Sam Allardyce officially appointed new Sunderland manager
After a brief courtship that began after the resignation of Dick Advocaat, Sam Allardyce, unemployed after leaving West Ham United at the end of the 2014-15 Premier League season, has been hired as the new manager of Sunderland. The former Bolton, Newcastle and Blackburn boss has joined the club on […]

After a brief courtship that began after the resignation of Dick Advocaat, Sam Allardyce, unemployed after leaving West Ham United at the end of the 2014-15 Premier League season, has been hired as the new manager of Sunderland. The former Bolton, Newcastle and Blackburn boss has joined the club on a two-year deal, Sunderland announced Friday.

Sunderland chairman Ellis Shorts called him “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.

Sunderland sits 19th in the Premier League after eight rounds of the season, one of two teams yet to win a game. Last weekend, the team gave up a 2-0 lead to visiting West Ham, with Advocaat resigning his position after the 2-2 draw.

SEE MORE: Advocaat is wrong; Sunderland have the talent to stay up.

The Dutch head coach had originally planned to retire after guiding Sunderland to safety after last year’s midseason appointment. The 68-year-old announced his resignation on Sunday.

Allardyce had spent the last four seasons at West Ham, leading the team out of the Championship and to 10th, 13th, and 12th place finishes in the Premier League. After last season, though, Allardyce’s contract was not renewed, with the club eventually hiring Slaven Bilic to take his place.

Allardyce had spent the beginning of the new season in Spain. However, after Advocaat’s resignation, he and Sunderland worked quickly to finalize a deal.

From Sunderland’s statement:

“I have enjoyed my break from football and now I’m raring to get back. 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.

“Of course it’s a challenging job, but it’s something I have experience of in the past.  I’m looking forward to working with the players and of course I will be relying on the help of the Sunderland supporters, whose tremendous passion I have experienced first-hand.  I can’t wait to get started.”

Allardyce’s managerial career began with Preston North End in 1992. Since, he’s made stops at Blackpool, Notts Country, Bolton Wanderers, Newcastle United, Blackburn Rovers and West Ham United. During his longest spell, a nearly eight-season run with Bolton, Allardyce had a 41.2 percent win ratio (371 games), taking a second-tier club and eventually qualifying them for the UEFA Cup before leaving the club in April 2007.

Sunderland returned to Premier League action on Saturday, Oct. 17 at West Bromwich Albion. Eight days later, rival Newcastle will visit the Stadium of Light for Allardyce’s first Tyne-Wear derby against his former club.

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