Sam Allardyce yesterday brought forward his resignation as Bolton manager and is now a strong candidate to take over at Newcastle United this summer. 
Now Allardyce is the front-runner to replace NewcastleÂ’s Glenn Roeder this summer, only 14 months after turning down the job at St JamesÂ’ Park. He has not committed himself to anything and is aware of interest from Manchester City, who are almost certain to part company with Stuart Pearce this summer.
Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd offered the job to Allardyce after sacking Graeme Souness in February 2006, only for his prime target to turn it down at the last minute.
That still rankles with Shepherd, who has also expressed private concerns recently that unsubstantiated allegations in the Panorama ‘bung’ investigation have put some people at the club off Allardyce. Shepherd has publicly insisted that Roeder will be his manager next season and the two have discussed transfer budgets.
Nevertheless, Shepherd maintains an admiration for AllardyceÂ’s work during his eight years at Bolton. Allardyce himself is known to prefer a job in the north west, where his wife Lynn is settled, and would be interested in the post at City.