Sam Allardyce signs two-and-a-half year contract with Crystal Palace the club have confirmed.

A swift return to football management

Big Sam, as he's become well-known, arrived at Crystal Palace's training ground on Friday, poised to resume his managerial career at the helm of the struggling Premier League club. And by the time the evening rolled around the news had been made official that he was the new manager at Selhurst Park.

The day after Alan Pardew was sacked as Palace's manager, Allardyce, told Sky Sports he was at the ground for talks with the club chairman Steve Parish.

"I'm just here to talk to Steve and assuming it all goes all right, it should be okay," Allardyce said and added that it would be a "fantastic" job to re-launch his career.

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Allardyce's representatives were also reported to be talking to Palace with the prospect of an announcement of the 62-year-old's appointment being made before the south London side visit Watford on Monday. Allardyce left his role as England manager by mutual consent after just one game, in the wake of a newspaper investigation which featured a video of him offering advice on how to "get around" FA rules on player transfers.

Firefighting Sam to put out the relegation flames

After one win in their last 11 league matches, Palace are seeking more solidity from a specialist in relegation firefighting. Their dismal run has left them 17th in the standings, one place and one point above the drop zone. At a news conference earlier on Friday, Palace assistant manager Keith Millen said:

"Certainly for players, he (Allardyce) is an experienced Premier League manager. He did a great job keeping Sunderland up (last season)." He also felt that Palace are "getting an experienced manager" and suggested that he may have "a point to prove".

Of Pardew, Millen added: "We have exchanged text messages. He is upset, disappointed but proud of what he has done here. Unfortunately, the results have not been good enough."