Wednesday 13 July 2016 17:15, UK
In 2006, Sam Allardyce was interviewed for the vacant England manager's job after Sven Goran Eriksson's departure. It didn't go according to plan.
"I wanted to do a real knock-your-socks-off interview for the FA, so I put together a PowerPoint which looked at every single detail," Allardyce wrote in his autobiography.
"There was nothing missing. Nobody but nobody was going to beat it.
"But then Brian Barwick, the chief executive, told me there were no PowerPoint facilities at the interview venue, so I had to print off hard copies for the panel. So much for the progressive FA."
Allardyce, then manager of Bolton Wanderers, may be making that trip south again soon to convince the FA's task team, this time sitting among the bookies' favourites and with some ringing endorsements to be Roy Hodgson's successor.
Ten years later and wiser, does he have a chance? We assess the pros and cons...
The FA have given no indication that they will look solely for English candidates for the job, but having only ever appointed two foreign coaches to varied success, a man with vast Premier League experience may be preferred.
"It's very difficult to think of the right man and there are only three English managers in the Premier League. With Sam's experience, he is the obvious choice."
Those are the words of Sir Alex Ferguson, a man who should know. Certainly as Englishmen in the Premier League go - alongside Eddie Howe and Alan Pardew, with Steve Bruce and Sean Dyche joining them for the 2016/17 season - 61-year-old Allardyce is indeed the obvious choice.
He has 15 years of Premier League experience, more than Howe (one year), Dyche (one year), Gareth Southgate (three years), and Alan Pardew (seven-and-a-half) combined.
Even fellow English bookies' contenders Glenn Hoddle (five-and-a-half years) and Steve Bruce (nine-and-a-half years) have less.
But choosing the man for biggest job in English football should not be a mere box-ticking exercise. Allardyce's qualities go beyond his nationality and top-flight longevity.
In October 2015, Sunderland did what Aston Villa should have done. Having picked up three points from eight games, Dick Advocaat left the club, and the Black Cats went in for Allardyce, ultimately staying in the Premier League after taking 27 points from January to May.
He entered, stabilised, and got the best out of what was a misfitting, average bunch, while identifying three men in January who would aid recovery in Jan Kirchhoff, Lamine Kone and Wahbi Khazri.
"The man-management side of it has always been good for me - it's worked quite well," said Allardyce in May. "Man-management is the biggest part of the job today.
"It's your guidance and determination, your belief, your desire to achieve certain goals and to set out those goals to the staff behind the scenes and then to players."
He did it with Blackburn, too, taking them from the relegation places in December 2008 to comfortably clear of safety come May, and Bolton from the bottom half to the Division One play-offs and an FA Cup semi-final in 2000.
Meeting every two to three months, an England manager must work quickly to group players, communicate tactics and instill a winning mentality. Like him or not, Allardyce has proven he can tick that box.
Putting 100 per cent qualification campaigns and friendly wins in Berlin aside, an England manager is almost entirely judged on his ability to get the most out of 23 players over a six-week period every two years.
The short, sharp, business end is where Allardyce prevails. The business end is where England always perish.
The biggest question mark weighing Allardyce down is his lack of big-game experience.
In that 15-year top-flight management career, he has taken charge of only eight games in Europe; in the UEFA Cup with Bolton in 2005/06.
Granted, he lost only one of those, but Allardyce's lack of experience at the top end of the league leaves a hole in his CV when placed next to the likes of Arsene Wenger, Guus Hiddink, Laurent Blanc and even Harry Redknapp.
Another blotch on that CV came at Newcastle, seen by many as his biggest, most pressured job, and what could have been his route to the very top. He was sacked after only eight months and 24 Premier League games.
"If you don't deliver what they want, you'll get criticised," said Allardyce about Newcastle. "Their fans are passionate about what they think the club should be. The history doesn't tell you that but they don't change."
Sound familiar? Allardyce was on the receiving end of West Ham fans' annoyance towards the end of his four-year spell at Upton Park, gaining a reputation for nurturing a dour style of football.
In international football, style is becoming less and less relevant. As England proved, technique and possession doesn't get you where it once did, while heart, team spirit and fight does.
As Sunderland's Jermain Defoe told BBC Five Live last week: "Sometimes you can't make it pretty and play good football. Football is about results. It doesn't matter how you play."
"One hundred per cent [Allardyce is good enough for England]. If you look at the players we've got - especially with the younger players with their legs and the energy. One hundred per cent."
Could Allardyce squeeze the best out of England's multi-million pound stars? His perceived lack of experience of looking after a large group of egos would be used against him, but the likes of Nicolas Anelka, El Hadji Diouf and Youri Djorkaeff may beg to differ.
Raiding relegation-threatened Sunderland for their manager may also not sound glamorous, but remember, England's last three English bosses have come from West Bromwich Albion, Middlesbrough, and a third-tier Fulham.
The FA now have a choice; go for the international-renowned boss with pedigree, of which they could surely attract a few, or a slightly less glamorous Englishman with obvious flaws but huge potential gains. The latter would be the braver option.
