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David Unsworth to take temporary charge of Everton after Koeman exit

Everton have confirmed David Unsworth will take charge of the team for Wednesday's Carabao Cup game against Chelsea and going forward while the search for Ronald Koeman's successor takes place.

Koeman departed on Monday following a 5-2 defeat against Arsenal which left them in the bottom three of the Premier League.

Koeman arrived at Everton's training base on Monday morning but within a matter of hours the club had released a statement announcing his departure.

It read: "Bill Kenwright, the board of directors and major shareholder Farhad Moshiri would all like to express their gratitude to Ronald for the service he has given to the club over the past 16 months and for guiding the club to seventh place in last season's Premier League campaign."

Koeman expressed his disappointment at losing his job via a statement on his Twitter account on Tuesday.

Unsworth, manager of Everton's under-23 side, also took temporary charge of first-team affairs when Roberto Martinez was dismissed in 2016.

Having guided the under-23s to the Premier League 2 title last season, Unsworth could be considered a candidate for the senior job on a full-time basis too given the number of exciting youngsters at Goodison Park.

Ex-Manchester United midfielder Ryan Giggs, still waiting for his first full-time managerial position, has thrown his hat into the ring for both the Everton and Leicester vacancies.

"I think you look at those two teams, Leicester being champions two seasons ago, Everton being a fantastic club with a fantastic history, for me these are clubs I would be interested in," Giggs said.

Giggs' former Manchester United teammate and ex-Everton captain Phil Neville has also expressed an interest in the vacancy, according to BBC Sport.

Burnley's Sean Dyche is another who has been linked, while Watford's Marco Silva and the out-of-work David Moyes, who spent 11 largely successful years with Everton, have also been mentioned. Candidates from outside the UK to be linked with the job include Carlo Ancelotti and Thomas Tuchel.

However, majority shareholder Moshiri may wish to appoint a manager with a greater global standing having noted last year that he hired Koeman because he felt they needed "a star to stand on the touchline'' in a region where Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho and Jurgen Klopp all work.

In terms of selecting that next boss, former Everton defender and coach Alan Stubbs says it will be interesting to see whether chairman Bill Kenwright has more of a say over the hiring.

"I think it's common knowledge that Mr Moshiri was the deciding factor in Ronald Koeman getting the job," Stubbs told BBC Radio 5 Live. "There were a couple of other contenders that Bill may have put forward, but this was Mr Moshiri's appointment.

"Whether now, because it hasn't really worked, Bill has a bigger influence in who comes in next...I think we'll have to wait and see."

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