Sam Allardyce has ruled himself out of contention for the Everton job after the Toffees took too long to make a decision on him.
Former West Ham, England and Crystal Palace boss Allardyce had first emerged as a contender for the job, which has been undertaken on an interim basis by David Unsworth since Ronald Koeman’s sacking on 23 October, last month but Everton appear to have prevaricated over a string of candidates.
A formal approach for Marco Silva was blocked by Watford, who expect the Portuguese to continue at Vicarage Road, whilst Sean Dyche, Diego Simeone and Nuno Espirito Santo have also been linked with the hotsteat.
The 63-year-old last week hinted he would be willing to speak to Everton should they approach him but today told Talksport that he had used the intervening period to rule himself out of consideration.
“It never materialised as I thought it would unfortunately,” Allardyce said. “For me, [after] such a long time without a decision I had to make the decision myself.
“It would have been a fabulous job but it just didn’t feel right.
“If it was going to be me it was getting in as soon as I can to have the international break to get settled in and unfortunately that didn’t happen for me.”
Had Everton appointed Allardyce Crystal Palace would have been entitled to £2million.
Allardyce resigned at Selhurst Park at the end of last season, having kept the Eagles in the Premier League against the odds. Palace accepted the decision but agreed that should he return to management within two years they would receive compensation.
