Allardyce on the Very Limit of Logic

If Sam Allardyce is still wondering why he didn’t get the England job (as well he might in view of the identity of the man who did) he could do far worse than contemplate the deeper implications of his own comments on the selection of Theo Walcott for the 2006 World Cup squad.

Apparently, he is quoted as saying: “I can’t see the logic, it is bewildering.”

What this suggests is that as far as Big Sam is concerned, it’s all a matter of logic. Very Spoklike – but surely if that was the case, lots of people (Sam included) could do it.

Evidently, his much vaunted logic tells him that “if Theo were that good he would have played for Arsenal. Just like Anelka did, just like Van Persie did. Fabgregas plays every week and he is the same age.”

Too right. Except that Anelka isn’t Walcott and Van Persie isn’t Walcott and Fabregas isn’t Walcott. And, most important of all, Sam Allardyce isn’t Arsene Wenger.

You could spend a lot of time on the differences between Allardyce and Wenger. One of them was a rugged, uncompromising centre half who, improbably and to his enormous credit, enthusiastically embraced modern ideas and made unfashionable Bolton Wanderers into an established Premiership club on a relatively small budget. The other one is a genius who has revolutionised one of the most famous clubs in the world and produced teams of spellbinding brilliance on a budget which is not so very much bigger than Bolton’s. One of them is, apparently, consumed by logic – which tells us that, while he should be admired for going as far as he can and further than most people would have predicted, it is probably just as well he was overlooked by England. The other man’s vision has made him arguably the best and most coveted manager in world football, because time and again he demonstrates that he can see, and do, things which are beyond the reach of other managers. Things that transcend mere logic.

That is precisely why we should find the inability of Sam Allardyce (and plenty of others) to comprehend why Arsene Wenger recommended Theo Walcott for England’s World Cup squad very reassuring. And it is also why we should be encouraged by the fact that it is advice which Sven Goran Eriksson was intelligent enough to take.