EVERTON MANAGER SAM Allardyce is confident he is staying at Goodison Park next season after talks with owner Farhad Moshiri.
The 63-year-old took over from Ronald Koeman in November after a poor opening to the season left Everton in 18th place after eight games.
Allardyce has since taken the Toffees to eighth in the Premier League, however, some Everton fans are not happy with the former England boss and have criticised his style for being boring and negative.
But Allardyce says he has already spoken to the owners about plans for next season even though many fans thought he would leave before the Summer.
โWe discussed plans for next season yesterday with Farhad,โ said Allardyce. โI think we have some clarity moving forward now.
โI think our pre-season, in terms of when we start back and where we go, is nearly in place.
โ(Regarding) ins and outs of players, it is a wait-and-see basis in terms of what we can try and achieve and then, under those circumstances, what players do we move on.โ
When asked whether he was definitely staying on Merseyside next season, Allardyce responded by saying: โDidnโt I just say that?
โFor clarification, yes.โ
He also hit back at his critics who brand his style as negative by comparing himself to Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone after the Spanish sideโs 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the Europa League on Thursday.
โWhat is entertainment?โ asked Allardyce. โEntertainment is the master of defence in Europe โ Simeone. Is that entertainment?
โHeโs called the master of his trade โ I think he has only conceded four goals at home all season. He is the master of defence, I am seen as defensive and too negative.
โWhen you are faced with 28 goals conceded in eight matches before I arrived, one would expect the manager would try to put that right first.โ
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Great save by Kelleher near the end. Comfortable afternoon for him
Top player.
Super performance and result albeit against a woeful Watford. Unlikely to be a worse performance by any PL team this season. Salah is unbelievable and his goal was magical, give him the contract his performances and goals deserve. Great to see Firmino scoring. Though Kelleher had nothing to do he kept his concentration to make a very good save at the end. Gonna be a tight title race. Surprised Salah and Mane played the 90 minutes, Minamino could have done with game time especially against that Watford team.
Mo Salah is WOW!!! a pleasure to watch himโฆ..Firmino not bad either : )
Time to sack Ranieriโฆโฆ.
@John S: dilly ding dilly dong
@Heckler davies: dilly ding, dilly gone
Class win and 3 more handy points. We will be hard to stop This season as we put last seasons blip behind us
Danny Rose will sleep tonight. Great performance against an albeit poor side!!
Give Mo all the money. Almost 0% chance of being able to replace him
Lewandowski and Salah are the best players in the world on current form.
I donโt think Iโve ever seen a PL side as bad as that Watford side todayโฆ.if they lost 10-0 it wouldnโt have been a surprise! Woefulโฆ
@Ottomaaan: you forgot to mention that they were up against a solid side with a rampant front three, there, I fixed it for youโฆ. :)
@Gordon Larney: no need to fix anything. That was the worst performance Iโve ever seen from a PL side, dreadful stuff and Liverpool could have put 10 past them.
@Ottomaaan: have to agree. I was at the game and never seen such a bad performance from a PL team.
Salah in great form. But how long canhe hold that form? He has 20-25 goals in him a season, but heโs up and down. If he held this form, heโd be close to 40 goals?
Bigger tests against Athletico and United on the way.
@Finn Faulkner: did you like your own commentโฆ
@Finn Faulkner: how long can he do that. ? He has been doing it for the last 4 seasons. 104 goals in 166 games in the Premier league but you think he should score more. Okay so
@Finn Faulkner: youโre gonna need bigger bait on that hook โฆ.
@WESHALLNOTBEMOVED: But by that metric 4 seasons at 40 goals would be 160 goals. He hasn t done that. But my point is that if he can keep that killer hat on his head for a prolonged period, and with our squad almost injury free, he could break records for us. Iโm HOPING he keeps this lethal form indefinitely. He still canโt be put in the Messi/Ronaldo category until he starts being seriously clinical. Iโd love to see him win the Balloon dโOr this year (or the next)
@len len: No, but seeing as you need likes, here, have mine. Have a lovely day.
@WESHALLNOTBEMOVED: you included his Chelsea stats there, itโs 102 in 153 for Liverpool
@Shane Roche: Itโs still an amazing number of goals per season, but I think he can go even further, he needs to keep this current form. Biggest tests are against Athletico and then United.
That salah. Goal was pure roy of the rovers.. Pure art.. He must be a great dancer..
As good as Liverpool are, and they are really good. This in my opinion is all about Klopp.