Report claims Allardyce is ‘close to sack’ over allegations

Sam Allardyce: Tipped to get the sack

Sam Allardyce: Tipped to get the sack

FA chiefs are giving ‘serious thought’ to sacking Sam Allardyce as England manager following damaging newspaper allegations, according to a report in The Times.

An undercover report in the Daily Telegraph said Allardyce used his position to negotiate a £400,000 deal and appeared to offer advice on how to circumvent Football Association rules on player transfers.

FA chairman Greg Clarke and chief executive Martin Glenn were holding an emergency meeting at Wembley on Tuesday morning and are understood to be extremely disturbed by the allegations.

The pair were planning to talk to Allardyce – who was heading for Wembley – for his side of the story before making a final decision but from what has been revealed so far they are understood to have serious concerns over whether he can continue in the role which has a salary of £3 million a year plus bonuses.

The 61-year-old was filmed by undercover reporters from The Telegraph negotiating the deal with what he believed was a football agency from the Far East, and making remarks about bypassing “ridiculous” FA and Fifa rules on third-party ownership.

The Times’ chief sports reporter Martyn Ziegler writes….

‘If Clarke and Glenn decide that Allardyce’s position is untenable they will make a recommendation to an emergency meeting of the FA board that his contract should be terminated.

‘The judgement may come down to whether allowing him to remain as England manager will store up even bigger problems for the FA in the longer term, especially if the governing body has to deal with other disciplinary issues arising from The Telegraph investigation into football agents and managers.

‘Allardyce left his home in Bolton at 7am today in a black Mercedes but refused to speak about the allegations.

‘Clarke, who has only just taken over as FA chairman, has vowed to hold a full investigation.’

Clarke told The Times: “I got a call related to the issue and I want the facts and I will look into it – it is not appropriate to pre-judge the issue. With things like this you have to take a deep breath and have all the facts and hear everything from everyone.

“Then you can make a judgement about what to do and that’s what we will do. Natural justice requires us to get the bottom of these issues before we make any decision.”

Gareth Southgate, the England under-21 manager, is likely to be called upon to assume a caretaker role for England’s next two World Cup qualifiers on October 8 and 11 if Allardyce is sacked.