Next West Brom boss: Sam Allardyce leading contender to replace Slaven Bilic

Sam Allardyce the manager / head coach of Everton arrives at the stadium. (AMA)

Bilic was sacked despite guiding his side to a point at Manchester City, with the Baggies sitting 19th in the Premier League table with just a single win to their name.

Allardyce is understood to be the leading candidate for Albion as a replacement for the Croatian, with his arrival potentially coming ahead of the derby clash with Aston Villa this weekend.

The 66-year-old is the heavy favourite to take on the role with the bookies, having huge amounts of experience in guiding teams to survival in the top flight.

He previously managed Bolton, Newcastle, Blackburn, West Ham, Sunderland and Crystal Palace, amongst others.

Dudley-born Allardyce has been without a job since leaving Everton in 2018, but recently expressed his desire to get back into management should a role appeal to him.

“If somebody came along, and it was really attractive to me and I felt that I could have a good relationship with the owners and the chief executive – and the team looks like it’s in the right direction, you could take them somewhere.” he said speaking on Quest in recent months.

“It would be all about success, and success for me could be taking a team out of trouble and building that team. Or trying to get up and get a team promoted.”

“Dreams of a big club in the Premier League would not be my ambition anymore but certainly, if the right club came along it would be nice to get back in.”

“I don’t want to lose that reputation if you like. I always felt I was a little bit better that saying ‘call for Big Sam if you’re in trouble’ but that’s the way it went.

“I was happy to do it at Blackburn, at Crystal Palace, Sunderland, I managed to get West Ham up first time of asking.”

Albion have a matter of days to prepare for the clash with Villa, who sit 11th in the top flight, having recently beaten fellow local neighbours Wolves 1-0 at Molineux.

By Luke Hatfield

Digital Sports Journalist with the Express & Star and Shropshire Star.