Crystal Palace have appointed former England boss Sam Allardyce as manager on a two-and-a-half-year deal, a day after sacking Alan Pardew. Pardew was sacked on Thursday with the club 17th in the Premier League after a run of one win in 11 games.
Chairman Steve Parish said the club was “fortunate that someone of Sam’s calibre and experience was available”.
Allardyce has been out of work since losing the England job after 67 days, in the wake of a newspaper sting.
“You generally get a new job because there are difficulties at a club,” Allardyce told Crystal Palace’s website.
“I have to sort those difficulties out, hopefully with my experience, and try to get a few more results on the board, particularly over Christmas and New Year, to make everybody feel more comfortable.”
The former Bolton, Blackburn, Newcastle and West Ham boss saved Sunderland from relegation last season despite them being second from bottom when he joined.
After dismissing Pardew on Thursday, Parish said his “expansive style of football hasn’t worked” and told BBC Sport the club would now “wind the dial back the other way”.
Parish, who co-owns the club with American investors Josh Harris and David Blitzer, said relegation is “so costly” that a change was needed.
“The club itself seems to be very ambitious, certainly the chairman,” said Allardyce. “The owners seem to taking the club forward in the right direction. I like the look of the squad.
“That’s probably the reason that I am here because I feel that the club could go forward from here and, hopefully, I can help it go forward.”
Caretaker manager Keith Millen took Friday’s news conference and told the media that Allardyce would “sort the players out”.
Pardew, 55, a former Palace player, was sacked after a miserable 2016 in which his side took just 26 points from the 36 Premier League matches they have played – and are only one point above the relegation zone.
The club’s points-per-game tally of 0.72 in 2016 was their second worst in a calendar year – and their form for the year is the worst of all 92 Premier League and EFL clubs.
This time last year, Palace were fifth in the Premier League table. However, a 14-game winless run into April resulted in them finishing 15th.
Pardew led Palace to the FA Cup final for only the second time in their history, where they lost 2-1 to Manchester United at Wembley.
This season, the Eagles are the sixth highest scorers in the top flight but are third in the list of teams who have conceded the most goals.
“The strengthening in that [attacking] area by Alan and the club this summer has brought a lot of flair to the team and I think that has brought a few more goals,” said Allardyce.
“But the other side is that when we aren’t in possession we have just got to stop conceding goals and make sure the goals that we score win us games. It sounds simple but it’s not that easy – that’s what we have got to try to turn around.”
With the January transfer window coming up, Allardyce is also planning to try to add “a little bit more strength in depth”.
“The players here are good enough but, if we can add to that, let’s try to do it,” he added.
