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Sam Allardyce expects quick decision on future once West Brom PL fate is known

Boss Sam Allardyce believes his West Brom future can be resolved within two hours once the Baggies know their fate.

Allardyce has a break clause in his contract if Albion are relegated and they will be almost down if they lose to Wolves on Monday.

They are 11 points from Premier League safety with five games left after Brighton’s 2-0 win over Leeds and Newcastle’s 2-0 loss to Arsenal but Allardyce knows his situation will be sorted quickly.

He said: “The answer would be possibly yes, based on the meet up we had. As quickly as Slaven (Bilic) walked out the door the meeting we had to say I was coming in didn’t need an awful lot of negotiations.

“It was a few questions, yes, no. Most of them were agreed on and I was through the door in a shot.

“I don’t think there will be any hesitation from both of us in sitting down for a couple of hours and ripping right through where we are and what we need to do, if we’re in the Premier League or the Championship, and then find out which is the way forward.

“I have never hidden from this and neither has the club hidden from this.

“It depends on what we can come together on and what we can agree on in terms of what we need to get back in the Premier League at the first time of asking.

“That is a discussion that cannot be done at this moment in time. It can only be done when our fate is sealed.

“If that’s what the club want to do and that’s what I want to do, then there are certain criteria that we both have to meet, as there were when I joined.

“The criteria has to be met by both sides – me and the club – to say ‘this is the way forward’. Or they might just turn around and say ‘look, Sam, we’re going to go for somebody different, thank you very much’.

“I’ll say ‘That’s fine by me. That’s the way it is if that’s what you think. I apologise for not keeping you up. I’ve done all I possibly could.’”

Albion beat Wolves 3-2 at Molineux in January – one of only five wins this season.

Allardyce grew up in Dudley and was a Wolves fan until he was 15 but also went to watch the Baggies while he was growing up.

He said: “Roger Minton was a player here and the twins (Minton’s brothers), Neil and Steven use to get tickets for WBA games and they used to give me one of the complimentary tickets to go and watch.

“Roger only played two or three games but the complimentary tickets were fine because I couldn’t afford to go and watch anyway.

“It’s one of the reasons why I became a footballer. I never bothered about anything else, I never bothered about school.

“Teachers were a pain in the backside – not that I want any kids to ignore their education – but all I was going to be was a footballer and no-one was ever going to stop that dream.

“Not even the careers officer when he sat me down and said I was stupid.”