Everton meet with veteran manager

The news this morning is that one of the candidates for the Everton manager position has met with majority shareowner Farhad Moshiri over the weekend. Sam Allardyce, dismissed from the England manager role after just one game in charge over financial impropriety, met face-to-face with the investor in London, as reported by the Daily Mail.

Allardyce has already been very vocal about taking on the position at Everton, saying multiple times that he knows how to get the Club out of the hole they find themselves in currently. Yesterday’s win over Watford FC came not a moment too soon and the Toffees now sit in 15th place in the Premier League, with eleven points from eleven games.

‘Big Sam’, as he is popularly known, has previously shown his pedigree in getting a side settled down and grinding out results to avoid the drop. Among the clubs he has managed are Crystal Palace (2016-17), Sunderland (2015-16), West Ham United (2011-15), Blackburn Rovers (2008-10), Newcastle (2007-08) and Bolton Wanderers (1999-07), with the proud record of never being relegated with any of those clubs.

However, with that streak comes a no-nonsense footballing style that is dour and gritty, often eschewing any semblance of attacking prowess for defensive stability. With the quality of players he could have at Everton, he certainly can straighten them up and bring in more rigidity and discipline, but will also likely lead to the exodus of young attacking talent the club has added over the last couple of years.

It is certainly understandable why the Toffees top brass want to speak to Allardyce - the spectre of relegation for Everton is a haunting one in this nouveau riche footballing world, with Aston Villa and Sunderland clear examples of teams that were not so long ago relevant in the Premier League and are now in free fall.

However, appointing someone like Big Sam for anything longer than just this season is basically admitting that Everton will not be contending for the top six in the next couple of years either. And if Allardyce is only caretaker for the rest of the season, then why not leave David Unsworth in charge for the rest of the year as he does have the familiarity with the players, the system and the Club culture?