EVERTON V SWANSEA CITY, GOODISON PARK, 8PM,

PAUL Clement has revealed how he was close to working with Everton boss Sam Allardyce after being approached to become his England No.2.

But, having left Allardyce disappointed when he was blocked from the move by Bayern Munich, the Swansea City chief is aiming to upset the larger-than-life manager for a third time.

And, as he prepares to take on one of the most experienced bosses in the business, he is ready to call upon advice from the very best in management after a confidence-boosting meeting with the top minds in the game.

Clement, the former Real Madrid, PSG and Chelsea assistant, heads to Goodison Park in search a victory to try and spark a turnaround in his side’s fortunes at the expense of Allardyce.

It was a win over a Big Sam side that provided the catalyst for Clement’s incredible debut campaign at the Liberty, the 45-year-old having been appointed hours before Swansea were the visitors at Selhurst Park for Allardyce’s home debut as Crystal Palace manager.

Though Alan Curtis took the side that day, Clement spoke to players in the dressing room before the game and left his seat in the stands to provide support from the dug-out in the 2-1 win.

It’s a result referenced by Allardyce heading into tomorrow’s clash between the pair, saying his revitalised Everton cannot afford to underestimate the Swans.

And it only reinforced the former Bolton, Blackburn and West Ham manager’s view of Clement, having tried to appoint him in his Three Lions set-up 18 months ago.

The Swans boss revealed: “The win at Palace wasn’t that long after he had asked me to join him as assistant with the England national team.

“We were so close to working with each other, but Bayern said no. So, Sam appointed Craig Shakespeare.”

Allardyce’s reign with the Thre Lions only lasted one game before he was axed following newspaper allegations, going on to steer Palace to survival before quitting and then taking the Everton job last month.

Shakespeare – sacked by Leicester this season – has joined him on Merseyside, and Clement added: “It just shows how the path of football travels sometimes. It wasn’t dodging a bullet – it was only going to be a parttime role because I was never going to leave Bayern.

“I was disappointed it didn’t work out, but I understood why Bayern said no – they wanted me to concentrate solely on Bayern and rightly so with a club of that size.

“But I was disappointed because it would have been a great honour to work with the national team and with Sam.

“At the same time, I was also disappointed for Sam how it played out. He made it clear throughout the years that England was a job that he really wanted. Then, to only have it for one game and for it to be pulled from underneath him – rightly or wrongly – was hard to see.

“He’s a manager that has been in the game for a long time, and has a big, strong personality that can breed confidence in those around him.

“I think he has that personality that comes from years and years of experience in the game.”

Clement won’t be able to tap into that experience on Monday, with Swansea desperate for survival points at Allardyce’s expense once more, determined for a result to build confidence going into Saturday’s huge Liberty clash with – once more – Palace.

But, as he tries to show the same skills that saved Swansea last term this time around, Clement has not been short of support after attending a recent League Managers’ Association dinner where he could meet up with key mentors.

Former Swans and Wales boss John Toshack was among those honoured for passing the 1,000-game mark in management last week at the same time as Carlo Ancelotti, the Italian former Chelsea chief who worked closely with Clement for a number of years.

“Carlo was awarded for the 1,000 games as well as Tony Pulis, Claudio Ranieri and John Toshack,” explained Clement. “I was on his table with Dean Smith (Brentford manager) and Sir Alex Ferguson, and it was great.

“I caught up with Gus Hiddink (the former Chelsea boss who first promoted Clement from the Stamford Bridge youth set-up) who I hadn’t seen for a while and asked me how I was doing.

“And there were a couple of nuggets of advice coming from the senior