Sunderland appoint Sam Allardyce as manager

The Black Cats and Allardyce were in discussions after Dick Advocaat quit as manager last week. Allardyce has been appointed on a two-year contract at the Stadium of Light.

“I have enjoyed my break from football and now I’m raring to get back," said Allardyce, who parted ways with West Ham after four years in charge at Upton Park in May. "I met with Ellis and we spoke at length about the club and his ambitions and I knew I wanted to be part of that.

“I hope to be able to help to bring the stability and success that everyone wants.

Allardyce has been on holiday in Spain, with Sunderland chairman Ellis Short tasked with tempting the 60-year-old back into top-flight management.

“I am very pleased to welcome Sam to our football club," said Short.

“Sunderland is a club he knows well and he was the obvious best choice for the job. He has vast experience of managing in the Premier League and an understanding first-hand of the north east and the passion of our fans, which will stand him in great stead.

“I would like to assure our fans that once Dick made us aware of his intention to leave, Lee Congerton oversaw an organised and structured recruitment process, that bore very little resemblance to what has been described in the media.

“For example, this was a very popular job, proactively sought after by a large number of managers - contrary to much of what has been portrayed. The process was made easier by the fact that Sam was such an obvious choice.

“The other misconception is that Sam had to be persuaded to join us; nothing could be further from the truth. From the very beginning, he understood the importance of this job and showed great enthusiasm for the role and a desire to be part of moving this club forward.”

The former Black Cats defender was quickly identified as the leading candidate for the post following Dick Advocaat's departure last Sunday and was installed as the overwhelming bookmakers' favourite in recent days.

His proven track record for establishing clubs in the top flight makes him attractive to Short, who has seen Sunderland flirt with relegation for too much of his reign, only rescuing themselves with remarkable late runs at the end of each of the last three campaigns.

Advocaat only signed a one-year contract extension in the summer after leading the north east club to safety last season, but decided he was not the man to turn things around at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland are bottom of the Premier League table, without a win from eight fixtures.

When you want to avoid relegation to the Championship and miss out on being part of the biggest television deal in football history next season, who are you going to call? Big Sam is the natural choice for a struggling club because he knows what is needed to bring stability and security to a Premier League concern. Sunderland are bottom of the Premier League, but they are suddenly in a safe pair of hands. After years of appointing the wrong manager to the position, they have the right man in Sam. Like Liverpool fans should be excited about Jurgen Klopp, Sunderland supporters should be satisfied their club have seen sense by bringing in the expertise and talent of Allardyce, who interestingly enough also has a point to prove to Newcastle owner Mike Ashley that an Englishman with a track record in England is worth hiring.