Sam Allardyce says he would consider a return to football management if the right international job presented itself.
The 62-year-old left Crystal Palace at the end of the season after just five months in charge and said he had “no ambition to take another job” in football, after keeping the club in the Premier League.
Allardyce, who saw his spell in charge of England last for just one match having previously managed Bolton, Newcastle, Blackburn, West Ham and Sunderland, plans to spend some time with his family before taking stock of whether he wants to take on another challenge on the international scene.
“For another club to say ‘come and save us’, I don’t think that is for me now. I have been there and done it,” Allardyce told TalkSPORT.
“If I have to consider anything, it would have to be an international position, and that would have to be obviously right for me and where I felt I would have a chance and perhaps maybe I could perhaps persuade [my wife] Lynn to allow me to do that.
“It is less demanding than the Premier League. The tension and the pressure is huge. When you are on international duty, it is all focused on you, but of course after that months go by before you meet up again, so that would maybe suit me, if I am enticed back into the game.
“It might be worldwide, you never know.”
Allardyce had a spell playing in the United States with the Tampa Bay Rowdies in 1983 and a move to coach in Major Soccer League has been suggested.
“There has been one or two offers, but not internationally and of course it is far too early for me to consider a position at the moment. Time has to elapse and see how I feel,” he added.
“I am going to spend some time travelling the world – me and Lynn have booked a fabulous holiday in Hawaii, so I am going to go there and chill out a bit.”
However, Allardyce accepts this first season away from managing a football club and working with players will be a testing period.
“At the end of the day, nothing lasts forever. You have to move on in life,” he said.
“I am going to miss being a manager and working with players, because it is a fantastic journey you have, as difficult as it might be, the camaraderie and relationships you build with your staff and owners is very important.”
The manner of his departure from the England job will always remain difficult for Allardyce to take, cut short after just 67 days in the aftermath of an undercover newspaper investigation.
“I understand it was my fault I went to these meetings, but I think that the decision done the day after was obviously something which shocked me,” he said. “I was in shock for two or three weeks just trying to get my head around what happened. I was in a daze, I was staring into the abyss.
“You have to get over it and as disappointing and as devastating as it was for me – I am bitterly disappointed that I am not the manager of England – but I have recovered from that.”
