Former Football Association chairman Greg Dyke has described Sam Allardyce as "stupid" after he found himself caught up in a media sting.
The 61-year-old was forced to resign from his post as England manager yesterday after The Telegraph published secret footage in which Allardyce negotiated a £400,000 deal to represent a Far East firm and offered advice on how to "get around" third-party transfer rules.
Dyke, who left his post just prior to Allardyce's appointment as the replacement for Roy Hodgson in July, said that he had been left baffled by the former Sunderland manager's actions.
"He has got a job that is worth £3m a year, so what is he doing groping around to pick up a few more hundred thousand pounds?," Dyke told Sky News. "I think the things he said to comparative strangers were very unwise. If you are going to say to strangers, 'these are ways to get around the FA's rules on player transfers', as the England manager you're in trouble.
"I think he has been stupid. It's just a ridiculous thing to do. He just got the job he dreamed of and he got £3m a year plus bonuses if they did well. So why on earth does he go and have a meeting where they are offering him £400,000? And why on earth does he start telling them about these things which are irrelevant?
"But it tells you something about the man, that just after getting the England job, he is prepared to go to a meeting to get another £400,000. What is he doing that for? As an England manager you have to be whiter than white."
Speaking to reporters this morning, Allardyce said that he had made "an error in judgement and... paid the consequences".
Neil Wilkes
