If there was a single moment that sealed Ronald Koeman’s fate at Everton, it came towards the end of their 5-2 thumping by Arsenal on Sunday.

Despite the Gunners adding insult to fatal injury with their fourth and fifth goals in stoppage time, there was no cacophony of boos from the disgusted Goodison faithful.

Instead, the silence was deafening — because the ground had emptied long before the final whistle.

Literally and metaphorically, the fans had turned their back on Koeman.

They had simply given up on him and his team.

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Chairman Bill Kenwright and principal owner Farhad Moshiri were watching in horror as the fans streamed out.

It was then they realised they couldn’t subject their manager - who is widely recognised as a decent man - to much more humiliation.

The sense of anger against the former Barcelona star was summed up by the sight of a few upset fans, as they streamed away from the ground, throwing coins into the compound where the manager and players park their cars.

That is why Kenwright and Moshiri chose to take the decision, however tough and painful, to end the Dutchman’s reign on Monday after just one year, four months and nine days.

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The main reason for his demise is simple.

Koeman bought the wrong players in the summer. He then failed to organise a system to accommodate the 10 players he brought in.

By the end, he could not even think clearly enough to select a viable midfield against Arsenal.

Koeman thanked the board and met with the players to thank them for their efforts, too — which goes against the notion that he had completely lost the dressing room.

And sources close to the Dutchman have been suggesting that, if there was a problem, it was with director of football Steve Walsh.

Everton teamed Koeman with Walsh, who had a key role in Leicester's title triumph, last year (
Image:
Everton/Getty)

In truth, Walsh must take some of the blame for the poor recruitment in the summer.

Most notably, Koeman was promised a replacement for Romelu Lukaku in the form of Arsenal's Olivier Giroud.

Koeman clearly blamed Walsh for that deal not getting over the line.

In other areas too, there were failings:

Only one centre-back signed despite an obvious need for more — and the man who was brought in, Michael Keane of Burnley, has endured a torrid time.

Chairman Kenwright is famously patient with his managers, but felt he had to act (
Image:
Liverpool Echo)

No left-back cover for Leighton Baines either, which is poor planning when he is approaching his 33rd birthday.

Gareth Barry was allowed to leave, and replaced not like-for-like — and given the state of the non-midfield against Arsenal, how they needed a direct replacement — but with three new No10s.

Bar impressive keeper Jordan Pickford, none of the 10 summer signings can so far be remotely deemed a success — and some have been abject, particularly Davy Klaassen, who cost £25m, and £45m Gylfi Sigurdsson in midfield, and supposed Spanish sensation Sandro Ramirez up front.

Evertonians are still waiting for summer buy Sandro's first goal for the club... (
Image:
Action Images via Reuters)
...after missing out on Arsenal's Giroud to replace their 2016-17 top scorer Lukaku (
Image:
Getty)

It did not help that Koeman’s relationship with the fans was non-existent, summed up last Christmas by a swiftly-deleted tweet which saw the manager post a picture of his Christmas tree bedecked all in red — arch-rivals Liverpool's colour.

Kevin Ratcliffe, Everton’s most successful captain, summed up the mood of the supporters that ultimately got Koeman the sack, when he said of a manager who arrived at Goodison saying he wanted to manage Barcelona:

“My biggest problem was that he called us 'Everton', he never called us ‘us.’”

Keoman's Christmas tree last year looked like this (left)... until a swift change of colour scheme (
Image:
Twitter/@RonaldKoeman)

Now, the Dutchman is just one of them — another football statistic.

Kenwright and Moshiri spoke personally to Koeman the following morning, and he was said to have taken the decision with dignity and good grace.

Everton isn't a sacking club, and Kenwright has a long history of showing patience with his managers.

It is a policy that has delivered real success as the Merseyside club punched well about their financial weight for close on two decades.

How ironic, then, that the very season a manager gets huge funds to splash in the transfer market, is the season Everton felt they had to become a ‘sacking club’.

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