15th July 2016

Hi ,

Sam Allardyce looks like being the next incumbent of the biggest job in football which in the past has proved to be a poisoned chalice. Big Sam is as low as 1/5 to be the next manager of England but the deal is not quite done and Eddie Howe could still make a late challenge. The focus is now on the World Cup in Russia in 2018 for which Portugal can be backed at 33/1 after winning Euro 2016.

Sky Sports are already advertising their live fixtures over the early weeks of the Premier League season. The honey pot that is the most watched league in the world will go on and grow despite England’s abysmal efforts at the European Championship finals. The English league is dominated by owners, managers and players from overseas. There is little incentive to have a successful national team because come August grounds will be full and satellite TV subscriptions will be paid.

The bubble needs to burst and the cycle needs to be broken for anything to change with England. While foreign investment continues to come into the Premier League the national team will not be a priority for the owners and coaching staff. Allardyce seems to have the motivational skills that Roy Hodgson lacked but you can’t make a silk purse from a sow’s ear. The England manager has the smallest base of players to choose from who play in the English Premier League of any major national team.

Old Trafford, Anfield, the Emirates and all the other grounds will be packed to the rafters when the new season begins. Some of the shameful and shameless characters from the Iceland debacle may get some stick but tribal football fans will pick up on anything to barrack players from the opposing teams. Most club loyalists won’t care about the two clangers Joe Hart dropped in the Euros as long as in their minds they believe he will be affected in any way by their chants.

There is often a discussion about whether the manager of England should be English. The FA failed miserably in the past to identify the right foreign gun to hire. When England expected of Sven they got Ian Duncan Smith rather than Winston Churchill. Fabio Capello looked bemused by the job and no doubt even more bemused when he received his pay cheque. Speaking even pigeon English should be the minimum requirement of the England manager.

Allardyce is one of the best English candidates but not necessarily the best man for the job. He has a reputation for creating teams to meet a specific requirement and that is usually to prevent relegation from the Premier League. He has not managed a side that has won the Premier League, Champions League or FA Cup. He has been in charge of 956 matches in England and his win % is 39%. He has not managed a ‘big’ club and has little experience of handling superstars.

Sam might do a good job but he is 61 while Eddie Howe is just 38. He could also be marked down for not managing at a high level but he is just embarking on his managerial career while Allardyce took his first coaching job in 1992. Allardyce is all about experience but Howe is about potential. He could fail over the next Euros and two World Cups but he would be vastly experienced in tournament and international football before reaching his mid forties. Howe is the future while Allardyce is the present and past.

Allardyce would not like an elder statesman of the game to be sticking their oar in. However, Howe would probably welcome input from a wise old head and the wisest old head who is English and available is Harry Redknapp. Happy Harry does seem to be a bit slippery but the players would buy into that more than being told how to play football by a civil servant like Hodgson and his ilk. Jurgen Klinsmann is the second favourite and his experience of tournaments would be a great asset but the Germans bombed our chippie (according to Stan Boardman)!

The England national team reached the nadir against Iceland and things can’t get worse. The new man can improve things slightly and be a success. It’s better now to invest in the future and a different way Howe rather than appoint grizzled and grey Big Sam.

Best Wishes,

BetFan