Thetownend.com

Now that clueless twat will go who do people want for the new manager?

I don't think we've ever been in a situation where there are so few options. Personally I would go for Eddie Howe and just give him 6 years to gel a young squad together

Who would want to do it..

What's Sven up to?

Chris coleman

Doesn't matter who it is, a new philosophy is needed to give us a small chance, but it wont happen.

Hodgson gone.

Got a feeling Eddie Howe might fit the f.a. bill

Makes no odds, we need a complete grass roots ravaging (which won't happen), the next 10 years are a write off, as were the ones before it.

 Cameron Corbyn or Lord Hill of Oareford. Woy for leader of the Labour Party.

My ideal candidate at the moment is somewhere between Malcolm Tucker and a mildly starved Roy Keane.

Actually, can we give it to Pardew?  At least then the loathing towards the England Manager will be well deserved.

Credit has to be given to Hodgson in some respects.  He did pick players for squads that would have been overlooked by previous managers, I did like that about him.  It has to be said though that he didn't really know what to do with them once he did pick them.

This was a squad which should be more than capable and in recent performances have looked like a squad that genuinely wanted to work hard for each other.  Unfortunately Roy has let his nervous persona take over the mentality of the squad and we played the part perfectly as far as Iceland are concerned.

I really couldn't care less.

You should, there's some talk of Gareth Southgate... Rob T's Pardew, is a shout, it would be so much easier to dislike.

Shame Forest Green are paying so much money or Cooper could have taken it on.

Time to do some reverse thinking. I propose Barry Chuckle. At least we'd be good at 1-2's

Mike Bassett  :hmmm:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4x05Z3MSkQ

Hmm, now you mention it, Neil Warnock is out of work.

What about Jamie?

(https://media.giphy.com/media/74ewbHRPuStFe/giphy.gif)

One of the best lines in the whole series!!  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick: :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

It will be an unexciting yes man, the FA bottle it, they did it with Clough, Redknapp, even with Hoddle in the end.

Look at the England Team at Rugby, didnt even get out the group in a World cup in which we hosted, the RFU had the forsight to appoint a man who has a winning mentality, 10 months down the line, 1 grand slam and a white wash down under. Can we see the FA making the same decision?? The answer is no.

You mean Gareth Southgate isn't a bit like Eddie Jones?

Steve Evans

Let's not put Redknapp and Clough together, Redknapp won one FA cup in thirty fucking years and he bankrupted his club to do it.

There is some validity in the Eddie Jones comparison but fuck knows who the equivalent candidate would be.

Yeah, but he gives great quotes leaning out of his car window though so the media love him. The Boris Johnson of football

The perfect candidate to lead us out of Euro 2020 then?

Would his dog be allowed on the coaching staff?

Fabio Capello had an impressive winning CV in management, made fuck all difference....

Listening to Jones before the weekend....he was asked who he'd like to praise for England going 2-0 up.  "Praise", he said, "not sure about that, praise makes them weak"

Capello was a bit like that....hence the austerity in South Africa, where we were probably worse than this campaign.

Egg chasing is a bit different....the national side is by far the pinnacle of the sport, for our football lot it isn't.

I hope Hoddle gets it.

If not, I'm ready.

Jose Mourinho.

They should be begging hoddle to take the job. We've tired the foreign route which didn't work. I don't think anything will work but hey ho. I still think hoddle is the best candidate and most realistic one for the job.

Not managed for 10 years now. Would have thought he's done with management after that length of time.

Southgate seems a show in anyway.  Jose wouldn't touch it with a bargepole.  Hoddle would be too big a risk for the FA and while speaking some sense yesterday seems a bit hit and miss even as a panelist these days.

It won't happen but i would be busting a bollock to offer the job to Slaven Bilic

Tis a shame, we really need another loser and somebody who can blame everybody else!

I'm serious about an Allardyce/Pulis type. The last 2 tournaments we've been very much like a relegation outfit, bereft of any confidence. We need to get back to te basicsa of being organised and hard to beat, even if it is ugly.

The country along with Wales has opted for siege mentality.....so the time is right.

Why stop there? Why not just roll right back to the 70s? Kick and rush and lump it forward to the big man? Jumpers for goalposts, marvellous

You joke about lumping it to the big man, but Andy Carroll (or similar) is a dynamic we could have done with this tournament.

Sean Dyce? The modern day Allardyce/Pulis type

Good shout.

I'd have no problem with him but I can imagine the general reaction to an appointment like that

Time for Arsene to leave the Arse and take over, the FA love him, a lot of Arse fans no longer love him, time is right but would he take it with the extra pressure of the media? I doubt it.

He'd be a great choice

Time might have been right 10 years ago but now? Time to look forward, not back to retro retreads (Hoddle, Pulis, Wenger).

I think an appointment of Southgate would be a very backwards and uninspiring choice, so the FA will prob go with this option.

We need someone who is going to come in, and literally take the job by the neck, shake it up, get some direction and a clear plan on how to play, how to defend, how to pass the ball more then 5 meters, the importance of movement without the ball, work rate, who takes no bullshit egos.

Similar to what Di Canio did when he came here, now im not suggesting Di Canio, but someone of that ilk, just without the odd moments of temper.

So you want a psycho with no real idea about management other than buying dozens of players until eventually something sticks in a job with no opportunity to "buy in"? And who's idea of man management is just abject terror? Great.

Why not?? because the politician type has worked so well? What ever works to get results or at least competitive it doesnt matter, a positive approach of going into games expecting a win, not going into games with a written resignation in your pocket

Doesn't matter who gets the job really does it?
Unless you change the mindset and way players are treated in this country(which aint gonna happen) the best manager in the world, whoever that is would fail in the England job.

