SAM ALLARDYCE already feels wanted by Sunderland fans but has warned the same supporters there will be no quick-fix as he attempts to keep Premier League football at the Stadium of Light.

The former Newcastle and West Ham boss arrived back in the North-East last night and set about coming up with a plan to shore up the Black Cats’ leaky defence.

Sunderland are five points adrift of safety after failing to win any of their opening eight league games and have conceded 18 goals during those matches alone.

The defensive weaknesses proved sufficient to convince Dick Advocaat he could not continue as the head coach and now Allardyce has accepted the challenge of sorting out the problems after signing a two-year contract.

But Allardyce, unable to dip into the transfer market until January 1, is not expecting the situation to change instantly – even though he is confident he can keep Sunderland up.

“I don’t want to sound negative but we have got to be realistic and accept it is unlikely that we will turn things around overnight,” said Allardyce, who is interested in trying to take defender James Tomkins from West Ham in the new year.

“If you get into double figures in points from your first eight games your chances of getting relegated are dramatically reduced. Sunderland have got three points, the ‘r’ word is already back – relegation-threatened Sunderland.

“It’s a big burden to play under that pressure in front of your own fans, the supporters are anxious, the players are anxious and that’s when costly unforced errors creep in.

“I won’t know exactly how difficult this job is going to be until I get in amongst the players. From a distance, I feel I can sort out the defence and I think there’s enough there to score a few goals.

“It’s not rocket science. Anyone can see we have the worst defensive record in the league and the first thing we have to stop is the number of goals we are shipping.”

Allardyce intends to make sweeping changes, although initially his priority is to appoint an assistant. His long serving No 2 Neil McDonald is currently the boss at Blackpool, which has led to claims that he could turn to former Sunderland favourite Peter Reid, while Phil Brown, South Shields born and now Southend boss, has played down reports linking him.

Allardyce, who turns 61 on October 19, had reservations about taking on the job but the club’s owner Ellis Short persuaded him it was the right move and time to end his sabbatical in Spain.

And Allardyce, who met Short in Spain at the back of last week, knows how important it is for Sunderland to stay up ahead of his first game at West Brom on Saturday.

“The game is now much more volatile and the panic to stay up is constantly there,” Allardyce told the Sun on Sunday. “When I joined the Premier League with Bolton in 2000 it was worth £20m a year, now we are looking at £120m from next year.

“For the past three seasons Sunderland have pulled off miraculous escapes to avoid relegation. Maybe it is the fear of going down that has spurred the players on. When the games are running out and things are looking desperate, the dread of going down has produced an amazing run of results.

“But it shreds the nerves and everybody at Sunderland wants to avoid that happening every year. They finish every season feeling optimistic but then don’t win any of their games at the start of the next campaign. Ellis is desperately trying to end that cycle but they have done exactly the same thing this time. That’s why there has been another managerial change.”

Allardyce spent a year at Sunderland as a player during his younger days but was not quick to accept the offer to take over from Advocaat. He has been regularly criticised for the style of play his teams adopt during his time at Newcastle and West Ham, but the affection there has been already from Sunderland fans has filled him with plenty of hope.

“When I was at West Ham my wife, Lynne, would constantly read the supporters website to see what new insults were being fired,” Allardyce said. “It upset her but she couldn't keep away from the screen. Now she's been reading the Sunderland fans' site and she tells me the reaction has been very positive, which makes me feel very excited to get going.

“Everyone wants to be praised and to feel wanted and I just hope I can give the Sunderland supporters some of the excitement they are looking for.

“It's nice to be loved. But at West Ham and Newcastle I was faced by passionate fans that made themselves heard if they weren't happy. It wasn't just me at West Ham, it was every manager that was there.”