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LONDON. — Sam Allardyce was late yesterday set to be confirmed as the new England soccer team manager. Let that sink in.

Forget Arsene Wenger, forget Guus Hiddink and wipe the thought of Steve Bruce from your mind entirely and never let it enter again. Big Sam is the man.

In the words of Senor Allardici himself, his shot at the England job has been a long time coming.

“I should have got it and, as I’m a better manager now than I was then, I believe I should be in the running whenever it comes round again,” he wrote in his autobiography 12 months ago.

“That’s not vanity or being full of my own importance. My track record entitles me to be considered.”

And he’s right, Allardyce is the right man to take control of the English national team after years of disappointment – not just recently under Roy Hodgson.

Bolton, Newcastle, Blackburn, West Ham and Sunderland isn’t the most fashionable route to one of the most coveted jobs in world football but if there’s one man who won’t be overawed by a high-pressure battle, it’s Allardyce.

England are a team without personality. Managers gone by have tried to follow a Spanish model, attempted to emulate the Germans but very few have stuck to their guns and played an “English style” – without trying to turn this into a Mike Bassett sequel.

In very basic and simple terms Allardyce has become the master of turning a group of average footballers into a team capable of grinding out important wins and picking up invaluable points.

England are a group of average players. It’s better we just accept this now and embrace reality.

Life as a fan of the national team is about to change, hopefully for the better…

Allardyce may have spent a fair chunk of his career embroiled in relegation battles, but he always ends up safe. Why? Because he’s organised, he’s disciplined and he’s shrewd.

If there’s one thing you can be sure of going into World Cup 2018, if England can’t score, there’s absolutely no chance the opposition will.

His tactics with Bolton and West Ham became infamous for both defending and attacking set-pieces and, given Harry Kane’s efforts at Euro 2016, an improvement can’t come soon enough.

In an attacking sense, Sunderland survived relegation last season by focusing on a tight defence before launching into a quick counter-attack and, considering Jamie Vardy scored 24 goals via the long ball over the top, Allardyce will undoubtedly play to his strengths. — Metro.