The Unforeseen Storm

Let’s be honest. No-one saw this one coming in July when we were signing players and sunning ourselves. The last 6 weeks have brought back bad memories of Walker and Smith. Can Everton fight off the storm that no one saw coming?

Remember when?

No-one of a certain age needs reminding about the horror days of Mike Walker. Insipid football that leaked goals, poor attacking play that didn’t create much and the fear of relegation stalking the pitch. Lightning has struck twice. We haven’t won since September and are in danger of going between 2 international breaks without a single win. Dire.

 

Rhi Knows

Step forward Rhino. David Unsworth is a man who gets Everton. The former Everton centre half understands what is expected. He speaks well and clearly loves the club. He even sat in the street end for a derby before getting mobbed and ending up sitting elsewhere in the second half. Unsworth’s blue credentials are undeniable. Does he have the talent though? The jury is out after 2 games which haven’t really shown a lot of improvement, Baningime’s thunderous tackle aside. He’s got two games to gain a job that he probably isn’t going to get. I hope he stays and is properly mentored by the incoming management.

All Eyes on Allardyce

The board then have to make a decision but can they get it right? Significantly, Moshiri is 0 for 1 when it comes to picking managers. Heads should roll at the end of the day when Sam Allardyce is strongly rumoured to be bringing his brown sauce to Finch Farm. Everton should never have been in this position, especially after so many years of relative stability. Both the School of Science and the Dogs of War have been missing from Goodison, replaced by the Men of Meh. Indeed, there is no identity in the side, little passion and there’s more balance in a one legged 20 stone ballerina than there is in this side. The team are too timid, hiding from the storm.

From the exciting names like Tuchel and Ancelotti that were initially linked, we have quickly moved to the Allardyce and Sean Dyche level. Are we that unattractive? Have we fallen this far? Today, the Mirror has us linked with Gus Hiddink, who has been a great manager but has just turned 70. Phil Neville was laughably linked after Ryan Giggs saw tumbleweed when he expressed his interest.

Circular Thinking

We seem to go from extremes with our managers. For example, Martinez expansionism was the opposite of Moyes’ organised defensive football. Koeman’s discipline was a response to Martinez relentless positivity and allowance of the players to take on responsibility for themselves. Now we are looking for an organiser who can instill fight and organisation again. In other words, full circle. Reactionary. Blowing in the wind.

Now or Never?

This appointment is too important for the club to not get it right. The whole future of the club rides on this. We may see an interim manager with experience to guide us to the end of the season. Undoubtedly there will be international managers out of a job after the world cup. We may go for flavour of the month Sean Dyche or the Watford manager who took Hull down. It’s a case of supply and demand at the moment. It’s the perfect storm of imperfect managers. There are not many candidates out there who you feel could guarantee safety with this squad, never mind build a side that can challenge.

Farhad Moshiri once mentioned that there was a short window for Everton to try to establish themselves again as a Champions League side. In fact, the window is jammed and a storm is upon us. It is up to he and the Everton board to show a clear vision of how the club can move forward. Mere safety is not good enough for Everton and a far cry for what was expected from this season. The July sun has led to Autumn storms and it is up to the board to find the man who will lead us into brighter day.

Who would you like to see as the next Everton manager? Let us know in the comments section below.