Sam Allardyce sacking tough but necessary, says FA CEO Martin Glenn

The following is a transcript of his comments to FATV.

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Glenn: "A very difficult 24 hours. In the light of the media allegations that we've seen, we've concluded and Sam's agreed that his behaviour has been inappropriate and frankly not what is expected of an England manager, discussing a range of issues from potential contraventions of FA rules through to personal comments that frankly just don't work when you're the manager of England.

"It's been a really painful decision because obviously we've only just hired Sam, and Sam we think is a great fit for England manager and we think could have been extremely successful.

"But the FA is more than just running the England men's team. We have to stand up for the other right behaviours across the whole game. We're the guardians of the game, we set the rules and we have to be seen to apply those rules consistently and evenly, whether you are the England manager or someone low down in the organisation. And so that consistency, that trust that people have in us to be behaving in the appropriate manner is core to what any football association is about and is certainly true of the English Football Association.

"So it's a painful decision because we thought he was a great manager, but it's the right decision if we are to protect the integrity of the FA.

"Sam is absolutely distraught, he recognises that he made a terrible error of judgement and I think he recognises as well that whilst it's a tough decision that the FA are taking, he can see that at least we have a point.

"We are in good hands, we've asked Gareth Southgate -- the under 21 coach whose got really good international experience, he's got Premier League experience -- he will take charge of the team for the next four games from Malta through to the friendly against Spain. He's got good back office support, we'll be having a planning meeting with him later on this week and we plan to go and win those games.

"Well it's been a busy 24 hours so you might imagine we haven't got a process in place, but job one is secure the England team which with Gareth we're doing. Job two is we then need to reflect on what lessons needed to be learnt from what we've just gone through and how that might approach a new search. But I think the criteria of the person we're looking for will stay the same. The challenges with a very talented group of England players, how do you get the best out of them in tournaments? That's still the job to be done.

"Just once again how personally disappointed I am. I thought Sam already made a big difference to the FA, he came to St George's Park and showed real leadership there, had clear enthusiasm for the job at hand and I know personally he was deeply, deeply upset and deeply regrets the error of judgement. But I think he also understand why the FA have had to take this tough decision."