Sam Allardyce, England Manager

Warning.

To my friend Tony, this is about football.

So, it came to pass that this week The FA announced that Sam Alladyce was to be the new England Manager on 2 year contract. "Big" Sam has been described as being a "Marmite" kind of manger in that some love him, others hate him, with little inbetween.

Am I bothered? Am I a Sam fan?

In truth it don't really matter that much; in the 20 years since England last made the semi-finals of a major tournament, England have had:

Terry Venables: it was under his leadership that England made those semis when the Euros were held in England. They weren't that good, but won ugly, except for scoring four past Holland. But then he got implicated in some financial dealings, and resigned. He was replaced by....

Glenn Hoddle: A once great player, who was something of a rising star in football management, but in the 1998 Wold Cup, as usual, England made the knock out phase before being knocked out by the first decent team they played, in this case, Argentina. He was replaced when he suggested disabled people were disabled because they were being punished for something they did in a past life, or something.

Sven Goran Eriksson came in, mainly because he was seen as so boring, it might mean the British press might concentrate on the football rather than the manager's private life. Sadly, he turned out to like a bit of rumpy and had an affair with the only other famous Swede in the country, Ulrika Johnson. Under him England made the World Cup quarters (twice) and the quarters of the Euros inbetween. He resigned in the end, and was replaced by his assistant:

Steve McLaren. Sadly for Steve, he was appointed only after THe FA ballsed up the appointment of "Big" Phil Scolari, and so had to find someone else. So what better than the person who had learned everything that Sven knew. Well apart from Ulrika, probably. England failed to qualify for the Euros, with McLaren pictured sheltering under an umbrella as the game slipped out of England's grip. Thus was dubbed The Wally with the Brolly. He left for foreign climes, where he added a faux Dutch accent as he lead FC Twente to the Dutch title.

Fabio Capello was brought in, hired for several King's ransoms. And really failed to improve anything that had gone before, reached the knock out stages of the World Cup finals before being knocked out by the first decent team we played, and then he left after the FA suspended "nice" John Terry after he was facing a racism rap after swearing Alton Ferdinand

Afet Stuart Pierce was brought in for one game, Roy Hodgson was brought in. He had a glowing reputation for innovation early in his coaching career, but in recent years had been a disaster at Liverpool, so there were signs things would not go well. A quarter final run in 2012, without a win at the world cup in 2014, and then the failure to beat Iceland in France last month. Roy resigned.

I suppose my point here is, The FA have appointed managers from different backgrounds, different philosophies and tactics, and nothing really changed much. Players have come and gone, some with huge reputations, and yet they all pretty much failed when it mattered, and England rolled over once the knock out games begun. It don't matter really, in the short to medium term, who is manager, players are picked on form rather than on the job they might do in a stable team. Although passing has improved, creating chanes is what did for England this year, despite having Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy on the pitch, along with Rooney and Sturridge at times.

It was painful to watch.

As always.

Maybe Sam will inject some steel into the team, or create or mold leadership in one or more players. I don't think it will be a disaster, but then neither will it be the roaring success most will be hopeful of. We will qualify for the World Cup, maybe even get out of the group, then lose to the first decent team we play. Or Iceland. We will get angry for a few days, then the thought of the new season makes us forget how dreadful it all was for the next two years, when the cycle begins all again.