FORMER FA CHAIRMAN Greg Dyke has labelled Sam Allardyce “stupid” in the wake of his departure as England manager.
Allardyce’s contract was terminated by mutual agreement on Tuesday after the Daily Telegraph published footage claiming to be from a meeting in August between a pair of undercover reporters and the 61-year-old, ending his tenure at just 67 days.
In the footage, Allardyce allegedly told two men purporting to be from a Far East investment firm how they might “get around” FA regulations concerning the transfers of players under third-party ownership.
And Dyke, who left the organisation earlier this year, pulled no punches in his assessment of the saga.
“Look, he has got a job that is worth £3million-a-year, so what is he doing groping around to pick up a few more hundred thousand pounds?” he told Sky Sports.
“I think the things he said to comparative strangers were very unwise. If you are going to say to strangers, these are ways to get around the FA’s rules on player transfers, as the England manager, you’re in trouble.
I think he has been stupid. It’s just a ridiculous thing to do. He just got the job he dreamed of and he got £3m-a-year plus bonuses if they did well. So why on earth does he go and have a meeting where they are offering him £400,000 and why on earth does he start telling them about these things which are irrelevant.
“But it tells you something about the man, that just after getting the England job, he is prepared to go to a meeting to get another £400,000. What is he doing that for?”
Dyke also claimed Allardyce’s predecessor, Roy Hodgson, would not have attracted the same controversy.
“I got to know Roy [Hodgson] very well and the character of the man, he is not driven by money,” he added.
“He was well-paid but not driven by money. I don’t think he would have made the same mistake, but you never know with people, who knows and particularly with football where there’s so much money.”
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