An opinion stated, free of malice or prejudice. I cannot see Big Sam being a success.

[BLUEAWAY]

Not that I care, but its an appointment that to me lacks everything bar a quick decision.

[Vimana.]

I'm sure most won't care and I'm not sure I do, but England should be a decent and capable footballing nation. They deserve better then the predictable 'merry'-go-round of false dawns, over-hype, and predictable failure and backlash.

I'd be surprised if Sam A. is the man to turn it all around.

But then, I was initially underwhelmed by Cookies appointment, as were many of us.

[Gabalphaville]

I think he'll do OK for them. He'll make the Ingurland camp a happier place to be and he'll make the relationship between them and the press less dysfunctional. He'll have a firm idea of what system to play and will pick the right players to fit that system. This might involve lumping the ball up to Andy Carroll but at least it's a plan.

[TruBlue]

I think he's a good choice for them. England need to stop trying to play a style where their players don't have that ability.

If it's a case of pumping it to the big man, they should do that. Allardyce will play to their strengths rather than trying to Spain.

[Trigger]

I don't think it will work out. They will play quite a direct game which will get them through qualifying but then be found out by the nations capable of keeping the ball in the major tournaments.

I actually think they were on the right path, they have a lot of fairly talented younger players, for much of the campaign they kept the ball well. Chance creation is where they failed. The mistake is to almost rip that all up and give it to a guy that will play Andy Carroll.

[AlwaysAway2]

Not trying to be funny here

With England's record if he can get them to the World Cup and it takes place..... All he needs to do is mastermind a couple of big game wins and if they make a quarter final it will be measured as a success surely.

Why oh why do people think England should be so much better than their record shows.

I like the man. It will certainly make them more interesting. Even to us Welsh fans.

[the other bob wilson]

I think he'll do OK for them. He'll make the Ingurland camp a happier place to be and he'll make the relationship between them and the press less dysfunctional. He'll have a firm idea of what system to play and will pick the right players to fit that system. This might involve lumping the ball up to Andy Carroll but at least it's a plan.

On the face of it, someone like Allardyce is much more suited to club football management, but I reckon his scientific approach could make the long breaks between fixtures work in his favour because he and his team will be better able to get the most out of the fairly short time he will get with the players.

I've always thought of Allardyce as a long ball manager, but, as he pointed out, Sunderland played nearly all last season with the five foot ten Jermaine DeFoe as their main striker, so maybe that's just me being lazy with my thinking about someone who is a proven English manager at Premier League level and there aren't too many of those around currently - I think he'll be an improvement on the last two England managers at least.

[NYCBlue]

With the talent England have, there's no reason why they can't play a bit of football. Having said that, they're rarely if ever going to be much more than a quarter-finals team. I think (and always have thought) it's down to the players' mentality more than anything. They just can't concentrate on getting the job done like Italy or Germany.