IF Sam Allardyce is going to be offered the England job, he will have to beat off a host of top English and Continental names writes Neil Bonnar

The Bolton Wanderers manager is the bookmakers' favourite to be installed as Sven-Goran Eriksson's successor after this summer's World Cup Finals.

It is an indication of the meteoric enhancement of Big Sam's reputation that he is considered a more likely choice to lead the national team than the likes of fellow Englishmen Steve McClaren and Alan Curbishley, respected Irishman Martin O'Neill and hugely successful foreigners Ottmar Hitzfeld and Guus Hiddink.

Allardyce has a lot going for him in the race for the biggest job in English football.

The biggest plus factor is that the FA are widely believed to prefer an Englishman in the job next time.

That would narrow the choice down to major home candidates Allardyce, Curbishley and McClaren.

Allardyce's record also makes for a strong argument.

His transformation of Bolton Wanderers from a second tier club to an established Premiership outfit on a comparatively shoestring budget has been noted by Football Association chiefs.

Much could depend on how much the FA are prepared to appoint someone who speaks his mind.

Allardyce has never been afraid to say what he thinks and, consequently, has been no stranger to controversy during his tenure at Wanderers where he has regularly hit the headlines for his criticism of referees, his appeals for more transfer money from his employers and, only recently, his verbal attack on BBC radio commentator Alan Green.

The FA's intolerance of controversial comments allegedly made by Eriksson in the "fake sheikh affair" suggests they might shy away from someone with a record of speaking his mind.

If they are looking for establishment men, Curbishley and McClaren would be seen as safer choices.