Takes a bit more than just a positive approach though. Some ability to select a player and some man management savvy for one thing. A Di Canio type might be an idea if we're looking to put together an international squad made up of League 2 players competing against other similar standard squads and he has twice the available budget. Otherwise you're just floundering

We need to recalibrate what is acceptable...the FA said that last 8 and a heroic failure to a major country would have seen Woy ok for a new contract.  Perhaps that needs downgrading to getting to the tournament and getting out of the group as acceptable....after all England have never won a ko game in the Euros outside of England. Which is why I suspected we wouldn't see off the Icelanders.

When I say a Di Canio type, Im not talking about Di Canio, he had his flaws, but its the enthusiasm, the balls on the line attitude, do or die mentality, we are a 2nd tier nation in world football, go with the mindset. Of course have some football knowledge with tactics, systems, otherwise we will end up with a Keegan type.

The FA have the money to entice anyone they want, but it will be a safe option, and thats just frustrating, because its just not working

I understood what you meant and you are right.

Southgate is pretty uninspiring imo. Miniature Roy in personality if memory serves me.

tbf, he's the only England manager to have won anything lately. Albeit at U21s level, but it's more than anyone else has managed. He doesn't inspire me much either, but then neither you nor I are likely to be playing for England in the near future, it's more about whether he inspires the players.

Egil 'Drillo' Olsen is unemployed, I'm sure everyone would love a Geography nerd communist as coach of England

Scratch what I said about hoddle, this is now my dream

Glenn has been out of the management game for too long and has lost the plot....his line last night that England couldn't defend a long throw because the Prem is so sophisticated, and so the players haven't seen it for 30 years, proves it.

Do you have a fetish for rolled down wellies Ells?  The Olsen trade mark.

Southgate nailed on...FA yes man..

Momentum for hoddle is growing. Cut to 8/1 tonight.

I hope its Eddie Howe, because when he fails (which he ultimately will) the media can stop with this bollocks about him being the next messiah

I'd go for someone like Klinsmann and an assistant such as Howe/Dyche.

I don't think Howe or Dyche would leave the PL (spit) for an assistant gig.

I know we're all only speculating, but it does seem a bit harsh to criticise the FA for not employing someone who doesn't exist. I mean this guy who inspires passion and drive, lives and breathes football, has a winning mentality and isn't a mentalist.. Who is that? You sort of have to pick someone who wants the job, and isn't just a list of ideal characteristics. You can criticise them for going for the "safe option", sure, but let's not do a thisis-style "why didn't we pick the guy who had all the attributes we want" cos all the candidates - like the managers we've had - have flaws. England are no more likely to attract a man with the aforementioned criteria than we are to come under the ownership of one of the super rich, super loyal Swindon fans that are apparently queueing up to take us over.

Also, as pauld intimated, whether Southgate inspires or excites us is relatively immaterial. His job is to inspire the players, and there's no way to know whether he's capable doing that without being one of them. There are a multitude of reasons why an otherwise adept player plays like shit, and I'm pleased to see after last night most of the "it's because they don't care" crowd are quieter than they have been previously. Except Waddle, who said its cos they listen to headphones, or something. I'm still trying to get my head around that level of straw clutching.

Maybe England were just beaten by an excellent side with an incredible work ethic who made them look poor on the night.

Will be very interesting to see how the French get on against them.

I have no expertise in this at all.  Until Monday I thought Roy had done not a bad job since the World Cup....we actually saw an England team that could pass the ball, could move pretty quickly up the field, and who knew where the goal was (even if they missed it rather too much!!!).  But Monday was appalling, and I don't understand why.  There is skill throughout the team, but it went to pieces, led by Rooney who was worse than I have ever seen him before, and Hart who seemd to be totally lacking in confidence.

My view is that someone like Bilic or Mark Hughes or Howe (not them necessarily) but someone who has wrestled with a middle of the road PL team and got them playing better than by rights they should, and who still allows English players into the first team....and who makes no assumptions that somehow England has a right to be at the top table.  It needs long and hard  work and tough decisions...like Rooney out.....and a willingness to face down both the FA and the PL managers.

I don't think it helps that we don't have enough proper competitive international games.
The qualifying and then group stages are so heavily seeded in favour of the big nations we get through by default. Then the competitive games come and we lose

It's the same for everyone.

Don't worry the FA CEO, Martin Glenn has admitted "I'm no football expert" It's alright though he's going to have a chat with the Garys Neville and Lineker, to get some advice.

The last 9 months haven't been a good time for Neville snr.  However I will credit the fella for giving it a go, the pundits who finishing playing and then pontificate, their opinion carries little more weight for me than a bloke in a pub.

The cowardice in not dropping shit performers upset me.

All this bollocks about 'lacking confidence' ref Sterling etc....This is England Senior squad in a Tournament, not a fucking counselling event. Not up to it? Not up for it? Fuck off.....Sterling should of been left out after Russia and Wilshire shouldn't of even gone.

Fortune favours the brave in this instance.

Jamie Carragher nailed it.

They're soft. They're cossetted 24 hours a day with their agents acting like surrogate mothers.

They have a feeling of entitlement, never having to think for themselves, anything goes wrong it's always somebody elses fault.

In essence, they have no personal backbone.

Totally agree with that.pundits have no credibility with me im afraid especially lineker who has never had to make a management decision in his life.i literally know more about managing a football team than him.

Tbf to the boy Line acre, he has made himself into a decent TV link man. Now if you wanted some advice on that subject, I could see why you might go to him, but football management....nah.

Ah yes, Jamie Carragher - the man who retired from international football twice because he couldn't get in the team.

Garuff doesn't want it.
http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36669137

That's a pretty damning way to talk about people you've presumably never met and have no personal experience of beyond contractually obligated soundbites at the end of matches.

Carragher said this in his autobiography:

"I confess: defeats wearing an England shirt never hurt me in the same way as losing with my club. I wasn't caring or indifferent, I simply didn't put England's fortunes at the top of my priority list.

"Losing felt like a disappointment rather than a calamity. I was never in love with playing for England in the first place. By the time I stopped I felt a huge weight lifting."

