Shearer: Allardyce has made England a laughing stock

Former England captain Alan Shearer has spoken of his anger over the ignominious end to Sam Allardyce's reign as national team manager.

Allardyce and the Football Association (FA) terminated the 61-year-old's contract by mutual agreement on Tuesday after footage released by the Daily Telegraph allegedly showed him telling two undercover reporters posing as investors from a Far East firm how they could circumvent FA rules concerning the transfer of players under third-party ownership.

The video also appeared to show Allardyce criticising his immediate predecessor Roy Hodgson and assistant Gary Neville, along with the FA's expensive rebuilding of Wembley.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 live, Shearer said England football had somehow plummeted to a new low following the national team's humiliating Euro 2016 exit at the hands of minnows Iceland.

"I'm angry at the whole situation," he said. "I didn't think England could stoop any lower from what happened in the summer at the Euros.

"Now, here we are - a laughing stock of world football.

"We've got a problem with money. It's greed. It's that there's so much money in our game. People demand and ask for more. 

"That's the situation we're in now, we have to handle it now, we have to deal with it in the right way, we have to be able to accept people laughing at us."

England Under-21 boss Gareth Southgate will take charge of the senior side's final four matches of 2016 as a permanent successor is sought.

Southgate's fellow ex-Three Lions defender Rio Ferdinand echoed Shearer's sentiment, speaking as pundit on BT Sport.

"The rest of the football community around the world will be laughing at us," he said. "The England role has become comical.

"This was a man who was passionate about getting the job. He forced the FA to act.

"Naivety seems to be the word coming up. It's disappointing for English football."