Sam Allardyce will no longer be at Goodison Park next season having been sacked and Marco Silva is the leading man to replace the Englishman. Allardyce managed to turn Everton into a top-eight side from the relegation-threatened side they were when he took over in November. So the question remains could anyone have done a better job than him?
Allardyce arrived on Merseyside with vast experience having survived relegation with West Ham, Bolton Wanderers, Sunderland, Blackburn Rovers and Crystal Palace. He is seen as the miracle man and one who will avoid relegation at all costs. Considering the position Everton were in when he took over, they needed a man of his qualities!
It was surprising the poor start Everton made after such a good season in 2016/17 and the forward steps they were making under Ronald Koeman. However, after losing Romelu Lukaku for £75 million, they never invested the money into the right areas. By the end of October, the hierarchy had had enough with the Dutchman and pulled the plug on his tenure as the team sat in 18th place.
Club legend and under 23 manager David Unsworth took over but fortunes did not get any better as the club dropped out of Europe and picked up just two wins in five games. It took the club over a month to replace the caretaker manager. They tried many different managers, but none were willing to take over. Silva was being courted, while still in charge of Watford, but he refused to leave his contract; although he found himself sacked in January after bad results.
Allardyce took over and quickly brought in his style of play to help them keep their Premier League status, as they occupied 15th place and were still in real trouble. The form was consistent enough to rise up the table to finish 8th, and Allardyce picked up 34 points out of a possible 69 available.
His football can be described as negative and dull, but it does get the job done. He did only sign the contract until the end of the season with the aim of stabilising Everton, and he has done precisely that. There have been important wins against teams below them in the league such as Leicester City, Newcastle United and Crystal Palace.
However, it seems that Allardyce prioritised his game. He threw away games against Manchester United, Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester City as his side rolled over to the teams above them. Everton fans want their team to be challenging these sorts of clubs and break into top six on a regular basis.
In the end the fans should be thankful to Allardyce as he secured their Premier League status and managed to get them a lot higher in the league than they thought they would have been before he took over. The problem comes down to entertainment over results, and Allardyce’s football likes entertainment. But do fans want Premier League football or Championship football?
Replacing Allardyce with Silva does make sense because he is a young manager who wants to play more attractive football and it should be seen as a long-term appointment rather than a short-term fix like Allardyce.
Surely your headline should have read “Anyone could have done a better job than Sam Allardyce”
Highly unlikely anybody would have done a good a job as Sam. The problem is the club was up against deluded fans with a distinct lack of grey matter!