TheCable

Sam Allardyce has blasted Everton FC management for making sweeping boardroom changes without informing him or his staff.

Allardyce discovered that he had been sacked during a meeting with owner Farhad Moshiri in London on Wednesday.

The 63-year-old veteran coach will be paid an estimated £6m, which is a chunk of what he would have earned in the final 12 months of his contract.

“I’m shocked, disappointed and disgusted that the football club didn’t have the decency to tell me, my director of football and my staff about the changes,” Allardyce said.

“They must have been in the pipeline for a considerable time but no-one thought to tell me and my staff. I’m pretty disgusted.

“I came into the football club with the team struggling and we have finished 8th in the table. I’m more than happy with what myself, my staff and the players have achieved from when I came in.”

In a statement confirming Allardyce’s sack, the club said: “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.”

Despite guiding Everton to an eighth-place finish, Goodison fans have turned on Allardyce and the team urging major shareholder Moshiri to make a management change.

The ill-feeling reached a crescendo during the 3-1 defeat at West Ham in the final game of the season on Sunday.

Former Watford manager Marco Silva is understood to be Everton’s preferred choice to replace him.

Allardyce took the Everton job he took in November 2017.