SUPER SAM THE BIONIC MAN

At 61, Sam Allardyce is well suited to becoming England's next manager. Worried? Well don't be, he should have been given the job 10 years ago, after Sven's reign, when the FA went with Steve McClaren and Sam was considered inappropriate. The rest is history.

Sam has had experience with some of the more notorious English coaches. David Bassett, well known for the Crazy Gang, described Sam as a "long ball defender". John Beck, one with the long ball philosophy, noted that Sam being described as a long ball coach was "indefensible" and as a player he was not confortable with the ball, so he would either give it to a team mate or play safe and launch it! Simple.

Born in 1954 in Dudley, Sam's wish was to play for Wolves but he went from Bolton to Sunderland, Millwall, Tampa Bay, Coventry, Huddersfield, Bolton again, Preston NE, West Brom, Limerick and PNE again in 1992. This covered 479 appearances and not many goals.

As a coach he started at Limerick in 1991-2, then joined Preston, went to Blackpool where he was sacked by Owen Oyston, who was at the time in prison, followed by Notts County (who didn't take to his methods), Bolton for 8 years, Newcastle, Blackburn Rovers, West Ham (where again he was misunderstood) and now Sunderland (where he is troubled by a lack of signings). This covered 956 games.

Sam is not a POMO man. He is one of the pioneers of applying Sports' Science to his methods, he includes psychology, transcendental meditation, yoga and Prozone in his daily preparation of teams and players. Players appreciate his organisation, preparation, defensive strategy, set plays attention and man management. Notice anything about this list?

Many may regard a 50 yard pass as a cultural moment whereas if one of Sam's teams used it it was described as a"hoof". There's nothing wrong with a long ball is there?

So whilst Sam has a job at Sunderland still, he may well be given the call from the FA and hopefully a younger coach will be put along side him to learn from the master.

Sam may not fit the FA profile if he continues to chew gum, wear baseball caps and get overexcited in the technical area, but needs must.

If it does not work, Sam has ownership of a motor spares' business, a fast food restaurant, a couple of pubs, a social club and a piano bar in his portfolio to fall back on

.