I wonder how many of the current squad hold similar sentiments. I suspect too many

Appointed tomorrow then

Maybe a case of people most hate in others what they hate in themselves?

Just reactionary anger I think. Kind of like an elaboration of "useless fucking twats" but seemingly more cerebral

Just quoting Carragher, who presumably knows how these things work, the bubble the players are in.

Seems a good enough explanation of why an entire team disintegrated en masse at the same time.

So Gareth Southgate doesn't fancy it then, and who can blame him? 

Arsene Wenger and his fellow countryman, Larry White, now seem to be in the spotlight.  Oh, how Reg would love that!  ;D

Would be a headline writer's dream, though, eg  "Wen are we going to get it right?", "England forwards still firing blancs", etc.

To be fair hasn't he played with half of them.

90%?

Which is probably about the same % as fans who prefer club success over international success, myself included

I saw Laurent Blanc was named on some FB thing. Are we likely to go down the foreign route again after Capello and Sven?

We need a manager who can galvanise a team, the last in my opinion being el Tel. Keegan tried but was tactically inept, Glenn was tactically astute but lacking in empathy for those who didn't share his values, which included at the time the faith non-healing Eileen Drury. Eddie Howe would get my vote as the best English prospect, supported by Alan Shearer. Otherwise it's down the foreign manager route again and probably Mr Wenger.

I'd support Howe - if only for the possibility it may fuck up Muff.

I'm a hateful old Hector.

I stuck a tenner on Allardyce at 8/1 a couple of days after we went out. Think it's his time and could be exactly what those players need

If the Hun get rid of their manager we could do a lot worse

Not to be sniffed at    :-[

Apparently Roberto Mancini has expressed an interest....I'd rather have Allardyce

Just read that Bielsa has quit the Lazio job after 2 days....now that would be fun if next England boss  :)

Apparently being interviewed this week.

I'm all for it, what this tournament has shown again, is that being fairly average, but with  good organisation and teamwork can carry you a long way.

We couldn't even sort out corners and free kicks. Now I'm not suggesting we'll win under Allardyce, I would just like to see a level of basic competence return.

I am not really bothered who it is to be honest, if we cannot manage basic passing and controlling of a football as against Iceland (and that isn't really the responsibility of the England Manager) we may as well give up and go home.

That's pretty much exactly what we did, tbf

Surely though, such a complete disintegration is the reponsibilty of the manager and coaching staff.  

I would suggest given the chronic inability of our players to think on their feet, what they need is a very simple game plan. Keep it tight, try to hit on the break or nick a goal from a set play, bit like Portugal. To this end, players selected should be those who demonstrably show teamwork and mental application.  Flaky types like Sterling and Sturridge should be kept to an absolute minimum, ie perhaps you can carry one, but not 5 or 6

I would give Hoddle another go, just make sure that he has a PR man to keep him in check.  If not I would go big Sam.  As has been said, you don't need the best manager, but a good organiser that has the respect of the players..

Arsene would still be my number one choice, failing that I would give Big Sam a go in the job.

I think Wenger would be mental to take it (and the FA a little mad also) much of our problem seems to stem from mental fragility and this is exactly what seems to hold Arsenal back?

Has Pardew thrown his hat in the ring yet (been away for a couple of weeks and avoiding the media post Brexit), did read about the Howe/Redknapp dream ticket over the weekend?

Thats mental Don Howe died 6 months ago....

Ironically back in the late 90's when Glenn took on the job, he wanted to bring in Wenger his old boss from Monaco, into a sort of Director of Football role, to take an overview of the whole England set up.

Wenger was at Nagoya Grampus Eight in Japan at the time, from memory the FA didn't scupper it, but rather Glenn's praise of Wenger alerted Arsenal, who moved first and the rest as they say is history.

Fuck it, give it to Holloway, that's about as close to Mike Bassett we can get.

Perhaps you are forgetting the brilliant Steve Cotteril

He wouldn't lower himself. Plus the rebrand to "Steve Coteril's England" may prove expensive.

I reckon we should choose between Shearer, Keown, Mills, Dixon, Townsend or any of the other regular pundits.

They've all got fantastic ideas to cure the fuck up that is Engerland FC (well, they have if you listen to some of their bollocks on the radio or TV during and after a game) so winning the next World Cup is a nailed on cert.

But would you disagree with them?  They all said what we all thought.  Would you rather they'd have said we were good?  They're there to do their job and they called it as they saw it, what's the problem?

Have to agree with you there. Pundits take a lot of criticism but I thought after the Iceland debacle they at least showed they cared.

I think we could do worse than Shearer - as an advisor anyway. The man knows the game very well, and I think he's improved massively since someone at the BBC obviously told him he could say what he thought.

If only he could say it without having to repeat part of his previous sentence.
Part of his previous sentence.

sorted  :D

He is northern. It's to be expected he don't talk proper like I do.

No I wouldn't but, the guys that fucked it up as manager at least gave it a go.

Looks like it's big Sam then!

I cant tell you how excited Im not.

HOOF!! Oh bloody bloody hell! Why can we learn? Pisses me right off.

Won't be pretty but at least we will be able to take/defend set pieces properly and generally be organised in all the basic aspects of the game.

Might as well give an old school manager a go, the other managerial styles havent exactly worked

I don't have a problem with this....we've been that poor the last couple of tournaments, that getting back to the basics is needed. If Sam can get them able to take a corner and free kick, that'll be progress.

Your so wrong! Our kids will be watching that doctrine of shit and we've been doing that for years. 3/4 years of darkness. Fuck me he can't run a premiere club?

To paraphrase someone on Twitter, It might be long ball, but at least they'll know what to do!

I'm happy with it. As someone said above, he's old school. Back to basics, he knows how to make teams hard to beat.
He plays to the strengths of the players he has, people forget some of the stuff Bolton played when he was there.

