Sam Allardyce refuses to confirm Wayne Rooney as his England captain

Let’s be honest, Big Sam wasn’t giving much away in his first England press conference.

It’s only been a month since England were dumped out of the Euros in a highly-embarrassing defeat by Iceland, and you can’t blame the man for keeping his cards close to his chest as he assesses who will be in his first squad for the game against Croatia in September.

Wayne Rooney was England captain in France, where he played a midfield role while the likes of Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy and Daniel Sturridge were given roles in the striking berths. The Manchester United man’s role in the England setup was inevitably one of the first questions to be asked by the media at St George’s Park on Monday.

Pressed on whether Rooney would stay on as England captain, Allardyce explained that such talk was premature.

“No, it’s far too early to make any more predictions of that kind,” he said.

Allardyce has over a month to decide on who will be in his first England squad, and when he does, he probably won’t be calling on Stuart Pearce. The former international gave his predicted England XI to Sky Sports News in the moments before the press conference began – much to the amusements of England supporters.