NEIL ASHTON Sir Alex Ferguson will tell the FA that Sam Allardyce is their man to replace Roy Hodgson as England manager
Manchester United legend is adamant that Big Sam is the only candidate to lead the Three Lions after Euro 2016 disaster
Posted Friday, July 01, 2016 by Thesun.co.uk
SIR ALEX FERGUSON'S conversation with the FA will be short and sweet. Big Sam is his man.
If Fergie has his way, the next England manager will be picked from a field of one.
The former Manchester United manager is English football's king-maker, the first port of call for FA vice-chairman David Gill.
They are still buddies, big buddies at that, from their days working together at Old Trafford.
Gill, drafted in by chief executive Martin "not a football expert" Glenn, is there to bring stature and gravitas to the selection process.
Anyone who has ever kicked a ball is about to be asked by the three-man taskforce for their views on Roy Hodgson's replacement.
There is no bigger voice than Sir Alex's.
It will take a brave man to ignore the most successful manager in Premier League history.
Sam Allardyce has Fergie's backing, convinced that he deserves a crack at the biggest job of all.
It is also the one he has always wanted. He has shouted it from the rooftops for years, telling anyone who cared to listen about his ambitions to coach the national team.
If Fergie gets his way, Sunderland chief Allardyce will finally get that chance.
It has certainly come to something when the FA are sounding out a Scotsman about the identity of the next England manager.
Fergie hated the FA when he was at Old Trafford, referring to them as "that lot" during his frequent brushes with the governing body.
Now they need him, turning to Fergie for advice before they appoint England's next manager.
Fergie believes Allardyce has always over-achieved, making the most of his resources at Bolton, Blackburn, West Ham and now on Wearside.
The exception is Newcastle, where he was sacked by Mike Ashley after just 24 games at St James' Park.
While the football is not always easy on the eye, Allardyce gets results.
Fergie admires him greatly for that.
Their relationship is deeper than the fawning, yawning tradition of a post-match glass of red in the manager's office at Old Trafford.
They often discussed players, tactics and swapped gossip when Fergie was managing, something that is still in place to this day.
He also knows just how much Allardyce wants this job.
He was considered once before, bundled into a blacked-out people carrier and taken to a stately home in Oxfordshire to be interviewed by the FA.
That was in 2006, when Sven-Goran Eriksson left the role after England had been knocked out in the quarter-finals of the World Cup on penalties by Portugal.
Steve McClaren, incredibly, was the man chosen to succeed the Swede.
Allardyce has spoken more recently about the role, convinced that the FA will go for "a sexier name" than him.
All that counts is finding a football manager to win games when the pressure is on.
Allardyce has the support of other big names, with League Managers' Association chairman Howard Wilkinson — and former Three Lions caretaker boss — preparing to back Allardyce for the job.
David Moyes, another influential LMA voice, is also a supporter.
If the FA ignore Allardyce's claims on the job this time, there are other United connections in the air.
Steve Bruce, who captained the Red Devils to their first Premier League title in 1993, wants to be considered despite saying yesterday he is staying at Hull.
Rio Ferdinand, one of the best central defenders in the club's history and a player who won 81 caps, wants to work with former Three Lions coach Glenn Hoddle in the national set-up.
They are among the English alternatives but Allardyce has the biggest claim on the job.
He also has the biggest cheerleader.
JOHN STONES' development at international level will trouble the FA after Gareth Southgate turned his back on the interim post.
Southgate is regarded by leading figures within the FA as getting the best out of the defender during his progression through England's teams.
Stones, who did not play a single minute at Euro 2016, would have benefited from Southgate's advice if he had worked with him in the senior squad.
That chance has gone after England's Under-21 coach made it clear that he has no interest in becoming caretaker manager of the country.
Stones is one of the high hopes at the FA after making his way through their development programme. But his form tailed off for Everton towards the end of the season.
And the 22-year-old did not get a sniff during England's hopelessly short stay in France.
His composure on the ball is one of the character traits being encouraged across the junior teams.
But that is all going to waste while he is on the sidelines.
MUCH has been made of Iceland's tiny population — but some Fifa number crunching put England's loss into a proper perspective.
Forget total populations, according to their Big Count census, Iceland have 21,508 male and female players registered with the FA.
That figure is dwarfed by England (1,485,910) and fewer than Pakistan (64,400), Cuba (46,425), Fiji (30,088), Tanzania (26,318), Haiti (24,424) and Puerto Rico (23,770).
Fascinating stuff, but, for Roy Hodgson, the only statistics that matter were on the scoreboard in Nice on Monday night.
SWEDISH star Zlatan Ibrahimovic's move to Manchester United was delayed until he received a Paris Saint-Germain loyalty bonus yesterday.
Ibrahimovic, 34, retired from international football after his country's Euro 2016 exit.
He spent four years at PSG and only confirmed his move to United after the bonus landed in his account.
SOUTHAMPTON did a smart bit of business by agitating for the deal taking Sadio Mane to Liverpool to be completed before June 30.
Saints' financial year ended yesterday, which is why they were in such a hurry for the Reds to agree to their staggering £30million valuation on Mane this week.
That massive fee will look good in another healthy set of accounts, which will be published later in the year.
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