? Allardyce offered huge bonus to lift Hammers back to top flight
? Former Blackburn manager seeks assurances from co-owners
Sam Allardyce is expected to be confirmed as the new manager of West Ham United as soon as the final details of his contract have been signed off, according to a source close to the 56-year-old.
It is thought that Allardyce will be paid a �1.25m?a-year salary, plus a bonus of at least �1m by David Gold and David Sullivan, the co-owners, if he can return the relegated club straight back into the Premier League next season. Sullivan has said that Championship football will "blow a �40m hole" in the club's finances, despite the parachute money West Ham will receive over the next two seasons.
Allardyce will replace Avram Grant, who was sacked once West Ham's drop into the Championship was confirmed following the 3-2 defeat at Wigan Athletic this month. Allardyce has been out of work since he was removed as the Blackburn Rovers manager last December, after being in charge at Ewood Park for two years.
Allardyce's preference had been to return to work at a top-flight club, with the former Bolton Wanderers and Newcastle United manager not declaring an interest when Burnley and Preston North End were searching for a new manager.
However, West Ham's greater profile and the larger budget, despite their financial difficulties, is thought to have persuaded Allardyce that the east London club provide the ideal platform from which to relaunch a 20-year managerial career he still hopes could include taking charge of the England team.
Whether he will be allowed total control of transfer affairs by Gold and Sullivan is a moot point, while Allardyce will also have sought assurances from the owners that they will measure their public statements as much as possible. Grant is known to been unhappy at interference from Gold, Sullivan and Karren Brady, the vice-chairman, in both of these regards during his single-season tenure, though it is understood Allardyce is satisfied following discussions.
Once Allardyce is appointed the future of the relegated club's better players, who include Scott Parker, Robert Green, Matthew Upson, Carlton Cole and Thomas Hitzlsperger, should become clearer. While Parker, Green, Upson and Cole are almost certain to leave, Sullivan has told Hitzlsperger that he would be made club captain and the team's focal point should the German midfielder choose to stay on and help in the tilt at winning instant promotion.
Demba Ba, the Senegalese who scored seven league goals in 12 appearances since joining on a pay-as-you-play deal in January from Hoffenheim, is also undecided.
Allardyce was reported as saying at the weekend: "Everything has been agreed in principle and I look forward to taking charge after I have had a family holiday. It's always difficult dealing with the aftermath of relegation but I want to get West Ham back into the Premier League as quickly as possible."
Allardyce beat other possible candidates who are believed to have included Queens Park Rangers' Neil Warnock, Dave Jones, the sacked Cardiff City manager, and Ian Holloway of Blackpool.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/may/31/sam-allardyce-west-ham-manager
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