Alan Pardew confirms West Brom talks: ‘I’ve had talks with them, obviously it is an attractive job’

The former Crystal Palace manager has said that the West Brom manager's job is ‘attractive’ and that he has held talks with the club over replacing Tony Pulis

Pardew is the current favourite to become the next West Brom manager (Getty)

Alan Pardew yesterday described the West Bromwich Albion manager’s job as “attractive” after confirming he has held talks about taking over at the Premier League club.

The 56-year-old is the bookmakers’ favourite to replace Tony Pulis, who was last week sacked after nearly three years in charge at the Hawthorns.

And, while working as a pundit on yesterday’s Premier League coverage, Pardew revealed that he has been in talks over replacing Pulis.

“I've had discussions with them. It is an attractive job so we'll see where it goes,” Pardew said on Sky Sports.

“It is a club that has a really good set of players and I think it is a good opportunity for a manager and if it is me then it is me.

“They've got good quality in there and maybe they should be doing slightly better than they are. I think looking at them and the depth of the squad it definitely has improvement in there so hopefully that's what they'll do.”

Gary Megson is currently in temporary charge of West Brom, who sit 17th in the Premier League, and helped the team to win an impressive point against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.

Megson has stopped short of saying he wants the job full-time (Getty)

However Megson, who previously managed West Brom between 2000 and 2004, has insisted that he is not auditioning for the job on a full-time basis.

“This is absolutely not an audition for me and while everyone aspires to be in the Premier League, this is in the most unfortunate of circumstances,” he said last week.

West Brom had considered appointing Sam Allardyce only for the former England manager to announce this weekend that “going back into football isn't on the agenda”.

Allardyce says he will not return to management in the near future (Getty)

Another ex-West Ham manager, Slaven Bilic, had also been lined up as a potential replacement for Pulis. But Bilic last week rejected the chance to speak to the club about the position, leaving the path clear for Pardew.

Pardew has been out of work since he was sacked as Crystal Palace manager in December 2016, after a run of one win in 11 leaving the club 17th in the table.

He had previously taken Palace to tenth in the 2014/15 season – their best ever Premier League finish – as well as to the 2016 FA Cup final, which they lost to Manchester United 2-1 after extra time.

He had previously managed Reading, West Ham United, Charlton Athletic, Southampton and Newcastle prior to joining Palace.