Allardyce holds talks with Newcastle

Sam Allardyce has taken the next step towards becoming Newcastle manager after holding talks with chairman Freddy Shepherd.

Allardyce, who recently quit Barclays Premiership rivals Bolton, is the strong favourite to succeed Glenn Roeder at St James' Park.

He met Shepherd at Mayfair's exclusive Claridge's hotel on Friday in what was reportedly a three-hour lunch.

Allardyce said: "It was a good meeting and my agent will speak to Newcastle again over the next few days to discuss matters further."

Should they decide to appoint Allardyce, Newcastle are likely to face a claim for compensation from Bolton as 'Big Sam' still had two years to run on his contract when he quit the club.

The names of Mark Hughes, Sven-Goran Eriksson, Steve McClaren and Sevilla's Juande Ramos among others have been thrown into the hat, but it is Allardyce, who has also recently been linked with Manchester City, who will be the major focus.

© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.