Newcastle boss Allardyce: Eriksson was a England success

Newcastle will face Manchester City in the Premiership this weekend.

Allardyce said: “When you look back at his time with England a lot of people say he failed – but he didn’t really, did he?

“When you look at penalties and refereeing decisions and three quarter-finals he didn’t do badly.

“The refereeing decision which disallowed the goal in Portugal in the last minute, for something that was never a foul, can hardly be his fault.

“England got knocked out again in Germany – and they lost on penalties again.

“A lot of what is said about him being a failure is not true because there is such a thin dividing line and most of it was out of his control.

“He was never guilty of the wrong selection or choosing the wrong team.

“The results would then have suffered and he would have carried the can for that.

“But when it comes to a penalty miss or a disallowed goal, all of sudden you are supposed to be a failure because of that!

“Those are the pressures you are under with the top job in England.”