West Bromwich Albion parted ways with Darren Moore a few weeks ago despite being fourth in the Championship table at the moment, and James Shan has since taken charge until the end of the season.
It remains to be seen if earning promotion back to the English Premier League will earn him the job on a permanent basis, but former Three Lions boss Sam Allardyce has emerged as the favourite to become the Baggies’ next permanent manager, according to Oddschecker.
Big Sam, who has always been linked with every available job since he left Everton, has now responded to the West Brom rumours, claiming a possibility is on the cards if both parties reach an agreement.
“I’ve not had contact from West Brom, I can assure you of that. They’ve gone a long time without appointing a permanent manager, it’s been a few weeks now. I’m surprised the position they are in. Darren lost his position. It’s strange, fourth in the table and pushing for promotion,” the former Everton boss told talkSPORTS.
“Do I want the job It’s not a question of if I want the job. It’s a question of whether the club contact me personally or my agent to say “what is the position What do you want me to do What do you expect me to do and what I think I am capable of doing for West Brom
“If it gets to that stage and everybody is comfortable with that, maybe then it is a possibility.”
“I’ve had no contact from West Brom.”
“They must contact me or my agent and tell me what they expect…
…if everybody’s comfortable with that then it’s a possibility.”
Sam Allardyce responds to becoming the favourite for the #WBA job.
Would Sam be the right choice pic.twitter.com/JlP3KoDoPT
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) April 2, 2019
There are seven games left in the campaign, and West Brom are currently in fourth place with 70 points – 10 more than fifth-place Aston Villa and six points behind second-place Leeds United.
Pipping the Whites to an automatic promotion spot is possible, but the Hawthorns outfit will likely have to settle for a place in the playoffs in their bid to gain promotion.
It remains to be seen if the Allardyce links hold water, but it’s almost impossible to see the club replacing Shan at this time of the campaign and after helping them to three consecutive victories and cementing their place in the Championship play-off positions.