Everton appoints Allardyce on 18-month deal

Sam Allardyce has been officially announced as Everton's new manager, taking over from interim coach David Unsworth until 2019.

New Everton manager Sam Allardyce and club owner Farhad Moshiri

Everton has announced the appointment of Sam Allardyce as manager on a one-and-a-half-year contract.

The club revealed on Wednesday that they had come to an agreement with the former England manager, with Thursday's confirmation marking the beginning of his tenure.

Allardyce has been out of football since the end of last season, when he guided Crystal Palace to Premier League survival.

And he arrives at Everton at a time when it is also in a spot of trouble, even if Wednesday's 4-0 victory over West Ham  lifted the side to 13th in the Premier League.

Allardyce had been linked with the job at Goodison Park soon after the sacking of Ronald Koeman, but he ruled himself out of the running earlier this month after suggesting an agreement could not be reached.

Watford boss Marco Silva emerged as Everton's top target in the aftermath of Allardyce's initial rebuttal, while Burnley's Sean Dyche and Shakhtar Donetsk head coach Paulo Fonseca were also linked.

However, the Hornets played hardball over Silva, while the Dyche rumours failed to come to fruition and Everton struggled with David Unsworth at the helm.

After leaving Palace, the 63-year-old Allardyce stated that he would only consider an international job, but the Everton post has proved too good to turn down.

The club has endured a dismal 2017-18 season so far, winning just four of its first 14 matches.

READ: Allardyce and Pardew set for Premier League returns - reports

Allardyce comes in as the official successor to Koeman, who was dismissed on October 23 after just two victories in nine Premier League games, despite spending an estimated £142million in pre-season.

Unsworth took over on a caretaker basis but failed to inspire much of an improvement, as Everton lost five of his eight matches at the helm.