'No regrets' - Sam Allardyce says he is at peace with decision to quit Sunderland

Sam Allardyce says he has no regrets over his decision to leave Sunderland for his ill-fated spell with England in 2016.

Allardyce seemed to be on the brink of doing something special at Sunderland when England came calling after sacking Roy Hodgson after a disastrous European Championships.

He had assembled a good squad on Wearside and had guided them to safety with a great run in the second half of the campaign. It felt like a perfect fit, but he quit to take his dream job with England.

Sadly for Allardyce, he only lasted one match in charge of the Three Lions due to an undercover sting operation which filmed him discussing ways to circumvent FIFA’s third-party ownership rules – and negotiating a consultancy fee for himself to be involved.

It was a similar catastrophe for Sunderland too, with Allardyce’s replacement David Moyes getting the Black Cats relegated whilst managing to insult every fan in the process with his relentlessly dour defeatist demeanour.

The temptation is to always wonder how different things would be now for both Allardyce and Sunderland had he remained at the club and continued to build. He, though, says he has no regrets about leaving the club.

“No I don’t [regret accepting the England job],” Allardyce said on Kammy & Ben’s Proper Football Podcast. “I could not believe that they were going to give me the job or consider me.

“It was a chance that we threw our hat in the ring. When I had the chance before Steve [McClaren], that was one that come my way. To have the chance of managing England after you’ve just kept Sunderland up was just too good for me and it felt right.

“Me and Sammy [Lee] felt good, we did an awful lot behind the scenes to change things the right way, which is what we were told to do. Whether in the background, thinking back, did I upset them too much, did I try to change too much too quickly, that may be the case. Maybe then they used that as an excuse to get rid of me, I don’t know, you’d have to ask them.

“We changed so much at St George’s Park and we were getting into building a team to try and win the World Cup which was very exciting. Unfortunately, that was cut short for me, which was a great killer blow. It’s one you put to the side but never get over but I have got a 100% record though.”