Oh come on, do you think we'd appoint Hoddle and we'd suddenly start playing beautiful passing football? If the players aren't up to it then they're not going to do it, it doesn't matter if we've got Big Sam or Superted. And this "won't somebody think of the children" stuff - as long as they don't emulate behaviour like unsporting behaviour and ref haranguing (thank fuck Terry retired) they will continue to prosper according to what they're being taught. And that's down to a lot of things, but it won't be Allardyce!

I think he's about the best choice available. I don't think he's as agricultural as people think, he's jsut not a Brendan Rogers esque philosopher who will try to play tiki taka if he doesn't have the resources. A lot of the clubs he's been at have, largely, been a pile of shite, particularly Sunderland most recently, so if the football wasn't great I wouldn't lay that 100% at his door.

That said, being able to organise a defence and sort out set pieces seems like a bloody good start as far as this England side go.

You depress me I'm sorry to say. Absolute Turner all over again?  I remember West Ham fans comments?! Wembley will less than half full?!

 :doh:

Well yea apart from the fact he has left every club he has managed in a higher league position then when he joined

Exactly....the last tournament where we did sort of OK was Euro 12 (when I say sort of OK meaning not humiliated)

Woy had only come into it late when Capello walked....so what did do?  Our most completed pass was Hart to Carroll, we played direct.  Drew with France then beat Sweden and Ukraine in winning the group went out to Italy on pens.

Subsequently Woy tried to sex it up a bit at the WC and recent Euro....we won one game v Wales.

THe FA have stated that it's the mental disintegration bit which concerns them and blame the tabloids...you'dlike to think Sam might bin off the Sturridges and Sterlings and go for something a bit more resilient, even if form lower down the pecking order.   I'd imagine fellas like Colback, Cattermole, Cresswell and Shawcross might be getting a call

This is as good an appointment as you will get. At least we might scrap the stupid fascination with trying to play continental football which has got us absolutely nowhere.

Hopefully we start picking some players on form rather than some cunts based on reputation and who they play for

The shape of things to come?  :)

http://youtu.be/izkYlTVnpwQ

The last Manager we had who had a similar approach was Graham Taylor, we were abject, so don't expect a huge difference.  Sam will make it simple for the players (he did a piece in a paper a few years back explaining exactly how he'd run the show) and we might become trickier to play against, but he'll still be working with the same players and comes with his own limitations (as shown by someone like Bilic at West Ham)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7hEqCdAwjs

Micky Hazard tweet

"I feel sorry for the Birds, imagine how they feel,no more flying over Wembley during England games for fear of being struck by footballs soapy tit wank"

Different world.....back in the early 90's we still had players from Italia 90 around, but perhaps starting to decline....the Prem, was yet to really get going, so plenty of players to pick from.

Big Sam inherits a small pool of players of limited ability who've not had a properly convincing campaign for years....we're the national team equivalent of a relegation candidate....put Pep in charge of England and we wouldn't suddenly become good.

I think the FA for once have shown some sense here

Turner?? I assume you mean Taylor??

Just out of interest who would you have given the job to?

Call me a cunt, but I'm going to give big Sam a chance before writing him off.

I'm not much good at this football fan malarky, am I?

The guys done a pretty good job wherever he's gone really. Sunderland were goners until Sam came in. It won't be pretty but I imagine it will be pretty effective.

Getting a bit sick of the "he's never won anything". He made Bolton into a top 6 side. Fucking Bolton. Not to mention promotions with them, Notts Co & West Ham.

I agree, in pure logic terms he is the best option, assuming Harry is now really only any good for the local bars of Poole

Pretty much reflects my feelings, I cannot say I am a fan of his (he comes across as a bit of a knob at times), but it isn't a popularity contest and he has a history of getting average players organised and playing as a team which is sorely missing at the moment.

This makes fairly interesting reading http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36851259

One thing for sure is that the England job always ends in ignominy....even Sir Alf.  However you get amply compensated and I'm sure it can be fun.

It will be te same for Sam, but he does look like he genuinely wants the job and think he understands English football and its fans.

 The FA want this England "identity" thing, which is why they put Adi Hoofroyd, in charge of the U 19's....currently in the semis of their Euros in Hunland....

....and 2-0 down to Italy with about 20 to go, so a good fit.  The U 19's, mainly big strong athletic lads with Prem clubs, unlikely to see first team action, apart from the FLT and a handful out on loan.

We need as fans to realise we're not much good at this football lark....and learn to accept getting to a quarter/semi and an honourable defeat is as good as it gets atm

I wonder whether on his past record if Redknapp had got the job he would have managed to leave the FA bankrupt?

Hopefully everyone waits to judge him until the WC in 2018, qualifying isn't worthy of judging someone unless they fail to qualify.

About as good as we can expect. The problem isn't the manager, its having players that may be good in the English league but most would spectacularly fail in other top leagues. You can put lipstick on a pig but its still a pig.

They need to stop being paid to play for their country too!

I thought some years ago they had agreed to give the basic fee to charity.

Ferdinand and co did, not sure if they current lot do

I was pretty sure this current lot just get paid for it..

He will bring some much needed organisation, I don't think he would take any shit either. He will set out a simple yet effective system. I don't agree with his footballing philosophy but I can see why this appointment makes sense.

When they're paid as much as they are, not getting paid to play for England won't make a blind bit of difference.
The fact that they earn so much and are pampered the way they are means fuck all will change really. Its their mind set which is all wrong.

Proof will be in the eating!

Yeah Taylor, my choice would of been Hoddle/ Howe backed up by 3/4 academy managers. We do have some quality players out there but in general not used by their paymasters.

Yeah they have been since the Nevilles started it. They said in one of the Euro matches all appearance fees go into the charity pot still.

It's interesting that Spain have appointed Julen Lopetegui to replace Del Bosque....he's been an age group coach, up to U 21's, so will have worked with the players coming through. It's a way of doing things, but I don't think it would work for England.

thats an assumption of course- if your talking about england over the last 10 years then players like Rooney, Beckham, Campbell,  Lampard, Gerard, Terry, Ferdinand, A Cole in would have found a place in any team at the time. this current lot maybe over hyped but england have had some of the best players in europe in years gone by and its not made a difference to the international results.

