Hartlepool 0 Sunderland 3: Sam Allardyce watches Jermain Defoe bang in two before he heads off to take England job
Jermain Defoe bags two in hint to manager that he wants an international comeback - while Pools DJ play England song
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THREE LIONS over the tannoy. Three Lions on his chest very soon.
News of Sam Allardyce’s imminent England appointment spread to Victoria Park just in time for the Hartlepool DJ to rejig his playlist.
Five minutes before their pre-season friendly with Sunderland got underway, Baddiel and Skinner’s big hit rang out around the ground.
It is one of two anthems Big Sam will hear blasted out on a regular basis before matches in the upcoming seasons.
England were suffering 30 years of hurt when Three Lions was released in the summer of 1996.
Following this summer’s Euro 2016 debacle, it is now 50.
Can Allardyce make football come home?
That is now his sole aim — not what he was witnessing last night at The Vic.
A clear sign of Allardyce’s mind being elsewhere came when he took a phone call half-an-hour into Sunderland’s clash with the League Two minnows.
One Black Cats fan in the terraces quipped: “That’ll be Kevin Nolan asking for a call-up.”
That punter was one of 3,859 Sunderland supporters who had made the short trip down the A19 to witness the last game of the short-lived Allardyce era.
But there were no chants or banners pleading for their beloved boss to say.
They were wise enough to know nothing could sway Allardyce from taking up the one job he has craved for so long.
Before kick-off, Big Sam smiled as he signed autographs for fans wanting a piece of the next England chief.
He then squeezed into the cramped Hartlepool dugout.
It was certainly a far cry from the comfy Wembley seats he will now be parking his backside in.
And he was actually given some send-off from his Sunderland stars who wrapped up a 3-0 win.
Allardyce put out his best XI available from the start and they ran in three goals in 20 minutes.
Jermain Defoe — maybe in line to earn an England recall under Sam — scored twice, while Wahbi Khazri also netted.
But after Allardyce changed his entire team for the second half, he did not reappear in the dugout after the break.
Taxi to Wembley?
If so, Allardyce may have left the North East thinking the Sunderland side he has moulded are looking in good shape ahead of the new season.
But his exit is an upheaval Black Cats owner Ellis Short really could have done without.
The Texan must have thought he had nailed down the perfect boss.
But instead he is now on the hunt for his SEVENTH boss in five years — and his fourth in just 16 months.
Yet that is the last thing Allardyce will care about now his country has come calling.
It is see you later Sunderland, and hello Slovakia on September 4.
