Sam Allardyce has met Everton’s majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri for face-to-face talks as the Merseyside club look to appoint a new manager during the international break.

Allardyce has emerged as the frontrunner for the vacant position, although several other candidates are being sounded out in the aftermath of Ronald Koeman’s sacking.

Director of Football Steve Walsh is a known admirer of Allardyce, and although Everton’s preference is a longer-term appointment to lead the club into a new era there is also a belief the immediate priority is avoiding relegation.

Allardyce’s record is such that the Goodison hierarchy will feel confident of easing away from the bottom three.

Sunday’s dramatic comeback win over Watford took Everton out of the drop zone and despite an horrendous start to the season there is enough quality in the squad to ensure the campaign does not become a fight for survival.

Whether Allardyce’s arrival would meet with approval from the Everton supporters is another matter. They may be tolerant because of the circumstance rather than excited.

Sean Dyche is another option Everton are considering credit: Reuters

Burnley’s Sean Dyche is also under consideration. His style of football is felt to be similar to Allardyce, but he has never had the opportunity to demonstrate different ideals at a bigger club.

Watford Marco Silva is also of interest to Moshiri, so much so he has been sounding out former colleagues of the coach to assess if he is the man to not only stave off relegation concerns this season but ensure the club is challenging near the top of the league in future seasons.

Marco Silva is another longer term option credit: AFP

But Silva has only just arrived at his new club and there would be more difficulty securing his services.

The dilemma for the Goodison board is whether it is too much of a risk to appoint a manager who will satisfy style demands at this stage given the obvious imbalance in the squad, and also offer a longer-term solution, or must the here and now be the priority before reconsidering the direction of the squad at a later time.

The consideration of Allardyce shows just how worried Everton are about their plight.