Sam Desperate For England Role

By Mark Heys
May 1 2006

Sam Allardyce has admitted that he is pleased to be back in the running to become the next England manager following Luis Scolari's decision not to accept the post.

The Bolton manager thought he had been pipped to the post following the Football Association's decision to offer the job to World Cup winning manager Scolari but the Brazilian's shock rejection of the job now means the race to succeed Sven Goran Eriksson is wide open again.

"I've been disappointed once and thought it was all over, Scolari had been offered the job and I felt a little bit down having come so far. And then lo and behold in the space of 24 hours things have turned around and you're back in the frame again.

"I've just got to keep my fingers crossed for a dream, dream job and a dream come true for me and wait as patiently as possible for the outcome. I'm more than keen. I've never hid that from anybody, it's my dream job. I'm an Englishman and I'm passionate. I'm very good at what I do and I think I'd be very good at doing it particularly at this stage of my life. I'm hopeful but not until I get the phone call will I know for certain."

A fresh announcement is said to be close over the coming days and Allardyce and his Middlesbrough counterpart Steve McClaren are said to be at the forefront of the media speculation.

Another candidate in the shape of Alan Curbishley resigned as the Charlton Athletic manager yesterday evening following fifteen years at the helm but he moved quick to deny claims that his shock decision had anything to do with the England speculation of the last few weeks.