Timing is everything. The Football Association and Sam Allardyce suffered further embarrassment on Thursday when all the players received postcards from their now ex-manager under the headline ‘The journey has begun’. The message to the players who defeated Slovakia in their opening World Cup qualifier read: “Well done! Our journey has begun with our first win together. Looking forward to seeing you soon. Sam Allardyce.”
The cards were sent out on Tuesday, the day Allardyce lost his job. The FA had already thrown out 4,000 T-shirts that the ruling body was planning to give away to fans at Saturday’s World Cup qualifier against Malta because they had a similar Allardyce quote on the front.
Allardyce has gone on holiday to “reflect” on his misfortune. Whether or not he sends any more postcards to players remains to be seen.