Sam, what else.

Day -625. #WorldCup2018

Oh Sam. What have you done? You had made it. From the often ridiculed manager of smaller clubs, laughed at for your different methods that were ahead of most other teams in England, snubbed by the big clubs, to your dream job: manager of England. When you got that appointment you probably went home, enjoyed a few cans, threw on a DVD of Jay Jay Okocha and Ivan Campo in their finest moments for Bolton and stuck up your middle finger at the dart ridden pictures of Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho in your basement man room. I did it, you poncy twerps in your designer suits and league champions medals.

When you got the England job I surprised myself that I was a fan and in agreement. This is what England need, I thought, somebody who can shake things up, one of the lads who says it as it is; a coach who will not stand for any whiny players and any "oh look at my latest haircut photos on instagram" distractions.

But, Sam, you couldn't give it all up, could you. The loutish, uncouth character that the the critics of your appointment, well, criticised you for was in the end your downfall after 67 days. 67 days. I feel terribly disappointed for you. The dream job gone because you couldn't say no to a bit more money on the side after sitting around having some beers with a couple of dudes who did a pretty good job of playing the parts of shady investors from the Far East. Making fun of Roy Hodgson's speech impediment, saying that Gary Neville should sit down and shut up, and calling the FA's Wembley stadium redevelopment stupid really didn't help at all. But really it was about the money and the interest in making deals on the side, deals that would break FA rules and make yourself some more money for yourself. This is the same FA that hired you, that trusted you, that had faith in you to not only make the England team a whole lot better than that sad Euro 2016 bunch, but also to bring some respect back to English football. And now, just as the laughter from Italy, Germany, France, Spain was dying down after that Iceland loss there is probably a lot more snickering from Munich to Madrid. Hire the saviour and fire him after 67 days. Who is on that hiring committee?

So Sam is gone. I predicted a while ago, about 67 days ago, that he might slip into retirement in Iceland, sometime after Euro 2020, and end up living in Steven Lennon's basement. Now what will he do. How do you get over that life-shattering disappointment?

Well, maybe, here is the answer.....

In other news today, Aston Villa carried on with their quest for a record number of draws in a season. I am not making this up. It's almost as though they want to fulfill my prophecy. They came close to messing it up, but thankfully conceded an equalizing goal in the last minute. All eyes are on the manager, Roberto di Matteo, who's mandate of promotion is not looking very attainable.

In further English Championship news, Derby County suspended their manager, Nigel Pearson, because of his "behaviour". It is rumoured that he will not return.

Di Matteo could be gone, Pearson is pretty much unemployed and you know what the obvious thought is. All of a sudden Sam's bad day could lead to him being back in his element. Nobody will be laughing for much longer when him and his new team bully their way to promotion.

Maybe it just wasn't meant to be, Sam. Maybe there is supposed to be a different ending, that doesn't involve Steven Lennon and a basement in Iceland.