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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 28 SEPTEMBER 2016 20 Sport SPORTTODAY FOOTBALL Allardyce odds-on to go Sam Allardyce has been backed into odds-on to leave his position as England manager amid an FA investigation into a media sting ENGLAND manager Sam Al- lardyce is odds-on with book- makers to lose his job following a newspaper sting that showed him ranting about a "corrupt" tax system, criticising the FA and seeking a lucrative role as an adviser in the Far East. Allardyce, who was appointed in July following the depar- ture of Roy Hodgson after this year's European Championship, has overseen one match - a 1-0 World Cup qualif ying victory over Slovakia. One of the highest-paid manag- ers in the game with a salary of around 3 million pounds a year, Allardyce was secretly filmed by the Daily Telegraph discussing England's failings with a group he had been told were business- men with interests in Singapore and Hong Kong. The 61-year-old discussed a deal where he would be paid 400,000 pounds for a series of visits and speeches, though he made it clear that any arrange- ment would have to be cleared with his employers - the FA. Local media reported that FA chairman Greg Clarke and chief executive Martin Glenn were discussing the issue after sum- moning Allardyce to Wembley. The Telegraph on Tuesday re- leased a second extract from the video showing a rambling Al- lardyce condemning the UK's tax operation - HMRC - as "the most corrupt business in Britain". The original film, released late on Monday, showed Allardyce criticising Hodgson and Eng- land's players after their Euro 2016 exit at the hands of Iceland, as well as mimicking Hodgson's speech impediment by referring to him as "Woy". The most contentious issue, however, is likely to be his com- ments about third party owner- ship of players. "You can still get around it," he said in reference to the ban on such arrangements introduced by the FA in 2008 and made worldwide by FIFA last year. Bookmaker William Hill cut the odds on Allardyce being sacked to 1-3 following a number of bets yesterday. "We have seen hundreds of bets this morning of up to 1,000 pounds all for Allardyce to no longer be manager of England by the time they next take to the field," William Hill spokesman Joe Crilly said. "You would have thought some details have been held back for later this week and we now think he's as good as gone." Allardyce's comments were the centre of debate in local and social media on Tuesday, with some condemning him for seek- ing to line his pockets so soon after his appointment and saying he should go. Others suggested that his com- ments, when examined closely, did not amount to anything wor- thy of more than mild censure. West Ham vice-chairman Kar- ren Brady, who worked closely with Allardyce when he was the club's manager from 2011-15, said: "This is a man who spent his whole life trying to get that job and got it in his 60s...and what a great shame if he loses that job through non-footballing reasons. I think he'll be disap- pointed in himself." In 1999 Glenn Hoddle was sacked as England manager af- ter comments he made about disabled people in a newspaper interview despite him apologis- ing for a "serious error of judge- ment". England's next game is anoth- er World Cup qualifier, against Malta on Oct. 8. Sam Allardyce is in hot water with the FA Klopp demands Liverpool improvement to mount title challenge LIVERPOOL manager Juergen Klopp has said there is still room for improvement if his team are to mount a serious Premier League title challenge this sea- son despite their impressive start to the campaign. The Merseyside club, who last won the league in 1990, demol- ished Hull City 5-1 on Saturday to move to fourth in the stand- ings, five points behind leaders Manchester City. Liverpool have won at Arse- nal and Chelsea, and thumped champions Leicester City 4-1 this season, with their only de- feat coming against promoted Burnley. "I don't like standing here with all these numbers and saying 'brilliant, brilliant'. It is as good as it should be," Klopp told Sky Sports. "We are a good football side, but we have to improve – not only in (defending) set pieces, but in a lot of things. We have done well, but Swansea is the next challenge and it's a big challenge. "Every- body feels good and that's good, it's better that we are all optimis- tic, but nothing has happened re- ally. Football is a nice and simple game on good days, but on other days you can't find a solution and that's what makes it interesting." The former Borussia Dortmund boss highlighted the importance of his high-energy, counter- pressing style. "If you win the ball back high up the pitch and you are close to the goal, it is only one pass away a really good opportunity most of the time," Klopp said. "So that's why I said no play- maker in the world can be as good as a good counter-pressing situation to show the players why it is so important." Klopp also praised the all-round ability of midfielder Roberto Fir- mino, who has scored three goals in all competitions this season. "Roberto is a player who is al- ways involved in offensive and defensive actions. He really likes doing things like this (winning the ball back) because it is a nat- ural skill that he knows," Klopp added. "It's a nice opportunity to win the ball and be close to the cen- tre-backs, that's why he is doing it – he doesn't think too much, he is an instinctive player and is really, really strong in those situ- ations." Juergen Klopp