Pat Nevin: Everton fans have made their decision on Allardyce

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Sam Allardyce watched his Everton side beat Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Pat Nevin (R) with Kevin Sheedy and Tony Cottee.

Former Everton winger Pat Nevin has told Chelsea’s official website that Toffees fans are already set in stone in their opinion of manager Sam Allardyce, claiming the former England boss cannot win.

Allardyce saw his Toffees side win 3-1 on Saturday afternoon at Goodison Park, as goals from Gylfi Sigurdsson, Oumar Niasse and Tom Davies was enough to see off Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace.

However, Nevin believes Allardyce cannot win at Everton as fans believe it is his fault when the Toffees lose, and the players performances when the Merseyside club claims victory.

Nevin, who played for Everton for four years between 1988 and 1992, claimed that “the die had been cast” as Allardyce comes under increasing pressure for Everton’s losses.

“The Everton faithful seemed to have lost it with Big Sam and I get that, he isn’t really their style, but this bad run of results has included matches against Man United, Liverpool, Spurs and Arsenal,” Nevin said.

“That isn’t where Sam is expecting to pick up the points to get them to safety in the Premier League, something that was looking increasingly unlikely before he arrived.

“When I suggested Sam had maybe got something right, the opprobrium rained down as ever on social media. The die has been cast, if it is wrong it is Sam’s fault, if it is right then it must be luck or the actions of a few preferred players.”

Before Saturday’s game, Everton had won just one of their previous nine league and cup outings but the win against Palace has made things look rather more respectable in terms of league position.

Now eight points above the relegation zone, and the same amount away from the magical number 40 mark, Everton sit in ninth place and are contenders to finish in seventh – which could see them in with a chance of European football.