Sam Allardyce’s tenure as England coach went down as one of the shortest in history. Five years ago, “Big Sam” was carelessly talking about head and neck.
When Sam Allardyce looks back on his tenure as England coach today, he has a 100 percent success rate with the Three Lions.
Admittedly, there was exactly one game in the era of “Big Sam” (a 1-0 win against Slovakia in qualifying for the 2018 World Cup), and it only lasted 68 days in total.
Originally, the now 66-year-old started his self-proclaimed “dream job” to lead English football out of the crisis after the disappointing elimination in the group stage of the 2014 World Cup and in the second round of the 2016 European Championship against Iceland.
That Allardyce instead – apart from various interim trainers – goes down in history with the shortest term of office in the association’s history, he owes a “stupid thing”, according to his own statement.
“This is where the big money lies”: Allardyce and a momentous lure
Only shortly after signing his contract with the FA in July 2016, Allardyce got involved in a momentous conversation with alleged investors from the Far East.
Undercover reporters of the telegraph pretended to be business people and secretly filmed Allardyce during the conversation. They are said to have asked the long-time Premier League coach about ways to circumvent the third-party owner contracts for player transfers, which were freshly banned in England at the time, in which investors secure shares in future transfer proceeds.
Allardyce delivered. In fact, it is “no problem” to circumvent this rule. And anyway, it is “ridiculous” to prohibit such contracts, after all, “this is where the big money lies.” Allardyce is said to have stated that they themselves knew agents “who do this all the time.”
Allegedly, the supposed investors should have promised him 500,000 euros for the tips. In addition, a consultancy contract for 461,000. For any employment outside the association, the football teacher would of course have required the approval of the FA.
Allardyce all-round blow: Hodgson and Prince William also got their fat off
Once in motion, the FA and Allardyce predecessor Roy Hodgson came into “Big Sam’s” line of fire.
While Allardyce described the association as “stupid” because of the one billion euro renovation of Wembley Stadium, he mocked Hodgsons because of his speech impediment; the 74-year-old has difficulty pronouncing the “r”.
To make matters worse, Allardyce denigrated some players and criticized FA President and heir to the throne Prince William for his absence at the presentation of the logo for the EM 2020.
“Trying to help someone I’ve known for 30 years”
The FA was presented with the relevant video material, and a short time later the association took the necessary steps.
“It was a very difficult 24 hours. We came to the conclusion that Sam’s behavior was inappropriate and not what we expect from a national coach,” said the FA: “Sam is absolutely dismayed. He realizes that he made a terrible mistake. ” The decision was “painful, but correct”.
Allardyce did not deny the scenes, apologizing to the association and otherwise complaining about being duped. “Insidiousness triumphed in this case and I have to accept that,” he said the morning after his release. “It was a wrong decision and I now have to face the consequences.”
In retrospect, “Big Sam” called the whole thing a “stupid thing.” He tried to “help someone I have known for 30 years” and misjudged the situation.
Instead of Allardyce: Southgate is putting England back on track
Allardyce went abroad for a couple of weeks to “relax and think about everything”. The Chose did not cause him any lasting damage. When the matter had grown again, he returned to the Premier League as a coach in December 2016 – Crystal Palace signed him. Allardyce was also still under contract with Everton FC and West Brom, since West Brom’s Premier League relegation in 2021 he left the coaching stage (for the time being?).
The FA also got out of the scandal well. At that time, the association quickly made its talented U21 coach head coach.
Under Gareth Southgate, England finished fourth at the 2018 World Cup and only had to admit defeat in the final against Italy at the last European Championship. The 51-year-old has led the team out of the sporting crisis in recent years. A mission that Allardyce had originally undertaken five years ago.
