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End of Rooney's England career? New manager Sam Allardyce refuses to guarantee his captaincy or place in the squad

The big man also promised to be pragmatic and get England back to winning ways.

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Sam Allardyce and Wayne Rooney
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In his first press conference, Sam Allardyce looked to lay down the law and also assure people that there’d be no special treatment for big names. While expressing that he was very proud of getting the job, he said: “I have a very warm feeling about taking up this position. I’m very proud. First of all, I want to qualify for the World Cup and take it from there.”

He added: “I want to get among all the staff that England have in place already. I want to look at things psychologically, and see if we can help in anyway there. I’ll look at all areas, coaching, tactics, nutrition, the whole package.”

When asked about Rooney’s captaincy or his place in the squad: “No, I’m not answering that. It’s too early to say.” 

He also promised a more pragmatic England and said focus will be on bonding. He added: “The bonding of the team is exceptionally important and trying to get the group together. I want my team to have fun.”

He said his focus would be on qualifying for Russia 2018: “We’re two years way from the World Cup but we must focus on qualifying. Then we can focus on the in-depth issues. We all had great hopes because of the way we qualified for them. I hope when we get there (Russia 2018) I can answer that question better then. We can’t change the past. We can only focus on the future.”

He added that he didn’t know what went wrong in Euro 2016 but was keen to fix it. He said: “I’ve not seen a lack of passion or determination or desire among the team. I have to identify what went wrong [at Euro 2016] but I’m not going to dwell on that. I’m trying to create an environment that has a feel-good factor about it and players able to deal with what is thrown at them.”

Rooney by the way had hailed Sam's appointment. He had said: “I think it's a good appointment. He will probably bring a different way of playing to England. Hopefully it's a good way and we can be successful under him."

What the footballing world thinks of Big Sam 

Sam Allardyce, a man who best known for saving teams from relegation and giving big teams a hard time on the pitch, is the new manager of England. Certainly, this has been coming and football has treated Sam a little unkindly. A man who has always believed that he could manage the Inter Milans and Real Madrids of the world has been stuck with the likes of Bolton, West Ham, Sunderland and Newcastle.

Allardyce has always maintained that he never got a bite at the big apple, the elite teams in England because his name wasn’t ‘Allardici’, and there’s some truth to his assertion. Since the Premier League began in 1993, not a single English manager has won the league (the last one to do so was Howard Wilkinson with Leeds United). The glut of big-spenders hasn’t just harmed the growth of English footballers, who are forced to compete with foreigners from across the world, but English managers who seldom get a shot as more and more owner bring in managers from all over. Now Sam has the chance to prove all of them wrong. Maybe there are happy endings in life, like in football.

Just as Leicester City rewarded the ‘Tinkerer’ Claudio Ranieri with a Premier League title in the twilight of his career, ‘Big Sam’ Allardyce has the chance to right some wrongs as he takes the big one, the England manager’s job. Described as a ‘ball-playing defender’ in his playing days by his close friend and veteran manager Dave Bassett “He was what I called a ball-playing defender... If he wasn't playing with the ball he was playing with your balls”.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, the man who was rumoured to take over as England manager before he reportedly turned it down, has cried to the high heavens about Sam Allarydce’s teams. But Wenger like others have begrudging respect for the big man, going so far as to say he’s the right man for England.

Former Arsenal player and a hard man in his own right, Martin Keown used to hate playing against his Bolton Wanderers. He wrote for the Daily Mail: “Big Sam made those matches horrible, ugly encounters — and he took great joy in getting something out of them. His art was taking opposition teams down to Bolton’s level and I remember one game up there cost us a title, I made the mistake and I couldn’t get the thought out of my mind of his big smiling head. That was my view of Sam Allardyce then. “

All the top names in the game from Sir Alex Ferguson to Jose Mourinho have backed Big Sam for the England job. Mourinho, who in spate of anger once described Big Sam’s style as ‘19th Century football’ has accepted that Sam is perfect man for the job.

Even Pep Guardiola, one of the most venerated managers in world football, who has become the manager at Manchester City spoke excitingly about facing Sam Allardyce. 

He had said: "I am pretty sure it will be completely different in England to in Germany. That is why I am here. I need to adapt my ideas to the quality of the players. You have to find each other as soon as possible.”

"I never played on a Boxing Day. I have never been to a stadium where it is windy and freezing and the pitch is not good. It's a target for me. I want to prove myself here. "Against Sunderland, against Big Sam [Allardyce], in the first one, I am sure it will be completely different."

Well Pep Guardiola might not have to face Big Sam but for the rest of the world, it’s time to discover England again. 

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