Abu Dhabi: England football fans in the UAE have reacted with dismay to the news that Sam Allardyce has been appointed as the Three Lions’ new manager.
“What a dull appointment,” Chris Harper, 34, a freelance journalist from Devon who lives in Al Barsha, Dubai, told Gulf News.
“He’s worse than [previous manager] Roy Hodgson. He’s never won a major trophy and has a poor winning record.
“It’s another safe choice. They need someone who will revolutionise things. I don’t think that’s Allardyce.”
Clare Slater, a 29-year-old marketing executive from Portsmouth, bemoaned Allardyce’s reputation for playing route-one football.
“It would be nice to see England not only winning, but also playing good football and Big Sam will have us hoofing it up the pitch,” Clare, who is based in Tecom, Dubai, said.
Dave Luckman, a 45-year-old financial advisor from Burnley, who works in Abu Dhabi, expressed similar sentiments.
He fears England will revert to a limited gameplan under the 61-year-old ex-Sunderland manager, similar to the one employed under the much-maligned former boss Graham Taylor in the early 1990s.
“I would have preferred us to have got Glenn Hoddle back again, as he was a progressive coach who got us playing good football,” he added.
“I really fear we could go back to the dark days of Taylor.”
But Paul Newman, a 37-year-old chartered surveyor from Taunton who lives in Dubai Marina, insists Allardyce will be a success, hailing his strong character and use of sports psychology.
“He’s not boring and has an unfair reputation for not playing good football,” he said. “Hodgson was clueless with his team selection and tactics, so Allardyce can’t be any worse than him, and Big Sam has shown he can handle talented players with big egos, such as Jay-Jay Okocha at Bolton.”
“He’s good fun and can also bust a move,” Newman added jokingly, referring to a video of Allardyce dancing while on holiday in Ibiza in May, which went viral on social media.
