Sam Allardyce’s appointment as the England’s manager is expected to be delayed until today to allow Sunderland and the Football Association time to finish haggling over compensation. Roy Hodgson’s successor is then likely to be presented to the media at some point next week.
With David Moyes set to be swiftly installed as Allardyce’s successor on Wearside, negotiations are not regarded as a major problem but reflect the anger and frustration of the Sunderland owner, Ellis Short, at the manner in which the FA poached his manager.
Considering Allardyce had only a year outstanding on a club contract worth around £2mn a year the deal appears straightforward. It has, though, been slowed slightly by Sunderland’s desire to gain a little more than £2mn by way of recompense for the disruption caused to their transfer plans and pre-season preparations. Short was particularly irritated by the near two-week hiatus that followed his manager’s interview for the England job and plunged the club into limbo.
It had appeared Allardyce’s final act as the Sunderland manager would be his departure after half-time from Wednesday’s 3-0 friendly win at Hartlepool but the 61-year-old was back at the training ground putting Jermain Defoe and co through their paces on Thursday morning. Although barred from speaking to reporters until matters are concluded he slowed his car sufficiently to offer waiting television crews a thumbs-up on the way in.
A meeting of the FA board at Wembley yesterday morning rubberstamped a decision made by Martin Glenn, the FA’s chief executive, Dan Ashworth, the technical director, and David Gill, the vice-chairman, before moving on to other business expected to occupy them for the remainder of the day.
Allardyce, who has agreed a two-year contract worth £3.5mn a year with an option to extend the deal for a further two years, informed his players he was the England manager during half-time at Hartlepool. The news of the appointment they had long anticipated emerged as they travelled to Victoria Park on the team bus.
The jubilation of the escape from relegation has subsided and Allardyce had become frustrated in recent weeks, particularly after Short told him Sunderland’s transfer budget would be around 50% less than the manager had hope for.
Now Moyes, the former Everton, Manchester United and Real Sociedad manager whom Short has twice courted in the past, will have to try to persuade the owner to speculate to accumulate. Under the guidance of a new chief executive in Martin Bain, Sunderland have still to make a signing, although a deal for Aston Villa’s Micah Richards is believed to have been agreed in principle.

Big Sam ‘more than ready’ for England: Mourinho
Shanghai: Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho yesterday backed Sam Allardyce’s impending appointment as England manager saying he was a ‘good choice’ for the job.
“I think it’s the right person for that job,” Mourinho told a news conference in Shanghai on the eve of the International Champions Cup match against Borussia Dortmund. “I think he’s a good choice. I think Sam never had a big chance at the highest level; lots of experience in the Premier League but never that big one and now he has the big one. I think he’s more than ready.”
Allardyce is set to be chosen as new England manager at a Football Association board meeting at Wembley today, FA chairman Greg Dyke said. “Big Sam”, as the Sunderland manager is known, has been selected by a three-man FA panel from a shortlist that included Hull manager Steve Bruce, Bournemouth chief Eddie Howe and USA coach Jurgen Klinsmann.
Allardyce is also thought to have received a strong recommendation from former Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson and the new Old Trafford boss agrees. “I think he’s a good motivator. I think he can create a good team spirit with his players,” said Mourinho.
“And I wish him the best from my side and not just as a friend but as a Manchester United manager. I can promise is that I am going to try to support him.”