Sam Allardyce has been forced to walk away from his ‘dream job’ as England manager after being caught up in a newspaper corruption sting.
Big Sam was only in the job 67 days when he was captured on camera discussing how to bypass the FA’s third party player ownership rules and apparently negotiating a £400,000 speaking engagement deal with supposed Far Eastern businessmen, who were actually undercover reporters.
But the former Sunderland and West Ham boss has not walked away empty handed from his £3m-a-year England job after his contract was terminated by ‘mutual consent’ on Tuesday.
The Daily Mail report that Allardyce was handed a seven-figure sum on leaving English football’s top job barely three months in.
Despite the FA slamming him for ‘inappropriate’ conduct and a ‘serious error of judgement’, he looks to have got himself a £1m payout on his way out of the door.
That comes just months after the FA handed Sunderland £3.5m to secure the services of their then manager Allardyce, who helped them stave off relegation last season.
The 61-year-old had faced FA chiefs in a grilling at Wembley on Tuesday night after the embarrassing Daily Telegraph allegations broke.
The Daily Mail claim he was subjected to an ‘intense interrogation’ by FA chairman Greg Dyke and chief executive Martin Glenn – but the paper claims Glenn and FA technical director Dan Ashworth were reluctant to lose the manager they appointed back in July.
But time was called on his nascent England tenure which saw him manage the Three Lions for a single game against Slovakia.
He leaves his job with a figure of more than £1m, and according to the former England boss it contains a confidentiality clause. Not bad for 67 days works.
Gareth Southgate now steps up as England caretaker boss for the next four international fixtures although it’s unclear yet whether he will be offered the role full time.
What’s next for Allardyce after this scandal is less certain, although it’s believed he’s looking for a route back into management either in the Premier League or abroad.
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