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West Ham plan to discuss Sam Allardyce’s future before the end of the month, amid speculation that Sunderland remain keen to recruit him next summer.
The Wearside club today appointed Dick Advocaat until the end of the season in place of Gus Poyet but Allardyce, whose own future at West Ham remains uncertain, is admired by Sunderland owner Ellis Short.
West Ham continue to insist that no decision has yet been made on Allardyce, whose contract expires at the end of the season. Initial discussions regarding his future will take place in the next two weeks in a meeting which, it is understood, has been planned for several months.
Should Allardyce leave, West Ham’s preferred option is David Moyes, who is managing Spanish club Real Sociedad after his ill-fated spell at Manchester United. Rafa Benitez and Slaven Bilic are other names under consideration.
One contentious subject continues to be the presence of Tony Henry at the club. Appointed by co-chairman David Sullivan last September, he looks certain to be heavily involved in summer recruitment despite the presence of chief scout Martin Glover, brought in by Allardyce when he joined the club. Interestingly, Henry worked with Moyes at Everton.
Allardyce would prefer to stay at West Ham and lead them into the Olympic Stadium in 2016, if a new deal can be agreed. He has consistently delivered what has been asked of him since succeeding Avram Grant in June 2011 and took the club as high as fourth place in the Premier League earlier in the season.
Allardyce enjoys living in London and feels he is building something special at West Ham.
A demoralising 4-0 FA Cup defeat by West Brom last month, one win in the last 12 matches and injuries have diluted West Ham’s earlier success and the West Ham board will be hoping for an improvement in the final nine games of the season.
QPR are also rumoured to be watching the Allardyce situation carefully but he is unlikely to be interested in either them or Sunderland, should they be relegated.
The 60-year-old would also need a lot of convincing to go back to the North-East, following his spell managing Sunderland’s fierce rivals Newcastle.