Most of them would have been total shit in a different league. Beckham did ok. Ferdinand and Campbell may have been ok. Rooney and Gerrard playing in the Spanish or Italian league makes me laugh. We delude ourselves.

You think a 2006 Rooney and Gerard would have been shit playing in Spain or Italy? The delusion is yours

Probably not complete toast, but they'd have been far less stand out than they were in our league.  It speak loud enough that very few of our players are ever considered for foreign soil.  Historically, before the PL came around and confused it with money, attitude was a big part of this - one of our finest players in Des Walker was ruined by the experience.  Rush was a non entity abroad.  Probably the best two exports we've managed were Hoddle and Waddle - both too maverick to firm up regular starting positions in the England team and described as luxury players in this country during their time.  It simply has to be a mental issue, which is developed over many years and I'm not just talking about players, it goes through coaching and the entire structure of our game.  An arrogance without effort or application, a lack of focus on gaining more intelligence an unwillingness to accept variation and difference.

In reverse, perfectly average foreign players can forge a career at a high level here, once they've figured out the local approach.

(http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g171/jjedmunds/tumblr_lzlg2uelRe1qisegao1_500_zpstexjvtn1.png) (http://s56.photobucket.com/user/jjedmunds/media/tumblr_lzlg2uelRe1qisegao1_500_zpstexjvtn1.png.html)

I think Allardyce is a great appointment. I can't see him pushing square pegs in round holes and leaving form players like Drinkwater and Noble at home. He'll also be able to motivate the players one hopes and be able to cut the big-club-passengers out the side.

You'd like to think Sam will see the obvious, but a strange malady sems to infect all England managers. You might call it the Sturridge/Sterling syndrome...2 players who had a decent season when playing along Luis Suarez, who is a genuine world class player, but have been moderate since he left, so they're supposed to be wonderful, yet all the evidence suggest not.

Managers somehow think they'll be the man to get them back playing properly.....I do fear that Sam may fancy himself for a bit of this. I hope he bins these off, even if it means picking players from the Championship.

To bin off a fit Daniel Sturridge for a Championship player would be insanity, he's one of the few intelligent footballers that we have.

It will be interesting to see what Allardyce does with these players, in theory/on paper/insert cliché of choice here this will be the best squad he's ever worked with…

Why insanity?....Wales who got to the semi played Hal Robson Kanu, a Championship player....who performed admirably scoring one of the goals of the tournament.  maybe HRK, knew that as he didn't have a club, a good showing would put himself in the window, or maybe he just had a pride in playing for his team/Principality.

In your world, put Sturridge in the Wales team and he'd have been better than HRK...in my world all the evidence suggests not.

Shove Charlie Austin in there and see how he does.

Charlie got injured at an inopportune time....remember about a year ago Woy, brought CA and Vardy into the squad, CA looked the better bet..

One thing people say about Vardy is that he's not really that much of different player now then when he played for Fleetwood. He'd never have got capped if still at Highbury.

Scotland used to have a similar outlook, take Calderwood and Shearer, both excellent players for Swindon, but could only get picked when moving in Dunc's case to Aberdeen Colin's....Spurs. Now of course the Sweaties have to take anybody, even if like Matt Ritchie never having been to Scotland.

Born and bred in Gosport, qualifies for Scotland. Standard. That's like the geographical extertise of one Michael Smith.

If Charlie has a decent start to the season, I can see him getting in for the next International Break. One thing for sure is that Big Sam will HAVE to change some bits up.

I think we're straight into WC qualifiers....so not much room for being over experimental.

I think Vardy and Sturridge are good enough for England...if the manager plays to their fucking strengths not how Woy played them.

You don't experiment in Finals.

I think there's a little bit of movement for the qualifiers, but like JJ says, not in the finals..

Quite. All we want to see is players who want to play.

People might belittle his style, and I confess to be someone that ordinarily would.

But there is nothing world class or particularly talented about the England squad. Sam has rarely managed squads full of talent and has managed to motivate teams that seem full of wasters into teams that win and over-achieve.

In many ways, as a manager who always seems to be saving clubs from relegation, he seems geared for the job, because England aren't challengers, they're like a lazy relegation threatened team with near total disdain for their club.

I have no problem with some experimenting against the lower ranked teams in qualifiers and in friendlies but even then you don't make 6 changes you change 1 or 2 players.

For the record I would love Charlie in the team he is a natural poacher, something we haven't had for England in years but he would need service, thats not something any England striker had at the euros.

I do think that unless Charlie has a great run in the Premiership then chances are he has missed the boat for England, unless big Sam rates him of course.

I find myself agreeing with Reg again.  Sturridge is "ok", he is most certainly not an intelligent player - he is a very selfish one and is quite often blind to what is going around him within his own team on the pitch.  Nothing wrong with a selfish player, in the right position, but he drops too deep.
Sterling, right now, seems like just the next in a long line of players who have their best year in their breakthrough year.  Little vision, poor finishing, poor final ball, getting worked out.  I hope I'm wrong on that, but the past provides an insight into his future.

Well I fucking disagree with Reg and his lazy regurgitated stereotypes.

Wales isn't a principality.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/wales/entries/1fa3ef03-d94a-3a3c-a22f-093c74467401

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn7-MsaDq_s

It bloody winds them up though, which is why I keep saying it is.

Bit late, so apologies, but Sturridge was the only England forward to look for, find and exploit space in and around the box during the entire tournament. In the one half he was allowed to play as a centre forward anyway.

Obviously I'd love to see Charlie pull on an England shirt, though, so if we're advocating that Sturridge be dropped for Austin then count me in ;-)

Just occurred to me, but wasn't Big Sam rumored to have offered his services for 6 months when we were between managers a few years ago?

Think it was Fitton who said no, something about too much potential media attention.

