Big Dunc to stay if Benitez becomes Everton boss
As Everton supporters try and get their heads around the idea of ex-Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez becoming Blues manager, it seems as though Duncan Ferguson will stay if the Spaniard takes over.
The future of the former Everton centre-forward, legend and first-team coach, has been a constant background issue as the club search for a man to replace Carlo Ancelotti.
Ferguson is a hugely popular figure at Goodison Park and he has made his way up through the coaching ranks at the club but his future has been uncertain since Ancelotti departed at the beginning of June.
The Scot briefly had the reigns of the first team when Marco Silva was sacked in December 2019. He went unbeaten in the Premier League, beginning with a thunderous win over Chelsea and seemed to have revitalised the Toffees team with his passion and drive after so many lacklustre and frustratingly inconsistent performances under Silva.
When Ancelotti took over he stayed on and seemed to have a pivitol role in the club’s coaching set-up although how influential he was in contrast to Ancelotti’s son Davide was debatable.
Now with Ancelotti having left it threw into doubt what that meant for the Scot’s future role with some supporters wanting him to take the job permanently, although not everyone is convinced that is the best outcome.
And then this situation was made more uncertain when it quickly emerged that ex-Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo was the favourite for the job.
He has a notoriously large staff that he likes to take with him wherever he goes. That seemed to prove a decisive stumbling block which meant he didn’t get the job at Crystal Palace, his first apparent destination.
And so as he seemed to be moving towards the Everton position, this became an issue again and it also looked as though Ferguson would have to leave to make way for this new staff.
And perhaps that together with his strong connections to Portuguese agent Jorge Mendes meant the board cooled on the idea of Santo for the Toffees job. It seems likely that Marcel Brands was far from keen to have to deal through Mendes for most of his transfers if Santo took over.
Anyway, now it appears as though the chance of Santo getting the job are receding and Rafa Benitez is the new favourite to the surprise and shock of a lot of Evertonians.
One thing that seems to be settled is that if the ex-Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Chelsea (as well as Liverpool) boss take the job, Ferguson will be staying.
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Well at least that’s what some media are reporting with stories that he will stay on if, or when, the Spaniard gets the job.
Obviously this is not set in stone but it would seem almost impossible to imagine Benitez asking Ferguson to go given how incredibly fragile his situation will be with supporters.
Having the legendary Scot alongside him and giving him a more high-profile role in the staff would perhaps assuage some of the unease about his appointment.
Perhaps the plan will be to get to a place where Ferguson takes over after a couple of seasons from Benitez? I don’t know and obviously I’m just speculating and trying to get my head around all this, as are all Blues fans.
There’s still no certainly that Benitez will be Everton manager after all it looked nailed on that Santo was getting the job last weekend but that all fell apart quickly enough.