Sam Allardyce may have brought the curtain down on his 26-year career as a manager after quitting Crystal Palace five months after he was brought in to save them from relegation.
Having achieved his aim, the 62-year-old former England coach "stunned" the south London club by leaving, says the Daily Telegraph.
He made it clear "there has been no bust-up or disagreement with Palace chairman Steve Parish over transfer funds, recruitment or signings".
In a statement, Allardyce indicated that his reasons for leaving were personal rather than professional.
"In some ways, this has been a very difficult decision to make but in others it has been a simple one," he said. "I will always be grateful to Crystal Palace and Steve Parish for giving me the opportunity to go out with my head held high having helped keep the club in the Premier League. They gave me a chance of rebuilding my reputation after what happened with England. I felt I needed another shot at being a Premier League manager and in helping to achieve something. Palace gave me the chance of rehabilitation.
"But there comes a time when you have to take stock of what direction you want your life to take - and that's been the simple part for me. I want to be able to savour life while I'm still relatively young and relatively healthy enough to do all the things I want to do, like travel, spend more time with my family and grandchildren without the huge pressure that comes with being a football manager."
Whatever his reason, Palace are now searching for their eighth manager in seven years, adds the Telegraph, "although the club are appreciative that Allardyce has told them quickly and they now have time to draw up a list of potential candidates".
It adds that Allardyce will have to pay Palace compensation if he takes another job within two years, but "he genuinely wants to take time off".
Oliver Kay of The Times says there were two reasons for his departure.
"One was a growing feeling that the adrenaline rush of this season's battle to avoid relegation, after his appointment in December, would be hard to replicate amid the perennial Selhurst Park challenge of meeting financial fair play regulations.
"One was a growing feeling that the adrenaline rush of this season's battle to avoid relegation, after his appointment in December, would be hard to replicate amid the perennial Selhurst Park challenge of meeting financial fair play regulations.
"The other was more straightforward: a mood of contentment that had taken hold of the former England manager since the survival mission was accomplished… the Palace experience had served its purpose, which was to get the England humiliation out of his system."
He will be in demand among next season's Premier League strugglers, adds the journalist, but "the idea of yet another job battling against the odds to try to avoid relegation is said to hold less appeal than ever for a man who believed that when he was appointed England manager in July last year he had served his time at the lower end of the Premier League".
According to The Guardian, Marco Silva, who left Hull after they were relegated, is the Eagles' top target to replace Allardyce.
Culled from www.theweek.co.uk
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