Big Sam the England manager - what next for England and Sunderland?

The worst kept secret in football has been converted from secret to fact with the appointment of Big Sam as England manager. It was closely followed by the second worst kept secret in football when David Moyes was appointed the new boss of Sunderland. There are many facets to this story and I'll use this blog to take a look at some of the more interesting ones.

Are Sunderland unlucky?

The fact is that the club have finally found a manager who is a great fit for them - and lost him. Sam Allardyce has been fantastic for the club. His tactical awareness and transfer dealings have transformed the club. We were looking forward to a season without a relegation battle for the first time in a long time. I honestly think that the three promoted teams, Bournemouth, Watford, Swansea and maybe a few others will finish below us in the Premier Lessgue - LINK. If we were able to operate in the transfer market and add a quality right back, a back up centre half, midfield creativity and some help for Jermain Defoe then I saw really positive things for the club. To lose a manager just before the season starts (as a pose to our usual method of losing one half way through) is really unfortunate. The club needs decisive action, but that hasn't been our strong suit of late.

The future for England

There will be thousands upon thousands of words written about this. In my view England always appoint a manager as a reaction to what the previous manager was lacking of perceived to be lacking-

• Sven wasn't English enough so we went for Steve McLaren.
• McLaren hasn't enough discipline so we went for Fabio Capello.
• Capello wasn't English either (I don't know why it took us years and millions of pounds to realise this) so we went English again and plumped for Roy.
• Roy was tactically inept and defensively poor so we've gone for the man who isn't that. We've got Big Sam.

I think that the success of Wales, Iceland and to a degree the two Ireland's will have also turned the FA's heads. Success with limited players (we have to admit that this is us) can be achieved by being organised and picking the right team rather than shoehorning the best players onto a formation that doesn't work. France left out some big players for varying reasons and were rewarded with a place in the Euro 16 final. England need to work in the same way and Sam Allardyce is the best fit to achieve this.