 So Sam, calls up the failures from the summer for the WC qualifier  :(  I had hoped for a sign that he might have some players from lower down the pecking order in mind....like Flint and Charlie Austin.

 I suppose he thinks if he can let loose his sports psychologists on them they might remember how to kick a ball properly etc.

Sterling looked less than useless today. Perhaps Pep has had a positive influence on him, a pep talk if you will?

Luke Shaw is going to be our left back for years so good to have him back fit again. Antonio seems like a decent utility player also.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNERlJLo1no

 :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Briliant find.  Should get Joe Hart to do the Pep talk.

Wasn't Allardyce embracing all this stuff years before many European managers were anyway..... or was that spin? I remember various interviews about such things when he was at Bolton?

Rumours of Jordan Henderson being made England captain. The meltdown will be glorious.

Well, that didn't last long. Rooney it is.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/26/exclusive-investigation-england-manager-sam-allardyce-for-sale/


One game reign? Nothing massive incriminating in there but all a bit embarrassing isn't it!

Oops.

I bet he's sat in moist underwear, and so he should be. It'll be brushed over, but he should be fired out asap.

ooops indeed. Potentially far more serious than things other England manager(s) have been fired over. if true of course, though it's hard to see a mitigating context to the video footage.

Agree with him about Wembley stadium though. Looks like more to come on other managers as well.

Sam has been a silly sausage, shortest ever reign for a full time England manager?

Depressingly, this doesn't surprise me.  Shifty.

Not at all suprising but from my limited scanning of the story its not really sure what he did wrong, in terms of the £400k deal he stated that anything would have to be run pats the FA before it was agreed and in terms of the 3rd party ownership he seems to merely have stated that he knows Agents who are getting round the system (as I suspect most managers do if the FA's and UEFA etc are being their usual diligent selves in managing the rules, especially where 'big' clubs are concerned).

Seriously bad judgment, but then we knew that when he took the poison chalice in the first place... opens the door for Pards though!

They'll need to publish the stuff on Redknapp as a 52-week partwork, complete with attractive presentation binders :)

What gets me about this is he's on a £3m pa deal as England manager and I'd guess his previous managerial stints didn't leave him exactly on the breadline. So why does he even need to go sniffing after another £400k? Stupid, greedy, unnecessary

He's drinking wine by the pint.

This is highly commendable, if anything he should get a contract extension.

Unfortunately, whatever money players/managers are on, they want even more, despite most of the country would be happily enough getting £3m a year.

And to think Allardyce was the Blackpool manager when we beat them to the Div 3 title in 1996...only to get the sack after failing in the play-offs.

As I said yesterday football is corrupt from top to bottom. Sam should be sacked for playing Rooney...but please not Pardew.

Rich people are very greedy.  Ive only got 3m a year, might as well grab an extra 400k.

Fully agree Reg. I think Eddie Howe was looked into. At least Charlie would be guaranteed a game up front.

I remember Allardyce got the hump when McMahon went out on to the pitch at Bloomfield Road after the game to talk about the promotion with the press.  Take it like a man, Sam' was McMahon's response.  Possibly the only time I ever liked McMahon.

I don't think it is finished with Big Sam, it seems there are more revelations to come about other managers.

I'm not sure that the FA have got the balls to sack Big Sam, but it does not surprise me, he is from the Redknapp school of football where he believes in his own hype and getting the Eng job has inflated his ego even bigger than it already was.

If the FA are consistant, Allardyce will be sacked.

Apparently in the latest allegations, Allardyce complained about the tax system in the UK, claiming HMRC is the 'most corrupt business' in Britain.

So it sounds like Sam doesn't like paying tax...

Meh, 400k is still a decent wedge. No different to someone earning 30k being offered 4 grand for some side work. You'd still say yes

Except it's nothing like it. You might need 4k if on 30. You shouldn't need 400 if you're on 3 million.

he must make up for it on the VAT he pays on his pints of wine sessions :)

This again.

And even if it was, not if put the 30k at risk. Stupid and greedy

He's only taking his lead from the Tory leadership of the country....Cameron was implicated in the Panama thing, before his sad plunge into political obscurity.....but the current Home Secretary is doing her bit, by being a director of Bahama's off shore tax companies.

Presumably one of the attractions to the Tory right of Brexit, is the prospect of turning the UK into an offshore tax haven.

 :pint: :pint: (Not wine sadly)

I'm pretty sure I've complained about a lot worse after a pint of wine!

The Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/27/sam-allardyces-position-as-england-manager-under-threat-after-te/) is reporting that he's about to be shown the door.

He can go back to the Sunderland job. Moyes will get the boot shortly.

3m a year and he still lives in Bolton.

Should be sacked for that alone!

Something tells me that his house won't be within the geographic boundaries of Bolton city centre...

If Allardyce gets the sack, do we end up with Sammy Lee? That'd be hilarious

Going by mutual consent

Southgate in charge for the next 4 games :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Surely you mean the ex "new Labour" leadership?

Sacked!

Not many England managers can claim a 100% win ratio.  Good going, Sam.  You made history.

Just think...in years from now, when you're struggling for another way to say 'mid 2016', you'll just be able to call it 'The Allardyce Era'.  It's so simple, it's brilliant.

I recall trips to Bolton in 1995. Colour instantly drained from the landscape of chimney stacks, we drank in a pub that showed sid the sexist cartoons and the fat slags.

Eddie Howe must be a shoe in to at least be offered the gig.

Harry Redknapp, he's got nothing to hide ;)

Luke williams i hope.

John Fisher.

You would have to be fucking mental to take that job.

Limited bunch of decent players to select from, fans who criticise every move you make and a media who launch a witchhunt against you from pretty much day 1

I would love it now if they gave it to redknapp,that would be comedy gold

Lovely bit of ironic comedy in the statement from the FA.....

"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."

Sounds pretty much like being Town manager to be honest.....

Haven't The Telegraph got a shit load more stuff on other managers as well?

Clubs involved will do well not to follow the FA's example and get rid.

