Everton made a renewed bid to appoint Sam Allardyce as their new manager at the weekend, according to Sky Sports.
The broadcaster claim there was fresh “contact” between the two parties on Sunday but Allardyce felt the short-term contract on offer was not enough to tempt him out of retirement.
Sky Sports report that Everton were only willing to hand the former England manager a deal that runs until the end of the season.
It is said that the Merseyside club’s chances of landing Allardyce have now “disappeared”, and they have also been frustrated in their pursuit of Watford boss Marco Silva.
OPINION
The appointment of Allardyce would have reeked of short-termism, given his age and the fact that he has not stuck around for long in each of his last three jobs. It also suggests that Farhad Moshiri and Bill Kenwright are frightened to death of relegation, and believe Allardyce is their best best to avoid getting sucked into the drop zone in May. The approach for Silva came on Monday, a day after they tried again for Allardyce. Fair enough, the 63-year-old is almost a cast-iron guarantee of keeping teams up. But there are only 11 league matches gone, Everton have plenty of time to climb to safety and indeed secure a top-eight finish.