By now, we must have read about Sam
Allardyce’s humiliating exit from his dream ‘England’ job just after one game in charge and 67
days at the helm. The 61 year-old is expected to face the Football Association following
revelations in an undercover newspaper investigation about comments he made,
specifically on third-party ownership and offering advice to businessmen on how
to “get around” the
governing body’s rules on transfers.
According to him, he was only doing a
friend Scott McGarvey, whom he has known for 30 years a favour and he held
meetings with people, who were undercover reporters posing as Far East
businessmen. The former Sunderland coach got into a huge trouble after it was
discovered he negotiated a £400,000 deal with an overseas firm hoping to profit
from Premier League transfers and details of the meetings were published on the
Daily Telegraph.
Allardyce was also filmed making indiscreet
comments about Roy Hodgson, FA president Prince William and his brother Prince
Harry.
Shortly after the secrets were blown open,
The Football Association chief executive, Martin Glenn, announced that the
manager had agreed to leave by “mutual consent”.
Allardyce rues his actions
“I can’t put into words how sad
I am to lose the England job.
I know I’ve made a huge misjudgement.”
He continued, “On reflection it was a silly thing to do. I just wanted
to help out someone I’ve known for 30 years and it was an error of judgment on
my behalf. I’ve suffered the consequences. Entrapment has won on this occasion
and I have to accept that.”
He also revealed he has apologised to the FA and everyone else affected
by the situation. He wished England and
their fans the very best adding that he would be taking a break
with his family and starting a two-week holiday. Asked if this was his last job in
football, he said he would never quit the sport.
However, England under-21 manager, Gareth Southgate will take over the
reins of the team as it faces Malta, Slovenia, Scotland and Spain