SAM Allardyce's appointment as England manager would bring one of the most passionate men in the game to the country's top job.

After the disappointments of this summer's Euro failure and Roy Hodgson's departure from the post, it is clear the England squad needs an overhaul.

And with Allardyce in charge, there will be no more limp, listless performances from the national team.

When the Three Lions line up against Slovakia on September 4 they will have had a sense of pride re-instilled.

Defying critics who dismiss his methods as 'dark ages' football, Allardyce was one of the first in the English game to buy into the benefits of sports psychologists, nutritionists and stat-compilers, in order to give his players the best possible chance of success.

Commonplace now, these approaches were highly unusual back in the day and reaped great rewards for Allardyce, as legions of Bolton Wanderers fans will attest to.

A tremendous motivator, Big Sam has never lost his passion for football, as these pictures show.

We have raided the Bolton News archives to take a look back at the changing face of the country's top manager. The features may have changed slightly but his fervent nature remains the same.