England manager speaks to media at 11am BST at St George’s Park
Sam Allardyce: the big man gets the biggest job in football
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11.32am BST
Well this all felt a bit flat. I was hoping for more bombast. Sam’s being very realistic and considered but I wanted more swagger and more fists banging on tables. Maybe the fact he was calm and considered throughout was part of a tactic to dissuade the press from sticking to Big Sam stereotypes in their copy.
11.29am BST
What will it take to see that Sam Allardyce dance again? Oh bantz! A big Big Sam laugh. “Hopefully if we qualify [for the World Cup] and then go a bit further. Maybe then, but I’m not sure you’ll see it anytime in the near future.” Boo.
11.27am BST
How do you deal with the repeated failures that run through the England team? “We’re two years way from the World Cup but we must focus on qualifying. Then we can focus on the in-depth issues. We all had great hopes becuase of the way we qualified for them. I hope when we get there (Russia 2018) I can answer that question better then. We can’t change the past. We can only ficus on the future.”
11.26am BST
Is the job a poison chalice? “Not for me. I’m ardent. I’m tough enough. So bring it on lads!” Go on Sam!
11.25am BST
“I’ve not seen a lack of passion or determination or desire among the team. I have to identify what went wrong [at Euro 2016] but I’m not going to dwell on that. I’m trying to create an environment that has a feel-good factor about it and players able to deal with what is thrown at them.”
11.23am BST
Sam Allardyce says that the Premier League demands do harm the international team. “An international break would help the Premier League and us at international level.”
11.22am BST
When you accumulate data you can make better decisions on what has gone wrong, he says. He’s talking about Prozone here. He makes a good fist of making it clear that he is a manager who embraces technology. “There is a huge amount of time to prepare at international level,” he says, which should suit him.
11.21am BST
Are results the bottom line and how does that fit in with the DNA of fitting in with the style at the lower age groups? “I expect the players to be very adaptable and very flexible. I don’t expect a player at this level to be only able to play only one position and one style. It may be the same system [as at youth level] but with a tweak here or there.” He says he is always associated as being a manager who has a direct style but he says the fact that he managed to make the pocket-sized Jermain Defoe play up front on his own at Sunderland last season when nobody said that was possible, is evidence that he can switch his style to something else.
11.18am BST
On why he has got the job 10 years after being turned down he keeps it simple. “I have 10 years more experience.”
11.17am BST
On not having won anything, and how this will be perceived in the role, Allardyce says he has managed some world class players. “Hierro, Anelka, Owen …” he reels off. “Great players make your job easier, he says. Hmmm. How many great players have England got these days though? “You look at what I’ve achieved over the years, saving clubs from being relegated, they are not as big as winning things, but they are very difficult things to achieve. Having to secure a club’s financial future.” He also agrees that the team is punching below its weight and he wants to start by getting on with qualifying for the World Cup.
11.14am BST
On how he hopes to improve England after the huge disappointment of the Euros, he says his experience of being a firefighting manager at times in his career, makes him the perfect man to turn the England team around. “The most important thing is the players. The support from the backroom staff is going to be the key element taking the players forwards. We all want to see this England team being successful. This is going to be the great challenge for me going forwards.”
11.12am BST
Dan Ashworth, technical director, says it is important that the senior manager can work with the youth coaches and have a good look at the players coming down the “pipeline”. Sam can work with them in a hands-on role.
11.11am BST
“It was 10 years since I was last interviewed and to sit here is a huge thrill to me. I think fit the chair,” he says. “I have the experience to pass and to challenge myself. I think five Premier League clubs has given me a huge amount of experience. It’s the most any manager has managed at, five clubs. “Man-management is my thing. I want players to enjoy themselves and to improve.”
11.09am BST
How would you describe your style? “Pragmatic.” Of course. He wants to win matches. “The bonding of the team is exceptionally important and trying to get the group together. I want my team to have fun.” Steady on Sam, that’s not allowed now. He says he wants to enjoy himself in the role as this is the pinnacle of his career.
11.08am BST
Allardyce is asked about Rooney. Will he have a place as captain or in the squad? “No, I’m not answering that. It’s too early to say”. He does confirm that Sammy Lee, in attendance, will be joining him as an assistant.
