Allardyce has left Everton
So Everton have just announced that Sam Allardyce has left the club with immediate effect.
In a statement the new Everton Chief Executive Denise Barrett-Baxendale said:
"“Sam was brought in at a challenging time last season to provide us with some stability and we are grateful to him for doing that.”However, we have made the decision that, as part of our longer-term plan, we will be appointing a new manager this summer and will be commencing this process immediately”."
That is it then, the end of the short-lived Allardyce era.
This decision, which has been expected for several days, follows the club’s announcement of boardroom changes, including Barrett-Baxendale herself becoming CEO.
She also said that the club will be moving quickly to replace Allardyce. This is critical with the transfer window opening tomorrow.
Now he’s gone how should we honestly assess Allardyce’s time in charge?
The 63-year-old has taken plenty of abuse over the past few months for his playing style and tactics. But to be honest as I’ve said before, with Allardyce you know what you’re going to get.
He was brought in when the Toffees were sliding towards the relegation zone and did exactly what he always does, stabilising the team and eventually ensuring the Blues finished a comfortable eighth.
The football wasn’t pretty and his cautious, defensive tactics won him few friends at Goodison Park.
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And Allardyce never felt like a good fit for Everton given his background and football reputation.
But now it’s crucial the club gets the next appointment right. The Blues have become a byword for turmoil and instability and that’s got to change.
There has been a really bad atmosphere around the club recently and everyone needs to move on from that.
If as widely expected Marco Silva takes over then Evertonians need to get behind him even if they’re not all totally convinced (as I’m not) that he is the best choice.
Next: Fonseca is he the right man for Blues?
Let’s hope this is the last major re-structure that Everton do for a while! And that we can look forward to next season with a real feeling that at last the Blues are moving in the right direction.