So the rumours about another managerial change at Everton have begun. As Evertonians endure a dreadful season of under achievement and frustration it appears the Board at Goodison Park are again considering bringing in a new manager.
With discontent growing among Everton supporters there appear to be moves to replace Sam Allardyce in the summer.
Allardyce was certainly not either the fans or indeed the club’s first choice to take the reins after Ronald Koeman’s tenure came to an ignominious end in October.
Everton made rather ham-fisted attempts to prise their choice to succeed Koeman, Marco Silva, away from Watford. Eventually though having to accept the fact the Hornets would not allow him to leave at any price.
After the failure to secure Silva, there was a sense that the club had no plan B so to speak.
And it seemed there was no one left who was available at the time but Allardyce, despite his having earlier indicated he wasn’t interested.
But from the start the appointment always seemed an odd fit and one that smacked a little bit of desperation on Everton’s part having been frustrated in their attempts to get Silva.
Allardyce of course has developed a reputation as a relegation specialist who has dragged a succession of clubs away from the dreaded drop in recent years.
Although the Blues were in some trouble at the time of his appointment were they ever really looking at relegation?
It’s true that the old maxim ‘you’re never too good to go down’ might have applied to Everton at this point but given the talent at the club surely they would have eventually pulled away from danger.
Well I suppose we’ll never know for sure as to be fair to him Allardyce did initially have his usual effect, the team responded and he lifted Everton back up the table.
After that short bounce though the Toffees have slumped again and returned to their earlier form shipping goals in alarming numbers and lacking inspiration or creativity in attack.
Heavy defeats at Tottenham and Arsenal (as always) were followed by a streaky win at home against Crystal Palace and then another dismal performance as the team lost to Watford last weekend.
It does seem as though the players are once again failing to respond to the manager and this seems to be a disturbing theme with the current side.
Despite only being in post a few months, Allardyce has been publicly critical of them over this several times.
Marco Silva is now available having ironically lost his job at Watford because he was perceived to have had his head turned by Everton’s approach!
But truthfully is he really a marked improvement over Allardyce? His record is mixed he actually presided over relegation for Hull City in his first job here in England.
The other possible successor now being mooted is another Portuguese Paulo Fonseca the Shaktar Donetsk manager.
There are stories resurfacing again that majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri is interested in Athletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone. It seems unrealistic though that Simeone would not leave Athletico for a job in England except possibly to join a Champions League club.
If Everton are to make a managerial change I think the club should consider Sean Dyche the Burnley boss.
Dyche has proven to be a great success at Burnley building a very solid and competitive team there.
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He has created a real identity for his side making them tough to beat even when they are not in top form. But they are a team also capable of producing some outstanding results.
What’s most impressive about him is that having seen Burnley struggle badly away from home last season he’s managed to turn that right around this time. That shows he is prepared to adapt and change his approach to achieve success.
But regardless of who exactly might succeed Allardyce this time the choice has to work out. Otherwise any chance of competing for honours in the foreseeable future let alone challenging the established top six would surely be gone.
With plans for a new stadium still being considered and the Premier League becoming ever more cut-throat and difficult to succeed in, Everton cannot afford another wasted season.
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Were the Blues to have a campaign of managerial uncertainty and flawed signings again, the club might be in danger of slipping out of the Premier League altogether. That scenario would be a disaster that Everton would find very hard to recover from.