Big Sam's the man for England

Maybe, but then Joachim Löw had only won Germany's equivalent of the League Cup and a solitary Austrian title prior to becoming Germany's manager. I'll wager few other managers were worried about him when he stepped up from the assistant manager role. And at the time of writing neither Spain nor Argentina have managers, so their fans are unlikely to be feeling too confident about their own future prospects either.

Remember Big Sam also won the old Third division with Notts County in 1998. Unfortunately that's the only thing he's won in 24 years ! Germany,Brazil,France, Argentina, Spain etc are shaking in their boots now ?????

Greece?

I agree jb. I simply posted The Echo's piece out of interest, but I do stand by my comment regarding the players' attitudes had Sam been in charge of the shed at half time, for the second half display by England was surely "insipid". We will never know will we? Cheers pc.

Pacman I truly believe that England's problem does not lie in the hands of one man,whoever that may be.One has only to do some research into the make- up of most premier league clubs to find where the problem really lies and that problem is not going to be cured by the efforts of one man. For some years now it has been very evident that every EPL identity,or for those with money to burn, have gone elsewhere when looking for what can loosely be covered by the description "playmakers" Arsenal are a classic example,year after year they challenge for high honours and yet it only takes a bad injury or loss of form (or even worse a managers decision) to derail that challenge and so it proved again this year with the injury to the Spaniard Carzola. Without him Arsenal's overall game slipped drastically and brought focus to bear on their defensive work which has always been suspect despite big names being brought in to bolster a back line.This "weakness" caused another problem when the little man was tried further back in trying to take that pressure off the back four but that move only blunted the attack potential Who replaced the injured Carzola? There were some tried but all were found wanting and the fact that most of those tried were either English or Welsh surely tells us something about what home grown talent has to offer. Let us jump to the struggling giant United and here we find millions being spent trying to get the team functioning and yet we constantly find a back four buckling under pressure leaving the goalkeeper to perform at a very high level to keep the team in a game while erstwhile wingers are used as fullbacks and the greatest weakness,that of centre-back,continually was filed by 2 English players,one of whom was actually capped to anchor the defence line and my opinion is that he was put there due to the efforts of the media,or because occasionally he is a danger at set pieces going into the penalty area.He literally gives the impression all through games that he has no idea how to organise a back line and towards the end of Van Gaal's tenure was getting surrounded by youngsters,keen but inexperienced. So where does that leave English football ?, for this malaise is not new,for many many years they "imported", not from Europe, but from their close neighbours,Scotland, England and both Irelands as the names James, Docherty, Allchurch and later on Blanchflower,Mackay ,Crerand,and Souness, all players of not only better ball skills, but also gifted by "vision", that all important talent which unfortunately cannot be taught. Can some more Gascoines, Hoddles, Charltons Finney's or Matthews be found, for without players of that calibre it doesn't matter who gets the England "job" they will struggle in an environment where "changes" in personnel and tactical strategy will continue to dominate and will be constant. Cheers jb

They need Shaun Dyche the Burnley manager.

Here's an interesting take on Big Sam. Make of it what you will, but one can just imagine how Big Sam would have been operating in the England dressing room at H/T v Iceland! Under such circumstances, it would be amazing if England had come out and presented the insipid display that actually took place: From The Echo: "The Football Association MUST set aside corporate considerations and appoint the best manager to succeed Roy Hodgson, believes ex-England number two Lawrie McMenemy. Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce is garnering support to be the next England boss, with reports earlier today that the 61-year-old would be interested in taking the job after missing out to Steve McClaren 10 years ago. McMenemy - who held a dual role as England assistant manager and Under-21s coach in the early 1990s - believes Allardyce should certainly be on the shortlist to succeed Hodgson. But the ex-Sunderland manager fears that the straight-talking Allardyce might not fit into the FA’s corporate strategy. He told the Echo: “At that level, you’ve got to impress the FA suits. “Personally, I think unless more and more people like myself push for Big Sam, that might be a problem. “The FA have to forget all the wining and dining. “We don’t want a fella who can waltz into a dinner in Switzerland and put his little finger out when he drinks red wine. “Where we’re lacking now is in the dressing room and on the training ground. “If Sam Allardyce had been in that dressing room at half-time against Iceland, that team wouldn’t have come out in the second half the way they did. “Sam should be on the list. “Let the FA go out, have their dinners and wave their flags, but let the manager get in to where it matters.” " Some pertinent points. I think McMenemy is on the money here. What do you guys think?

Agreed. He will do a great job in ensuring England isn't relegated out of UEFA.

Whats Holger Osieck up to these days ? ...

Is it too silly to suggest to these people concerned about who should be the next England manager that they are ignoring the fact that probably they have the most successful club manager of the last 30 years,though not an Englishman,hasnevertheless lived in the country for all of those years in Manchester. Could Sir Alex Ferguson turn the tide???? I think even he would back away from this job ,probably because of his short experience when he took charge of the Scottish National team and probably for the first and last time had to work to the requirements of the "faceless men" who are part and parcel of the game's hierarchy and to whom a National manager is totally answerable.It would be an interesting story were it to take place. Cheers jb

I think that's more an Aussie thing. It's a pity all the best English players don't play for one or two clubs; they might be able to look as though they'd at least been introduced before taking the field.

The coaching should be for the clubs and academies. Look at The most consistent player for England in Euros. He was in the Sporting academy, where he learnt all the technical skills, then it took him time to mature, physically, but more importantly mentally. The FA need tighter reins on footballers up to 18, ensuring that they develop the right technical skills, leaving the physical and mental skills to be developed through experience. successful international managers in all sports are not coaches, they are tacticians and psychologists. The job is to mould already technically proficient players into a team. English players are just not technicall proficient to allow for the development of tactics, just look at Guardiola at Bayern; he used 9 different formations with his squad, all requiring them to understand their role in the team. You can only do that if your technique is solid, so you only have to worry about the next pass. Another example is in rugby with Eddie Jones, he has trusted the skills of the players, but 'got into their heads' and worked miracles this year. Big Sam could do this well, alongside a tactical coach like Southgate, and we have to remember that Bolton did not play long ball with the team they had. Djorkaeff and Ococha would not have run the channels too often.

LOL

More like, as the inventors of football, it is harder to admit to themselves they really don't know anything, anymore than it is admitting they need to ask for help outside the FA brains trust of their English pool of managers. How much more pain do they want to heap on their game with pride, over the time needed to swallow that pride and bring real change that can bring success in as little as a decades time?

Funny lot the English. They'll appoint a McLaren, consider a Fat Sam, but appointing a foreign coach is considered a disaster

My sentaments exactly Mid :-D Although if they won't take a German, then they are not to look at an Antipodean coach to save their bacon. Besides, Ange might tell them to bugger off he's not interested.

So tell me Matthew, who was the last team to win aWC or Euro on"passion"? No one ever. England simply have a very weak pool of technical and tactically mature players. All comes back to coaching

But just think of all the fun we will have if they actually do it, I can already see the headlines!

Avoiding relegation sounds pretty good to me

Just avoiding the relegation battle every year would be progress of sorts for our club. I'd take mid-table mediocrity over the dross we've had for the past few years any time.