Wonder if Williams has been playing truant . . .

Apparently the paper have 8 PL managers it accuses of taking bungs. Lawyers have so far prevented them from spilling names. 8 out of 20 eh . . .

No, because it's 8 (or 10, heard both on the radio this morning) current and former PL managers. So only one or two of them might be current.

 Gareth Southgate's job now if he wants it.  He seems like a decent sort, so no skeletons in the cupboard.

Donald Trump, he's be good at organising walls, heck he could get the opposition to do it for him

'Entrapment has won' as opposed to greed or stupidity, Sam?

He's right in a sense, it was entrapment.

That doesn't make him any less guilty though.

And apparently Allardyce was given £1m pay-off.

this should be in the whats wrong with football thread, fucking piss take

Gross missconduct surely?

Entrapment would be to induce someone to do something that they otherwise wouldn't have done.  If Allardyce could be so easily persuaded to meet total strangers, in a relatively open setting and make the comments that he did do (within weeks of starting his tenure in his "dream job"), I'm pretty sure he would have done exactly the same had the undercover journalists been genuine representatives of a Far East business.

The bloke is so full of hubris he genuinely will believe he has been hard done by.

The reported £1 million pay-off is totally what's wrong with football and in general, with those at the top of certain professions getting huge pay-offs and can then hide behind non-disclosure agreements.  The average working man would face dismissal for "gross misconduct" for comparable actions.

Similarly, in my previous job there was a clause in my contract which meant I couldn't take any other remunerated role.  The thought process being that my employer wanted me to concentrate all my working efforts on the job they paid me to do whilst also saying that rest was also an important part of performance.  Gross misconduct if caught out. 

So why can't we expect the England football manager, our MPs and CEOs etc to be 100% focussed on their jobs too?  They surely get paid enough to warrant it.

innocent Sam, could have happened to anyone apparently

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/1872836/sam-allardyce-sacked-former-england-boss-steve-mcclaren-says-it-could-happen-to-any-of-us/

Personally, I would suggest that HMRC should carry out a thorough tax investigation of Mr Allardyce's affairs, looking for offshore bank accounts and generally checking the flow of his expenditure against his declared income and include money laundering enquiries. 

Not saying he has anything to hide - but I feel sure that Sam himself would welcome such an investigation as an opportunity to clear his name re slurs on his character

A royal Household worker who took £100,000 in Bribes has just got 5 years for it.

Big Sam was going to take 4 times that amount & gets £1m pay-off.

Hard done by Sam, I don't think so.


And yes, this does sum up what is wrong with Football, and the greedy money grabbing cunts that are in & around the top of it

So then of these managers/clubs that have allegedly taken bungs, I wonder how many will by relegated by two divisions, possibly having it reduced to one on appeal?

No, I don't think so either.

Frecin spot on.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink of QPR is filmed negotiating a £55k fee to work for agency which wanted to sell players to his club. Story up soon

Our latest #football4sale allegations concern Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink at QPR, Tommy Wright of Barnsley and Leeds United's Massimo Cellino

Cellino is a shoe-in

I do hope Power's not involved. He knows agents and stuff and, well, he's certainly the type to do a spot of 'wheeling and dealing'

Massimo Cellino? Strike me down with a feather.

Oooh lets get JFH in assuming QPR now have to bin him off

Bit of a coincidence. This was published 18/09

JFH caught on tape saying: "Give me a player"

You're busted mate.

Hopefully this will provide the opportunity to do what the League should have done when he first tried to get involved and ban him from English football for good,

Hang on didn't the football authorities try to ban him, but were over-ruled by the law of the land which states nothing much should get in the way of making a profit, in the same way Franchise were allowed to come into existence.

Admittedly only based upon a scan of the BBC reporting of the story but it seems to suggest that Cellino basically said invest the equivalent of 20% of the yearly transfer budget into the club by buying shares and you will be entitled to 20% of the returns from that part of the business -sounds like seeking more investment rather than any suggestion of third party ownership. Isn't that essentially what anyone does when they invest in a business although admittedly many fans seem to think owners/investors should throw money in and get nothing out?

Interesting that despite all their crowing in the story about Premier managers the only people named so far are two known to be slightly dodgy high profiles and then a couple of lower league people, appears the Telegraph subscribe to the FA approach and only really go for the small guys?

I think you'll find there's plenty more to come, they're building the story, aren't they spreading it out over 10 days or something? If they go with all the high profile stuff right from the outset, who's going to bother to read about the Barnsely assistant manager on day 10?

thing is, I bet there is a fair chance this kind of stuff is ingrained and regularly happened  historically across the leagues.

even at stfc:
Remember Colin Todd, Kim Heielberg and the crap squad...

Didn't PDC originally have a preferred agent (may be wrong).
-+---
doesn't make it right, obviously

Phil Spencer is the chap you're thinking of - not Kirsty's one.

I thought Spencer was acting  the clubs agent.

I had a vague memory that the early session dross pdc  Spunked money on came from the same guy (not Spencer)

I'm probably totally and utterly wrong then...

What? You do know what a bribe is right? The £400k was for a job he was going to do (public speaking etc) and he said he would have to seek approval from the FA. Hardly the same is it.

Not defending the guy's stupidity, but that's a huge (wrong) jump in logic.

I know, I know but I live in hope

Well wasn't that the problem? That he was working both sides of the fence? And that the players he/Di Canio signed up were shit.

Seem to remember that Spencer, via one of his associates, said that all of the shit that PDC brought in for his first team were nothing to do with him - Atiku/Risser/Comazzi/Chibbochi/Lanzano/Gabilondo/Esajas etc.

But then, anyone would say that if your name was connected to that list.

Woah I am not standing for that Chibbochi and Lanzano were class (or at least played like they wanted to be here  ;))

Seriously though, from recollection was it one of those two who seemed genuinely gutted to be leaving?

