Sam Allardyce sacked by Everton despite leading Toffees to safety

Former England manager Sam Allardyce has left Everton, despite ensuring the club’s Premier League status remained in tact.

Allardyce, 63, was parachuted into the club in November after the woeful start by predecessor Ronald Koeman – and subsequent caretaker David Unsworth – which saw the Toffees languishing in 18th.

Despite the club’s reported interest in both Marco Silva – in charge of Watford at the time – and Shakhtar Donetsk manager Paulo Fonseca, Allardyce penned a deal until June 2019.

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But after Everton finished the season in 8th, the club opted for a change of direction.

Professor Denise Barrett-Baxendale told the Everton website: “On behalf of the Chairman, Board of Directors and Mr Moshiri, I’d like to thank Sam for the job he has done at Everton over the last seven months. Sam was brought in at a challenging time last season to provide us with some stability and we are grateful to him for doing that.

“However, we have made the decision that, as part of our longer-term plan, we will be appointing a new manager this summer and will be commencing this process immediately. Again, we’d like to place on record our sincere thanks to Sam for his work with us over the last few months and wish him well for the future.”

After more than five weeks of searching for Koeman’s successor, Allardyce – who has never been relegated from the Premier League – was appointed.

The former Crystal Palace and Bolton coach was seen as a short-term option to ensure Everton’s survival, so it came as a surprise to many when he was handed an 18-month deal.

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He spent more than £40m on Theo Walcott and Cenk Tosun in January, seemingly indicative of his long-term future at the club, but chairman Bill Kenwright and Farhad Moshiri have relieved Allardyce of his duties.

Silva remains the favourite to take the helm at Goodison Park, having left Watford in December.