11.06am BST
“I want to get among all the staff that England have in place already. I want to look at things psychologically, and see if we can help in anyway there. I’ll look at all areas, coaching, tactics, nutrition, the whole package.”
11.05am BST
What does the job mean to you? He beams: “I have a very warm feeling about taking up this position. I’m very proud. First of all I want to qualify for the World Cup and take it from there.”
11.02am BST
The press are packed into St George’s Park media centre. Not long now. Who will Sam Allardyce name as captain? Rooney, Cahill, a returning Terry, Henderson? Or maybe he could just have Kevin Nolan as his non-playing captain. His vibes man, his Bez.
10.58am BST
“You talk about Allardyce ‘maximising the potential’ but what is ‘potential’?” asks Krishnan Patel. “It is a very subjective term. Unlike the previous generation, these players aren’t exactly dominating the Champions League. Cahill and Smalling are not defenders like Terry and Ferdinand who played successfully at the top of European football. Maybe this is how good the players are.” Hmmm. I’d say they should be better than Iceland Krishan. Although, yes I agree, they can hardly be expected to win a major tournament immediately. But then, Portugal weren’t expected to win Euro 2016 were they?
10.54am BST
Here’s a question: just how big is Big Sam’s self belief? Big enough not to suffer a wobble early on in the job? Paul Doyle highlighted just how much pressure comes with being England manager in this fine piece:
“The first two years can be a lonely, terrifying nightmare,” said Sir Bobby Robson while recalling his time in charge of England for Niall Edworthy’s book The Second Most Important Job in the Country. Robson had been in charge of Ipswich Town for 13 years and, unlike Allardyce, won a couple of major trophies before his ascension to the national throne in 1982, but he was still taken aback by the weight of expectation with England, admitting: “I thought I was prepared but the first time I led England out at Wembley and heard God Save the Queen the realisation of my responsibility to the nation came as a shock.”
Allardyce is not easily daunted but he too may be jolted by the sense of responsibility when he leads out England at Wembley on 1 September.
Related: Sam Allardyce may be the man for England’s lowest ebb but doubts linger
10.49am BST
You can watch the press conference on the Reuters stream above this blog if you haven’t got a TV handy. But if your nasty boss doesn’t want the sound of Big Sam pumping out from your computer in the bombastic style then, of course, stick with my updates here. However, if you think you have a reasonable boss, press play on this video below and see just how reasonable he or she is.
10.42am BST
Stuart Pearce has just been speaking about the issue of none of England’s players, other than Ross Barkley, ever having won anything in an England shirt (Barkley won an the European Under-17 Championship) and how Allardyce will have to bridge that gap. There’s an obvious problem there. Allardyce’s only honours are the English Third Division title and the League of Ireland. He can’t point to winning achievements that compare with major international tournaments. So surely that isn’t really the problem. Getting a group of players to perform to their potential is what Allardyce should be about. It’s what other England managers, in the most part, have struggled to do.
9.36am BST
Morning. Sam Allardyce will be formally presented by the FA as England’s new manager in a press conference due to start at 11am BST at St George’s Park. He’s likely to talk more about how much he has wanted the job while also laying out his plans for the future. As part of these plans he may name Paul Clement, the current Bayern No2, and Sammy Lee, who Allardyce worked with at Bolton, as his assistants. Derided by some as carrying tactical ideas that belong in the past, he’ll probably look to dismiss that criticism if presented to him. As Michael Cox points out, Allardyce was using statistical analysis long before other managers and he has also been effective at getting the most out of limited resources at various clubs down the years, so expect him to speak about what methods he may employ. Maybe even what will go on in those ‘think tanks’ he has previously mentioned. But still, the question remains, if the FA’s first-choice manager was Arsène Wenger, it is certainly a vast change in tactical direction to have plumped for the former Sunderland manager instead. But plumped they have. What does this say about the FA’s long-term planning? Anyway, the appointment is certainly good news for Andy Carroll. But is it good news for England? Let me know below the line or by email or Twitter. I’ll be back shortly when the press conference is due to start.
Related: Sam Allardyce – the story so far: glory, bust-ups, and baiting José Mourinho
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