Everton caretaker David Unsworth has had a sly dig at Sam Allardyce for ruling himself out of the club’s manager race.
Speaking at his media briefing on Friday morning, Unsworth said he was “surprised” that “anyone would rule themselves out” of taking charge of the Merseyside outfit, as quoted by the personal Twitter account of Telegraph journalist Chris Bascombe.
Unsworth on Allardyce: “It would surprise me anyone would rule themselves out of being Everton manager.”
— Chris Bascombe (@_ChrisBascombe) November 17, 2017
This comes after Allardyce publicly ruled himself out of the running earlier this week following tentative talks with Goodison Park chiefs.
The former England manager told Alan Brazil’s Sports Breakfast show on Talksport (15th November, 06:00) that he “had to make the decision myself” after a firm offer failed to materialise for the vacant post.
EXCLUSIVE! Sam Allardyce tells the Sports Breakfast he is no longer interested in talking to #Everton about taking over as manager at Goodison Park… pic.twitter.com/hGeQ4xkv94
— talkSPORT Breakfast (@TSBreakfast) November 15, 2017
Unsworth will take caretaker charge of Everton for a fifth match on Saturday when they travel to bottom club Crystal Palace.
OPINION
The longer the Everton manager search goes on, the more likely it will be that Unsworth gets the job until the end of the season, at least. The club have held talks with Allardyce, who they don’t want in the long term, and a concerted move for Watford’s Marco Silva, but neither have come to fruition. Everton Under-23s boss Unsworth is in prime position to land the job of his dreams and his “surprise” that Allardyce thinks he is too good for a short-term deal is understandable.