Sunderland are cautiously optimistic they will be in a position to announce Sam Allardyce as their manager early next week after the 60-year-old agreed to open talks with Ellis Short, the club’s owner.
Allardyce had always been Short’s preferred candidate to replace Dick Advocaat, who resigned last Sunday, but the initial messages from the former West Ham manager’s camp were distinctly mixed and alternatives were sounded out. Now, though, he has returned to England from his holiday home in Spain and is expected to meet the London-based American financier in the capital.
With Allardyce bringing a series of demands to the table – most notably that Sunderland offer him autonomy over transfers while providing a decent budget to fund the purchase of players in January – talks may not be entirely straightforward but there is a sense he wants the job.
Short hopes the team’s former centre-half will be in place by the time Sunderland visit West Bromwich Albion on Saturday week. After that, Allardyce’s first home game would be against Newcastle United, the club that sacked him in January 2008 and where he remains intensely unpopular.
Sunderland have yet to win a Premier League game and are desperate to avoid relegation. Short is thought to be ready to abandon the director of football role occupied by Lee Congerton, who resigned last week and is working out his notice.
After stating he wanted a lengthy sabbatical after leaving West Ham in the spring, Allardyce was initially reluctant to accept Sunderland’s challenge. He is understood to have had reservations about both returning to the north-east and the feasibility of rescuing the club from relegation. Should discussions proceed as hoped Allardyce may agree to stay on only until the end of the season. However, Short is prepared to reward him handsomely for keeping the club out of the Championship, which means the former Bolton and Blackburn manager can not only expect a generous bonus for ensuring the in-debt club does not miss out on the new Premier League television deal which kicks in next season but is likely to become the best-paid coach in Sunderland’s history.
