Sam Allardyce the man to make England feared again - just ask Pep Guardiola

There was an interesting moment during Pep Guardiola’s first press conference in charge of Manchester City. The great Catalan coach, reckoned the finest in the world by large sections of footballing opinion (though clearly not by the guy setting up camp across town at Old Trafford), was talking about his new challenge.

What he was most excited about, Guardiola said, was proving that his systems, his methodology, his approach to football could withstand the more basic demands thrown up by the English conditions. The freezing wind and rutted pitch of a Boxing Day awayday was something he had never previously experienced. And he was somewhat wide-eyed at what awaits.

Guardiola used an intriguing example to sum up the scale of his task. What he was looking forward to, he said, was pitching his wits against a manager he referred to in almost mythologized terms as “The Big Sam”. Casting himself as the tippy-tappy David up against the scary Goliath of English football, he reckoned it would be the brooding giant lurking in the northern mists of Sunderland who was going to provide his sternest test.

Not any more. It looks likely that Guardiola’s wish to pitch himself against the most English of club managers is not now going to happen. Because The Big Sam is heading off to take charge of the national side. And the question is, should we who follow England now be as nervous about what might happen as Guardiola was at the thought of encountering him in the tunnel at the Stadium of Light?

For sure the appointment of Allardyce will make those who favour progressive football die a little inside. This is the man who once called Guardiola’s guiding principle of the tika-taka possession game a "load of bollocks". This is the manager believes the most effective of tactics is to chuck it in the mixer for Andy Carroll. What’s more, this is a manager who – for all the glowing endorsement he has been given for the England post by Sir Alex Ferguson – was never in with a chance of taking over from the great man at Old Trafford, nor indeed would he have been in with a shout of running any of the country’s leading club sides.

Yet getting all intellectual about where England should be heading, about the influence it should wield, about the importance of absorbing the best practice from the rest of the world, is rather missing the point of where the national side currently stands. England are hapless, hopeless and recently evicted from the European Championship by the country with the fewest inhabitants ever to have played in the finals of the competition. Furthermore, ours is a football culture so diminished that of the 20 managers currently in charge of Premier League clubs, only five are English, the highest-placed of whom was Alan Pardew at Crystal Palace who finished 14th last season. And even he has subsequently ruled himself out of contention for the England job.

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It is, in short, the perfect example of beggars unable to be much in the way of being picky about who they choose. If we want a locally born chap in charge, then the pool of relevantly experienced talent is shallow to the point of dried up. There is not the same choice available to the FA as to their Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French or German counterparts.

Indeed, once the home decision had been made, then effectively the shortlist was down to Allardyce, Eddie Howe, Sean Dyche and Steve Bruce. And while Howe and Dyche may have considerable virtues and may well prove themselves men for the future, neither boasts the depth and range of Allardyce’s experience (and let’s be honest, even in a four horse race, Bruce was a non-starter).

What’s more Allardyce actually wants the job. Which already puts him in a category of one.

In other words, this was as close to self-selection as the accession of Theresa May, picking her kitten-heeled way through the wreckage of the post-Brexit Conservative Party. Allardyce, like May, is as good as the last man standing.

For all the mockery inherent in the selection process (not to mention in the online memes of him dad dancing or nose picking), as Guardiola suggested Allardyce has a sizeable reputation among his peers. There is something forthright, straightforward and no-messing about his style of play. He is organised, coherent and together. Which are six characteristics nobody would fire at his predecessor.

Plus, if you were ever going to take on the England job, this is not a bad time to do it. Reputationally, there is nothing to fear: after their dismal effort in France this is a side that cannot sink any lower. Frankly a mute six-year-old could not have made a worse fist of things than the man whose name need not be mentioned.

And this is the point. As Wales demonstrated in the Euros, there is nothing inherently wrong with the game in this country. The Welsh made it to the semi-finals using players who had come through the same system as the English. There is no need for hand-wringing, root-and-branch reform. What we need is someone to make a better fist of what we have. Dier, Alli, Kane, Rashford: these are players who would excite any manager. Surely it is not beyond the wit of man to organise that lot into something approaching a coherent force?

We are in no position now to expect any great philosophical exemplar from our national team. We are at a point where we just need a bit of oomph placed under the most underperforming collection in the international game.

Over the years Allardyce has proven he can get the most of his players. That is simply all that is required of him: make England for once better than the sum of its parts. That is all he has to do.

He doesn’t have to embrace the beautiful game or stand as an exemplar for modern values. All he needs to do is make this lot play better. If he does that, then, like Guardiola, we can all stand in awe of his scale.