Sunderland boss has been outlined as a potential candidate by the FA
Sam Allardyce is set to be interviewed by the FA for the vacant role as England manager next week, with USA boss Jurgen Klinsmann the alternative candidate.
Roy Hodgson resigned as manager, following England’s demoralising last-16 defeat to Iceland at Euro 2016, despite his contract being set to run out following the conclusion of the tournament, anyway.
However, despite some members of the FA disliking the idea of the Sunderland boss being in line for the role, with the 61-year-old recognised as getting his teams to play unattractive football, the three-man selection panel believe he could be the man to take the Three Lions forward.
Allardyce, who is currently on a pre-season tour of Austria with Sunderland, has been backed by former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson to take the job, while Klinsmann is also understood to be keen on the vacancy, while the USA are prepared to let the German leave his role.
But one hesitation from the FA about Klinsmann, is the manager’s record for bringing his own backroom staff.
The Sunderland boss miraculously saved the Black Cats from the drop last season, when they looked all but relegated, and previously got West Ham back into the Premier League from the Championship and helped them climb up the Premier League table.
In 2006, Allardyce applied for the England job, and wrote in his autobiography: “I wanted to do a real knock-your-socks-off interview for the FA, so I put together a PowerPoint which looked at every single detail,
“There was nothing missing. Nobody but nobody was going to beat it. But then Brian Barwick, the chief executive, told me there were no PowerPoint facilities at the interview venue, so I had to print off hard copies for the panel. So much for the progressive FA.”
Young Lions boss Gareth Southgate had been linked with the England job on an interim basis, with the view of appointing Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, when his contract runs out at the Emirates at the end of next season. However, the former Middlesbrough boss rejected the opportunity, while the Frenchman admitted he would be interested in managing England in the future.
