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Everton may head towards more mediocrity by re-hiring Roberto Martinez
Everton may head towards more mediocrity by re-hiring Roberto Martinez
Football FanCast
When Farhad Moshiri brought Carlo Ancelotti to Merseyside, it was seen as a major triumph.
At last, Everton had found themselves a manager capable of lifting them into the top six again.
Ancelotti never managed that with the Toffees but his Goodison Park stay was torn up in dramatic circumstances.
Whenever an elite club come calling, it’s difficult to turn them down. The Italian has already achieved enormous success at Milan, Chelsea and Real Madrid but the Spanish club managed to lure him to the Bernabeu for a second stint last week.
With it, Everton are now back at square one. They face the arduous task of finding a new manager who can finally get them to brush shoulders with some of the best in the country.
40 coaches have specified their interest in the vacancy but we’ve already seen a certain set of names emerge as front runners. Nuno Santo has had an interview while Bill Kenwright has also spoken to David Moyes.
Another name he apparently favours is Roberto Martinez. That’s hardly a surprise when you consider how the pair got on when they were last together.
Martinez praised Kenwright for his handling of John Stones before the former Toffees chairman applauded him for masterminding a 2-0 win over Chelsea five years ago.
Speaking at the time, he commented: “You know what I thought today? What a manager. That’s what I thought.”
The Spanish coach laid some promising groundwork but was sacked in May 2016 after three years in charge.
He won 42% of his games but failed to ensure Everton qualified for that elusive Champions League place.
After all, that was something Martinez promised when he first walked through the door. During his initial unveiling, Kenwright said: “He promised me Champions League football.”
The current Belgium boss guided them to a fifth-place finish in 2013/14, edging them closer than any other manager since Moyes to Europe’s top table.
Though, his methods waned and Everton fell away in typical fashion. When he was given the boot, the Toffees sat in 12th place.
After he was fired, Lyndon Lloyd, editor of popular Everton fansite ToffeeWeb, criticised Martinez’s “stubborn mentality” when speaking to IBTimes UK.
Although he lifted them to a place in the Europa League, inconsistency has dominated the Spaniard’s time as a coach.
He was relegated with Wigan and then finished 11th in 2014/15. Excusing this season, fellow managerial candidate Nuno Santo has at least shown more than that.
He was promoted with Wolves and then took them to consecutive seventh-placed finishes.
Martinez has progressed nicely with Belgium but you should never explore a previous relationship. It would be like reading a book for a second time; you already know how it’s going to end.
In this case, Moshiri would be condemning Everton to more mediocrity. They must look for other options.
