I COULDN’T help cringing as I scanned the Telegraph’s article on Monday night, knowing full well the storm which was brewing.

As a reporter at Sam Allardyce’s home town newspaper, covering the club he took to unimaginable heights, I cannot help but feel embarrassed on his behalf.

We knew he had his critics in the national media and that they would be waiting for the first big mistake. To make it this easy for them hardly bears thinking about.

Whether the detail within the expose is enough to make the Football Association take decisive action and relieve him of his job after just one game, I have my doubts. I think as he drove away from his home in Bromley Cross this morning, he was heading for a slapped wrist of epic proportions.

But Allardyce knows full well he has now loaded a gun for his critics and will do extremely well to stay out of their sights in the short term.

Sam Allardyce allegedly filmed in newspaper sting advising fake businessmen on how to sidestep FA rules

Even journalists who backed his appointment, lobbied for it even, have been forced to admit the ugliness of what came across in the two interviews.

To see the England manager reduced to calling himself a “keynote speaker” and seemingly selling himself in such a manner leaves a sour taste in the mouth.

Anyone who has spent time in Allardyce’s company – and particularly in a ‘social’ environment – will know he loves to hold court. If the FA expected him to transform instantly into the blazer-wearing, line-towing type, then more fool them. But equally Sam knew there were boundaries, that the role entails a level of acceptable behaviour, and some lines have clearly been crossed here.

Sam wisely removed himself from the conversation on “bungs” and also told the reporters – masquerading as Far East businessmen – that he would have to seek some clearance from the FA before going ahead with what was discussed around the dinner table. He would never have been given such permission. Of course, and with those two aspects of the story so well-hidden it is important to show he did not completely lose his sensibilities.

He should have dodged the questions about third-party ownership too, although his revelations are hardly spectacular.

Some things just look bad in print and while I can imagine the tongue-in-cheek nature of his comment about the royals, Roy Hodgson or Gary Neville, they just stoke the fire. They are not sackable offences on their own, in my view, but the FA may just decide they can spare their own blushes and bow to popular demand.

Elation spread around the town when Allardyce got the job and folk in this neck of the woods will always back him to the hilt. Unfortunately, his uneasy alliance with those further south has just been tested.

Big Sam has always had a big appetite to match – but that is a lot of humble pie to eat.