked Hoddle (preferably with Harry as side-kick). However, Sam is better than Roy, Cappello, McLaren, Sven and the usual bunch of losers we get. He'll do a decent job.
When Roy resigned I was I delighted, and being someone who believes that the England manager should be English Sam Allardyce was the only realistic choice with the FA always unlikely to return to Glenn. One thing for sure is that Sam will have a plan, I cannot imagine that in the last friendly before a tournament that Sam will be messing around trying a new formation with half the players played out of position. I think it is often overlooked just how good Sam's Bolton team was, they were hard to beat, well drilled and whilst they were sometimes economical in possession they were actually quite a good watch. Whilst we may may never be world beaters - we will also be no pushover all the time that Sam is in charge.
