Sam Allardyce is set to be named Everton’s new manager after negotiations over him succeeding Ronald Koeman at Goodison Park continued on Tuesday night, with the former Liverpool player and coach Sammy Lee expected to become part of his coaching staff.
The former England manager, who has been out of work since leaving Crystal Palace in the summer, is due back from holiday on Wednesday and is expected to meet Everton’s major shareholder, Farhad Moshiri, to finalise his contract, believed to be worth around £6m a year. Initial talks with Allardyce’s representatives broke down earlier this month but it is understood that Everton returned to the 63-year-old after it became clear Watford were not interested in allowing Marco Silva to leave Vicarage Road.
The former Leicester manager Craig Shakespeare is also likely to be named as part of Allardyce’s coaching staff, with Lee set to resume his partnership with the manager he has previously worked with at Bolton, England and Palace. They are expected to be in place in time for Saturday’s Premier League match against Huddersfield, with David Unsworth taking charge of his final match as caretaker against West Ham on Wednesday night.
Allardyce had previously pulled out of discussions to take over from Koeman, who was sacked following the 5-2 home defeat by Arsenal last month, citing the club’s indecision as his reason.
“It never materialised as I thought it would, unfortunately,” he said. “There was such a long time without a decision, so I had to make a decision myself. I decided it was probably better it wasn’t me and I’d move on to something else. It would have been a fabulous job but it just didn’t feel right. I think when you’re in my position, you want people to be decisive and feel like they want you. I didn’t get that feeling overall. They were hesitating that I was the man.”
