Sam Allardyce admits friends had a big influence on his decision to accept the Everton job.

He has signed a deal to keep him at the club until the end of June 2019, and he said he didn't have to think twice, even though there was a £2m clause in his deal with Palace which must be paid if he returned to football before the end of this season.

“It is the attraction of the Club itself, and the people I've known at the Club - Peter Reid is one of my best mates, so are Andy Gray and Paul Bracewell whom I worked with at Sunderland," he said.

"These people have always made me aware of just how special and unique a club Everton is and I feel really enthused and energised to come in as manager.

“I think that whatever's happened before we've just got to all rally around together. Our will to do it all together would be my way forward.

“Because we are all in it together and let's all pull in the same direction. Let's try to get a healthy spirit around the Club.

“That's difficult when you're losing but the win last night over West Ham and the magnificent atmosphere around Goodison, which was just brilliant, well that's lifted everybody around the Club.

“And we've got to try to keep our heads up and push ourselves until we make sure we get that better. The fans are the most important people at any football club, of course, and we have to give the players every possibility to play to their best, really give them no excuses for not playing to their best and get them right back up to the top level we believe they're capable of."