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Marco Silva lasted just 18 months in the Everton hot seat, presiding over a miserable record of winning just 24 of his 60 games in charge. Last week’s crushing 5-2 defeat to bitter rivals Liverpool sealed his fate, leaving the club hovering above the relegation zone – and looking for a new manager.
The search for a new boss at Goodison Park is now on, and it’s a critical decision for the Everton board. With a new 52,000-seater stadium on the horizon, the club cannot afford to drop out of the Premier League. Doing so could mean financial disaster.
You can be sure the club management is casting its net far and wide to find the best possible replacement for Silva. The aim primarily will be to remain in the Premier League this season – then begin pressing for titles.
So, who is the current bookies’ favourites to take over the blue half of Merseyside? You can take a look at here for betting sites with good odds, but let’s also look at the contenders here.
Current favourite is David Moyes, the former Everton manager who guided the club to fourth in the 2004-2005 season, their best finish since 1988. He spent 11 years at the club, from 2002 to 2013, and, while not winning any silverware, he stabilised the playing squad and built a team that was always difficult to beat.
Would he be a popular talisman to return to the dugout? Many Everton fans think so, although some suggest he might be named as an interim boss, a role currently taken by former striker Duncan Ferguson. Moyes is currently 1/4 on to take over with some bookies.
The next name on the list of favourites is Marcelo Gallardo, the River Plate manager in Argentina, who is his club’s most successful boss in history. Gallardo has bagged no less than ten titles, two Copa Libertadores victories and two Copa Argentinas. It’s a fantastic record, but everyone knows the Premier League is a far bigger challenge than the league in Argentina.
Another name thought to be on the Everton board’s radar is Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe. Howe has a brilliant record with the Cherries, guiding them from the lower leagues to the top-flight and keeping them there, despite such a small fanbase.
Unfortunately for Everton, Howe’s love affair with the south coast club runs deep. It’s unlikely he’ll be prised away again like he was for a brief spell at Burnley. Howe himself has already said he is “embarrassed” by the speculation linking him to Goodison and is “100 percent committed” to Bournemouth.
Monaco head coach Leonardo Jardim has also been mentioned. With Gallardo at 9/1 and Howe at 10/1, Jardim is priced at 12/1 to be the new Everton boss. He led Monaco to a Ligue 1 championship in 2016-17, so has some pedigree, but it seems unlikely he’ll get the job.
Someone we can almost certainly rule out is Rafael Benitez. Although the Spaniard has a glittering managerial pedigree, a lot of his success came at Everton’s arch-rivals, Liverpool. Still, Benitez is attracting odds of 16/1 in some quarters.
If you look around those managers currently out of work, Everton fans would love the idea of recently departed Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino joining them. But the Argentine surely has his sights set on bigger targets, such as a top job in Spain. He’s even cheekily being linked with Arsenal. All of which explains why he’s out at 20/1 for the Everton job.
Other names allegedly in contention will hardly fill Everton fans with much hope. There’s Mark Hughes, who hasn’t been in management since leaving Southampton in December 2018. Also, Alan Pardew and Phil Neville are among a host of names that fancy a shot at managing in the Premier League.
It seems likely that Everton might go for Moyes, if only on a short-term deal until the end of the season, with a brief to keep the club in the Premier League. It will give the club board time to get the key appointment right, a vital decision as they look to press ahead with plans for their new stadium.
However, if Moyes did take over in the interim and do a great job in transforming his side’s fortunes, he would likely be offered the job permanently. He has a history of signing good players, something Everton have not got right since he left.
And what if Duncan Ferguson wins the next five games on the bounce with the Toffees? Surely that would earn him the right to remain at the helm until the end of the season, at least?
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