Sam Allardyce says he has no interest in returning to management 'at the moment' as Crystal Palace rumours build

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Sam Allardyce has hinted that he may make a return to football management in a significant departure from comments he made when resigning from Crystal Palace in May but says he has no interest in any job “at the moment”.

The former England boss, 62, has been linked with a return to Palace after their poor start to the season but says his successor, Frank de Boer, should be given more time.

During his five months at Selhurst Park last season, Allardyce said he did not want to be seen as a survival specialist.

Upon his resignation in May, shortly after helping them preserve their Premier League status, he also spoke of having "no ambitions to take another job", adding: "I simply want to be able to enjoy all the things you cannot really enjoy with the 24-7 demands of managing any football club, let alone one in the Premier League."

Yet speaking to Talksport on Tuesday, he said: "Being associated with any club at this early stage of the season would not be of any interest to me at the moment.

"I have just had a trip to Hawaii watching from afar and I went to watch Manchester United on Saturday and I wouldn't associate myself with any job at this moment in time.

"Three games into the Premier League season, it is a little hasty when people talk about you coming back into football.

"At this moment in time, I am very comfortable in my life. My time in the Premier League for many, many years has been tremendously exciting and I have enjoyed every minute, but having a break from football is the right thing for me to do.

"I am just watching Premier League football with great interest, watching how it is panning out, and not living under the pressures that every manager in the Premier League is."

Palace have so far struggled in losing to Huddersfield, Liverpool and Swansea under De Boer, who was sacked by Inter Milan last season after only 85 days.

Allardyce has also often spoken of his belief that Newcastle acted too hastily when replacing him with Kevin Keegan in 2008, and cited Stoke's recovery from a poor start to the past season under Mark Hughes as reason De Boer can succeed.

"If you look at Stoke last season, it was seven or eight games in before Mark got his first three points on the board and they finished in one of the highest places they have ever done in the Premier League," he said.

"It is early days and people need a little bit of patience.

"They have all got to work together to try and get it right."