The English FA should have sacked Sam Allardyce rather than allowing him to resign as manager of the national team, according to Dietmar Hamann.
Allardyce stood down yesterday after only 67 days in charge having being caught making unguarded comments in a sting by the Daily Telegraph.
The 61-year-old was filmed talking to undercover reporters posing as businessman about how to get around Football Association rules on third-party ownership and making derogatory remarks about the FA and high-profile figures in the game.
Speaking on RTÉ's Champions League coverage, the former German international said sacking Allardyce would have sent out a stronger message.
Hamann also questioned why Allardyce was appointed to the England role in the first place.
"Should he have been appointed in the first place?" Hamann asked. "If the FA looked into it, probably not."
"I think they were so desperate that they asked 'Who is the best man available?'
"Now the best man available isn’t always the best man for the job and I think they did make a mistake, they did make an error of judgement."
The former Man City and Liverpool midfielder also said the disregard Allardyce showed for the FA and for football fans "beggared belief".
As regards where the FA go from here, even Hamann is unsure, although he cautioned a patient approach.
"Where they go from here, I do not know. They need to take their time.
"[Gareth] Southgate is in charge, he’s very loyal, he’s got integrity, he’s got accountability.
"I think they’ve got to go down this route because I think they caused quite a bit of damage in the perception of people across football."
Liam Brady agreed that Allardyce had to go in the wake of the revelations.
"When you're England manager you have a certain standard to live up to and he's let that standard down badly," Brady said.
"I thought he was out of the order. When he spoke to those people about the players, about some of the former staff, that was totally inappropriate. I think he hadta go.
"He walked into it, he was very stupid but I have no problem with him going."
