Everton didn’t even know Marcelo Bielsa was coming when he flew into England to make unprecedented offer
Everton were as “surprised as anyone” to see Marcelo Bielsa fly into Heathrow airport in January to discuss his unique plan for taking the manager’s job, according to The Athletic’s Leeds United reporter Phil Hay.
The former Elland Road boss emerged as an early frontrunner to replace Frank Lampard when he was sacked on 21 January following the loss at West Ham, and optimism increased when the Argentine arrived in the country for talks on 26 January.
By that point it was already sounding an unlikely appointment due to his concerns over the squad and taking over midseason, and as such Everton had reportedly moved on in the direction of now-manager Sean Dyche, before being bemused to see Bielsa pitching up to make his offer to take charge of the under-21s until the summer.
Speaking on The Phil Hay Show podcast for The Athletic (23 February, 24min 50sec) Hay, who for obvious reasons has an interest in the former Leeds boss, said: “From what I’m told having dug around at the Everton end, I think it was the Thursday that he landed at Heathrow, and Everton at that point were under the impression that the idea of appointing Bielsa was dead.
“I’d been in touch with a few people in Argentina at the start of the week who’d said, ‘Mid-season he just won’t do it’… But I don’t think they were hinting at this idea that he might take the [under]21s.
“So Everton at that point had started to move on towards naming Dyche as their next manager, and from what I’m told I don’t think they even realised that Bielsa was even due to arrive at Heathrow. I don’t think they realised he was flying in.
“So when they saw the pictures in the Daily Mail I think they were as surprised as anybody, and the question was asked, ‘Why’s he here?’.”
Unpredictable
The manager search eventually went the way it probably needed to go all along in the circumstances, with Dyche brought in to spark an immediate improvement.
The former Burnley boss’ two wins from three has brought about the desired lift, but Bielsa was at the time an intriguing if unrealistic option.
It is now clear that the belief from the outside, that it would be a major stretch to get his infamous training methods and playing style implemented during the season, was matched by the man himself.
That he flew all the way from Brazil, unannounced, just to rock up and tell Farhad Moshiri he wouldn’t take the job is unexpected enough.
But for him to then counter-offer with a plan for him to take charge of the under-21s side while the first-team potentially continued to struggle in the Premier League takes it to a whole new level.
Had it been a summer approach then there would have been no shortage of interested observers watching to see if he could recreate his Leeds system which became so popular before the wheels came off last season.
Bielsa is nothing if not entertaining, and he stayed true to form in that manner even without taking the job, and with Dyche’s feet now firmly under the desk it looks like a marriage that will never come about.