Sam Allardyce’s imminent appointment as England’s new manager is set to be ratified by a meeting of the Football Association board on Thursday after which Sunderland will aim to accelerate already “advanced” talks with David Moyes.
In what was almost certainly his final act as Sunderland manager, Allardyce was due to take charge of the team for Wednesday night’s pre-season friendly at Hartlepool United amid suggestions that his coronation as Roy Hodgson’s successor was a matter of hours away.
With the ruling body able to increase Allardyce’s £2m a year salary on Wearside and the fact he had only one year outstanding on his club contract dictating that agreeing compensation is not a major hurdle things are predicted to run smoothly ahead of his formal “unveiling”. It seems the 61-year-old who saved Sunderland from relegation last season convinced the FA of his ability to re-discover England’s missing “identity” while they were also drawn to his knowledge and deployment of psychology.
By way of a major hint earlier on Wednesday, Martin Glenn, the FA’s chief executive had demanded that the new man make concerted, innovative and “un-ashamed” use of sports psychology as he aims to build mental resilience in the face of the “world’s most intensely passionate” press. After suggesting the unveiling was “getting close”, Glenn on Wednesday outlined his remit.
“The British press, like it or not, are probably the most intensely passionate about the game in the world and that has a spill-over effect,” he told the BBC. “The consequence of which is people probably play not to make a mistake, as opposed to play to win.
“So the new manager’s got to be someone who can inspire people to get the best out of themselves, build resilience and unashamedly adopt the kind of psychological techniques that other sports and other football teams have done. To really to inspire people that when they put their England jersey on they play as well for England as they do for their club.”
Glenn said he and his fellow head hunters - Dan Ashworth, the FA technical director and David Gill, the Vice-chairman who have a mandate to appoint the new manager but want to follow protocol by receiving ratification from the full FA board - had “consulted widely in the game and spoken to a handful of people.” Such feedback - frequently from former internationals kept reiterating one message: the need for mental toughness under media scrutiny.
“Speaking to ex-players that have performed well for England it’s a pretty consistent theme, which is resilience under pressure,” said Glenn, whose insistence that media pressure is more intense in South America or even other parts of Europe is, nonetheless, highly contentious.
“Why is that? We need to understand it better. It’s two things: it’s confidence in there being a match plan and it’s personal resilience especially now at a time of massive social media.”
While Allardyce - who pioneered the use of psychology in English football - was formally interviewed, the recruitment panel held less formal discussions with Steve Bruce, the Hull manager as well as speaking to at least one other candidates on a shortlist believed to also have included the United States coach, Jürgen Klinsmann and Bournemouth’s Eddie Howe. Glenn said he had spoken to “a handful” of contenders.
Apart from being well versed in psychology, the FA are adamant the new manager must not be a “short-term mercenary” as he will be handed a brief that extends well beyond the senior side. Significantly such a job description will be of immense appeal to Allardyce.
“We’re not after a short-term mercenary, someone just to do the job for a couple of years,” said Glenn. “I want someone to come in to the England role to really work with not just the senior team but to make sure all the great work with the Under-16s, 17s, 18s - look at how well the Under-19s are doing now - continues and to knit all that together. We want someone to do a great job for the England national team but as well make sure all the development teams are laddering up to something more effective. We’re clear about what we’re looking for and we’re making good progress.”
(Guardian service)
