England

England manager Sam Allardyce 'deeply embarrassed' by undercover filming

By Danielle Joynson, Staff Reporter | 27 September 2016

England boss Sam Allardyce reportedly feels 'deeply embarrassed' after he was secretly filmed by The Telegraph, but does not feel that his comments were corrupt.

England manager Sam Allardyce reportedly feels 'deeply embarrassed' after he was secretly filmed by journalists appearing to give advice on how to "get around" the Football Association's ban on third-party ownership of transfers.

Undercover reporters from The Telegraph, who were posing as businessmen for a Far East investment firm, filmed Allardyce during negotiations over a £400,000 deal.

The 61-year-old stressed that he needed to speak to his bosses at the FA before taking on an ambassadorial role, but he went on to give an opinion on a variety of topics, including third-party ownership.

Allardyce was also caught on camera mocking his predecessor Roy Hodgson by calling him "Woy", and described former England coach Gary Neville as a "wrong influence" during Euro 2016.

According to Sky Sports News, Allardyce is embarrassed by the media sting and plans to apologise personally to Hodgson, but while he accepts that he displayed poor judgement, he believes that his remarks were not corrupt.

It has been reported by The Times that the FA is close to sacking Allardyce after chairman Greg Clarke and chief executive Martin Glenn held an emergency meeting at Wembley this morning.

The FA pair are believed to be 'extremely disturbed' by the allegations surrounding Allardyce, who has been in charge of one match since his appointment in July.