Managerless since their shock EURO 2016 exit at the hands of Iceland, the English national team is beginning to sift through contenders for the Three Lions job.
Roy Hodgson, 68, stepped down following the embarrassing exit in France and the English Football Association has been taking its time to assess what went wrong before appointing his successor.
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The Sun reports that Sam Allardyce has held preliminary talks with the FA about becoming the new England manager, while it is also believed Harry Redknapp will be spoken to.
According to the report from Neil Ashton, Allardyce also has a release clause in his Sunderland contract which could make it very easy for him to slide into the England job.
Allardyce, 61, is one of the favorites for the position (so is USMNT boss Jurgen Klinsmann) as the no-nonsense Englishman arrived to rescue Sunderland from a perilous position last season as they survived in the Premier League in the penultimate game of the campaign. He has been backed by Sir Alex Ferguson for the England job and he is due to sit down with Dan Ashworth, the FA’s head of elite development, for further talks next week.
At Bolton, West Ham United and Sunderland Allardyce has overachieved and his vast experience in the PL makes him an ideal candidate. In the past Allardyce was touted as England’s next manager -- especially after Steve McClaren was fired -- and he has mentioned in the past that he’s keen to take up the position.
Redknapp has similarly shown his interest in the position but the 69-year-old has been out of the PL since 2015 when he left Queens Park Rangers and had brief stints with Jordan and an adviser role at Derby County last season.
Allardyce wouldn’t be the most glamorous candidate for this job but he seems to be exactly what England needs right now.
A manager who has always delivered more than is expected of him and although his defensive, often straight-forward tactics have been criticized, it gets results.
After their last two major tournaments a group stage exit at he 2014 World Cup and a Round of 16 humiliation at EURO 2016 -- that’s exactly what England needs ahead of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup beginning in September.