Sam Allardyce 'set to be sacked as England manager', Telegraph to release ‘relevant transcripts’

The 61-year-old was left reeling on Monday night by revelations from an undercover report by the Daily Telegraph, in which he negotiated a £400,000-a-year deal to do talks with a fictional company in the Far East. He also branded rules on third-party ownership of players "ridiculous" and suggested that it was "not a problem" to find ways around them.

And The Times's chief sports writer Martyn Ziegler reported at lunchtime on Tuesday that the FA is "close to sacking Allardyce as England manager after allegations he used his position to negotiate a £400,000 deal and appeared to offer advice on how to circumvent rules on player transfers."

Ziegler's piece states that FA chairman Greg Clarke and chief executive Martin Glenn "are understood to be extremely disturbed by the allegations" as they hold an emergency meeting.

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The pair are said to be waiting to hear Allardyce's side of the story, and had requested transcripts of the meeting - a request that has now been partially granted, with the Telegraph willing to hand over "the relevant transcripts" relating to Allardyce.

However the article adds that, "from what has been revealed so far they are understood to have major misgivings over whether he can continue in the job...

"The judgement may come down to whether allowing him to remain as England manager will store up even bigger problems for the FA in the longer term, especially if the governing body has to deal with other disciplinary issues arising from The Telegraph investigation into football agents and managers."

Many newspaper analysts had written Tuesday morning that Allardyce has a 50-50 chance of being fired by the FA, who apparently spoke to the manager last night and then met him on Tuesday.

One other newspaper report stands out, in which it is claimed Sam Allardyce himself believes he is to be sacked as England manager.

The report in The Sun claims that the ex-Bolton boss thinks he is in the firing line: "Sam Allardyce has told friends he thinks he will be sacked as England manager," the paper declares.

"Allardyce, who replaced Roy Hodgson as manager in July, was quizzed by FA chiefs on Monday.

"And after the meeting he told friends he believes the England bosses will sack him before next week’s World Cup qualifier with Malta."

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The FA have reportedly asked the Daily Telegraph for full, unexpurgated transcripts of all the meetings they held with Allardyce. Until that information is in the public domain it's very difficult to know for sure. As it stands the Telegraph are willing to hand over what they deem the "relevant transcripts".

And The Times article has just enough in the manner of caveats to suggest that Ziegler's information is probably impeccably sourced, but not concrete.

As for The Sun's story? It is co-written by their chief writer Neil Custis, whose opinion piece about Allardyce is written with such a tone of regret and sadness that it's not hard to imagine that the pair have genuine rapport. That opens up the possibility that he and Neil Ashton have indeed been briefed.

Then again, why wouldn't Allardyce expect to get sacked? The old adage of "prepare for the worst, hope for the best" would seem to be a good one for Big Sam.

Being England manager isn't just about following rules, there is also an element of needing to be morally unimpeachable - as Glenn Hoddle found out when he lost the job over 15 years ago for expounding controversial religious beliefs, of all things.

On the evidence of what has already published, Allardyce's reputation - never great to start with - has been tarnished further. That alone might well provide enough motivation for the FA to swing the axe.

There's one other possibility, however: Sam's admission "to friends" also makes it sounds as if he's full of genuine remorse at what he did, something that might not be lost on the FA. And it's remorse that might just save him to fight on.