I'd imagine they all were, couldn't believe their luck when they landed fat contracts to play in English pro football, rather than Italian pub sides. I'd be gutted under similar circumstances

Are you saying that Sam Allardyce is not 'high profile' he will be gutted. Looking at the whinging interviews he gave yesterday for someone who was apparently earning £3m a year he seems to live on a very plain housing estate in Bolton.

Edit - a quick look on Companies House shows his address, its like somewhere you or I would live. He has had some interesting company directorships over the years!

Whatever happened with that dodgy Spanish kid we had on 'loan' last year. Went off to QPR and then . . .?

I reckon Power tried to find a way to do a deal but left it as it was too dodgy.

I've wondered about him....seemed a bit too good to be true, as clubs like Celta produce some very good players.

Playing (a bit) in the Segunda with CD Lugo http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/yelko-pino/profil/spieler/217153#ath

Interesting, so he does exist, all sounded a bit Milan Misun to me.

Now played a game and everything in the Segunda back in Spain

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yelko_Pino

I don't know a whole lot about the standard of the Segunda, as it's warped by B teams. It is quite common though for clubs coming up, to bin off most of the players that got them up and also the coach, and then pick up a number of players from the relegated clubs.....Alaves this season being a classic example.

It would be a higher standard than Div 3, so a lad who couldn't cut it in the Segunda might be OK, but I'd imagine he's a technician and we know what happens to them at our level.

No, but it's a standard arc for a story you're spreading out like this - start with a big splash to get initial interest, but don't play all your best cards right from the off, drop some teasers and save some of the big stuff for a final reveal to keep people's interest. If you shoot your load on Day 1, everything else is then just "And?"

That's Tommy Wright sacked then.

Wright was assistant manager at Chesterfield when we lost at Wembley.

(http://gifoid.com/wp-content/uploads/esmeralda-gif-1.gif)

 :)

It'll be interesting to see how Hasselbaink manages to squirm his way out of this one.

Our cup then.

The same technique they used for the expenses scandal. I imagine a couple of the big ones will come out over the weekend.

Wasn't it only 5 days of revelations - so they should have shot their load by friday

Can we please stop all this talk of load shooting, in the context of a story about Sam Allardyce its all getting a bit disconcerting.

Telegraph probably have to get this over with before Tory conference starts on Sunday...

Fat Sam is a simple man but even he should understand FA Rule 1: "Don't get caught"

To some extent that is a step forward when one looks at some of today's persons being investigated.

I recall that Jimmy Floyd Hasselbank himself once blew the lid on illegal payments made to players by Chelsea after a Euro match and ended up being fined himself (a truly paltry amount)

"Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose" as our French correspondent would say.

Eric Black the latest to be caught up in this.

I was quite happy to give Southgate my support.

Then he made Rooney Captain.

I admire what Rooney did for England in his prime, and i love his commitment to the game, but he is clearly 5 years past his sell by date.
We are never going to move forward if we keep picking a guy that lives purely on reputation and just cannot deliver anymore. Even Mourinho is coming round.

I'm still finding it incredibly difficult to get enraged about Allardyce. He actually did nothing and said himself he was uncomfortable about acting during the conversation/that he'd have to check with the FA.

Mr Wright, ironically, seems far worse..

You come in as caretaker, then you're not going to rock the boat.

Allardyce had the chance to do that, (namely get rid of the old guard) but failed. There's no reason why Southgate shouldn't see us through to Russia if we get results in the 3 qualifiers.  Germany appointed Loew, an assistant who'd scuffed around a bit. Spain have appointed Lopetgui, U 21 coach who failed given a proper team.

Having good players helps...England haven't.

I must admit, I'm struggling to see what he did to deserve the outrage. He didn't break any rules as far as I can see and, as you say, he said he would have to run it by the FA before agreeing to anything.

Someone pointed out earlier that anyone taking the England job must be crazy. The media and fans will be out to get him from day 1 whoever it is (with the possible exception of Golden Bollocks Eddie Howe).

I am outraged that you are not outraged  :D I suspect Eddie Howe would still get the treatment from media and fans, would be interesting to see how the pundits react if he did poorly as they have been blowing smoke up his arse for the last 3 years!

See we got another massive name snared today in Eric Black, although I am not altogether sure what he has actually done as the BBC states 'filmed apparently naming staff at other clubs who could be induced to pass on information about players to a company for money.' - so that seems to be either a) whistleblowing or b) admitting that others are corrupt, should they not possibly instead be going after the people he has named?

I want to see Howe get it. If for no other reason because it could derail Bournemouth.

I'm not bitter....but yes...this.

I've more confidence now it seems the police have got involved and asked the Telegraph for the footage before it goes to the FA etc, hopefully those that are hanging and assuming they are guilty will be dealt with correctly rather than just a whitewash.

Yeah, because the coppers have never been involved in a whitewash have they?

There is that but surely with this being so public then you would hope it will be dealt with correctly

Hillsborough wasn't exactly hidden away from the public gaze.

I was a supporter in the "Hillsborough era" and I can categorically state that supporters were never pissed before games, and never had any desire to fight each other.

So in my opinion it was all the fault of the police

Southgate picks Glen Johnson in his first squad.

Needs investigating.

I'm more concerned about Rooney staying as captain. Must be his inspirational leadership against Iceland when he hid.

"Hmm i need a right back, you know what let's pick someone who's contributing in the worst defence in the league"... good logic

Has the length of Tyson Fury's retirement blitzed Sam's record for short termism?  :D :clap:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37581097 is this still ongoing? The Telegraph's suggestion that they had a lot more materials seems to have turned into something of an anti-climax?

Whilst we had Allardyce it seems to have been limited to certain assistants and that's about it?

Hmm, was thinking this the other day. They said they had info on 8-10 current and former PL managers, and trailed that heavily then it all went very quiet at the weekend, which is when you'd expect them to go for a big splash, and since then nothing. Superinjunction maybe?

Think that the agent who was supposed to be the source has admitted that he made it all up. Interviewed on SSN the other day.