Sam Allardyce surprised by Andre Villas-Boas sacking

West Ham United boss Sam Allardyce has admitted that he is surprised by Andre Villas-Boas's sacking at Tottenham Hotspur.

Villas-Boas was dismissed on Monday following the team's 5-0 defeat at home to Liverpool in the Premier League.

Tim Sherwood will take charge of Tottenham when they host West Ham in the League Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday.

"Spurs have an excellent squad of players," Sky Sports News quotes Allardyce as saying.

"Obviously they had a poor result on Saturday and ultimately the board have removed AVB. That's a surprise to me but we know they still have an excellent team."

Fabio Capello, Glenn Hoddle and Michael Laudrup are among the early favourites to replace Villas-Boas at White Hart Lane.