Sam Allardyce reveals he spoke to Crystal Palace chairman today, but rules out return

Sam Allardyce has ruled out returning to Crystal Palace after Frank de Boer was sacked just four matches into the Premier League season.

Sam Allardyce reveals he spoke to Crystal Palace chairman today, but rules out return

Sam Allardyce has ruled out returning to Crystal Palace after Frank de Boer was sacked just four matches into the Premier League season.

De Boer, 47, was dismissed by Palace today having lost all four of his league fixtures for the club, just 77 days into the job after the former Inter Milan coach replaced Allardyce in the summer.

Speaking on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football, the former England manager said he had spoken to Palace chairman Steve Parish earlier in the day but had no intention of making a quick return to management.

"I spoke to Steve late this afternoon and said, for me, I wouldn't be ready to come back," the 62-year-old said.

"I wouldn't be comfortable at this moment in time taking a position as a football manager. I'm enjoying my life too much at this moment, watching everyone else have the weight of pressure, and there's certainly huge pressure as we've seen with Frank going so early.

"He didn't offer me the job but he asked, 'What are your thoughts?' It was a clever question. I said, 'If you were to offer me the job at this moment in time, I wouldn't want to go back'. I wish Crystal Palace all the best, and I'm very sad after all the work we put in last season to rescue the team and get 41 points."

Palace are instead expected to turn to another ex-England manager in the form of Roy Hodgson.

Allardyce said he believed Palace had taken a risk in employing a foreign coach with a set philosophy which did not necessarily fit the squad he inherited.

"I'd say it's a risk when you take a foreign player and it's a risk when you take a foreign coach that hasn't worked in the Premier League before," he said. "There's a certain way you need to play, for me being a pragmatist, and it always has to suit the players you have."

Jamie Carragher said he believed De Boer's undoing was not simply the fact that he had lost all four games but that, in losing to Huddersfield, Swansea and Burnley, De Boer had lost to direct rivals in the battle against the drop.

"I feel for Frank de Boer," he said. "As Sam knows, if you lose four games at the start of the season, every manager is fearing for his job. The problem was not losing four, but who you lost against - you lost to relegation rivals."

De Boer's sacking came as no surprise to Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho, who said no manager can feel safe.

"I was sacked (by Chelsea) as a champion, (former Leicester manager Claudio) Ranieri was sacked as a champion," the Portuguese said.

"Frank de Boer is sacked after four matches and next season something incredible again, so nothing surprises me. That's the world where we are.

"That's the world where many of you enjoy and also contribute to the kind of pressure that managers are involved in.

"But in football nothing surprises me."

Joey Barton most recently played in the Premier League for Burnley, a club that has thrived under the stability provided by manager Sean Dyche, who in the summer was interested in the Palace vacancy before De Boer's appointment.

Barton also played for both Newcastle and QPR, two of English football's more volatile clubs, and wrote on social media: "I feel sorry for Frank de Boer. I mean what is a guy to do with four league games? Premier League is nuts."

De Boer also played for Rangers while John Hartson was at Celtic, and the one-time striker added: "Frank de Boer (will be) naturally disappointed. But the positives are he walks away with millions. Pay off. And he's back in work in six months."

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