Alex Crook: Everton ditch efforts to appoint Rafa Benitez
According to talkSPORT journalist Alex Crook, Everton have ditched their attempts to appoint former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez as their quest to sign a new manager continues into its third week.
Initial reports of the club closing in on Benitez were not taken well by the Everton fans who made their opinions very clear by putting banners outside Goodison Park vehemently opposing the move.
It seems that their actions have appeared to have an impact on the Everton board and they have decided that it’s best if they don’t go ahead with the Spaniard’s appointment.
Crook said, “Benitez to Everton looked quite close last week, but it’s all gone quiet.
“He was expecting a contract offer, but at the moment that contract offer doesn’t seem to have materialised.
“I guess we can only read between the lines and say that Everton’s owners would be foolish not to listen to the supporters.”
Owner Farhad Moshiri is understood to have had positive talks with Benitez in the past and he was his preferred option initially.
However, now the club will have to look in a different direction and hire a competent manager that could help get the fans onside.
Who’s next?
For one reason or another, we’re losing out on our primary managerial targets and it’s not how a well-run club should be going about their business.
If there was a clear plan presented by Marcel Brands to the higher-ups as to the calibre of manager we want, then we would see it being reflected in our chase of hiring Carlo Ancelotti’s successor.
But, if the last two weeks are anything to go by, we’ve randomly opted for names that are available and don’t fit into a distinct philosophy.
Fans are undoubtedly going to play a huge factor in this appointment, so we could see the club going for someone like Duncan Ferguson who shares a very good relationship with the fans.
He gets the ethos of the club and is aware of what Ancelotti was trying to and expected to achieve at Goodison Park.
Roberto Martinez is another name the fans would be open to welcoming as he’s been a success previously at the club, but whether or not he will step down from the Belgium role is a huge question as he does have ambitions to manage Barcelona in the future.
We’ve seemed to have returned to square one in our chase for a new manager and this quest is unlikely to be ending any time soon.
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