Finally, Sam Allardyce has been confirmed as the new manager of Everton Football Club.
Having been in the running to replace the Ronald Koeman from day one, the former England manager appeared to have ruled himself out of the job after holding talks with the club’s owner, Farhad Moshiri, earlier this month.
After a failed approach for Watford’s Marco Silva, talks with Allardyce were re-opened earlier this week, the 63-year-old inking an 18-month contract.
🔵 | #EFC can confirm the appointment of Sam Allardyce as the Club’s new manager on a deal until June 2019. pic.twitter.com/fa9cjsE0HN
— Everton (@Everton) November 30, 2017
In a statement, Allardyce explained that the ‘attraction of the club itself’ proved decisive in him opting to return to football management, having left Crystal Palace at the end of last season.
“The attraction of the club itself, the people I’ve known at the club – Peter Reid is one of my best mates, so are Andy Gray and Paul Bracewell whom I worked with at Sunderland – these people have always made me aware of just how special and unique a club Everton is and I feel really enthused and energised to come in as manager. I’ve always thought Everton was a great club. It is a great club. Obviously, the club has gone through a difficult spell and hopefully I can put that behind us as quickly as possible and start looking upwards again.
“Because, ultimately, it’s the ambition of the club, the ambition of the owner and the board, allied to the fact that it’s Everton and all the fantastic history, which have proved to be key for me. Ambition is important for any manager or coach, owner or director. It’s what you need to have and hopefully we can deliver to the fans to get this club high up the league. That’s what we’re aiming for.
“And we’ve got to try to keep our heads up and push ourselves until we make sure we get that better. The fans are the most important people at any football club, of course, and we have to give the players every possibility to play to their best, really give them no excuses for not playing to their best and get them right back up to the top level we believe they’re capable of. Last season showed what the club is trying to build and we need to demonstrate that level of ambition and assuredness again. We can. It’s a question now of putting in the work to do that and I’m really enthused by the prospect.”
Having been present at Goodison Park for the 4-0 victory over West Ham on Wednesday night, Allardyce will take charge of the Everton team for the first time for the weekend visit from Huddersfield.
