By Tim Parsons-
The sacking shame of England boss, Sam Allardyce, is a big lesson for all to learn. Allardyce, who had insisted he could succeed where so many others had failed , lost his job just after 67 days of his appointment as manager.
Considering this was a job he considered his ‘dream job”, he should have had more sense.
After just one international match in which England was victorious, he has had to kiss his dream job goodbye, because he fell for a media sting. ”Entrapment has won”, he said, as he reflected on his embarrassing dismissal
Allardyce’s future was thrown into doubt on Monday night when the Telegraph published the results of an undercover investigation that showed him negotiating a fee of £400,000 to represent an overseas firm hoping to profit from Premier League transfers before he had even named his first squad.
After FA chief executive, Martin Glenn, and the newly appointed chairman, Greg Clarke, arrived at Wembley for a series of crisis meetings, the England boss knew the end has come so painfully early. Allardyce had agreed to quit by “mutual consent”, and will be replaced for the next four matches, against Malta, Slovenia, Scotland and Spain, by under 21 managers, Gareth Southgate.
His greed was his greatest enemy, and he said a number of things in the taped conversations that the FA felt it had to act upon. Allardyce sacking shame is a big stain he will never forget, this is just the beginning of the pain he will feel.
The most discrediting of all was Allardyce advice on how to “get around” the FA’s own regulations on third-party ownership, and his condescending comments about his predecessor, Roy Hodgson’s speech impediment. Unwise Allardyce said that assistant Gary Neville should “sit down and shut up”, and criticised the FA’s “stupid” -Wembley redevelopment.
His advice on how to circumvent the FA’s own transfer regulations was irreversible in consequence, one even the smartest of FA bosses could not have got round. Especially, not in a week in which the F.A is likely to be forced to announce investigations into other elements of the Telegraph’s revelations.
“Allardyce’s conduct, as reported today, was inappropriate of the England manager. He accepts he made a significant error of judgment and has apologised,” the FA said in a statement.
“However, due to the serious nature of his actions, the FA and Allardyce have mutually agreed to terminate his contract with immediate effect. This is not a decision that was taken lightly, but the FA’s priority is to protect the wider interests of the game and maintain the highest standards of conduct in football. The manager of the England men’s senior team is a position which must demonstrate strong leadership and show respect for the integrity of the game at all times.”
Allardyce said he was “deeply disappointed” after offering a “sincere and wholehearted apology” for his actions.
Considering a number of his predecessors have been booted out in a similar fashion, he should have .been smarter than to make such dishonourable comments to people he did not know. The 61-year-old fallen manager had claimed to be honoured in July and promised to bring back real quality to the team.
A £3m-a-year contract, plus bonuses at his feet, Allardyce had said he had fulfilled his lifetime’s ambition by taking over as England manager. Now, he has the shortest managerial reign for a permanent appointee as a national manager. How a whole England manager can be teaching someone to bend the rules of the game, with all the scandals that have recently engulfed the sport, is unthinkable.
The FA said it had turned to Allardyce following a “comprehensive and structured” process led by Glenn but also including vice-chairman, David Gill, and technical director, Dan Ashworth. Clarke, the former Football League chairman who took the same role at the FA in August, was not involved in the decision to appoint Allardyce and was believed to take a particularly dim view of the revelations.
If Southgate impresses he could take the job on a permanent basis, with the FA keen to develop more of a co-ordinated approach across its teams.