Even now, over two years later, Duncan Ferguson is still baffled by the call made by Farhad Moshiri.
When Carlo Ancelotti left for Real Madrid, Everton were in need of a new manager. Plenty of names, including Ferguson's, were linked with the role.
But in the end, Moshiri decided to appoint Rafa Benitez. The appointment was the most contentious and controversial in Everton’s history due to the 63-year-old's close ties with Liverpool.
It wasn’t quite the shortest reign in the club's history (that accolade belongs to Sam Allardyce at 167 days), but it was arguably the most miserable.
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Chairman Bill Kenwright had major reservations about Benitez taking over from Ancelotti. Unfortunately for him and the rest of the club, those reservations proved sadly prophetic.
Ferguson would serve on Benitez’s coaching staff after being offered a role by the former Newcastle United boss. The two worked closely together and built up a good relationship.
However, reflecting on the appointment in an exclusive interview with the ECHO, Ferguson admits that the move was one that he never truly felt comfortable with and one that should have never happened.
"It was difficult because he had such a connection to Liverpool," he says. "I think it was a strange move for the club and one I wasn’t very comfortable with, to be honest.
"That doesn't mean I was any less loyal to Rafa, because Rafa will tell you I was there for him. I took the sessions, and I was involved as much as any of his staff.
"I got on well with Rafa, and I didn’t have any problems at all as a guy; we never had a cross word. But it was definitely a strange move for the club to hire Rafa Benitez. I don’t think that should have happened, but it did, and there we go."
Asked if he was ever consulted by a member of the club’s hierarchy before the decision was made, Ferguson replied: "I heard the rumour getting touted, but I was never consulted. No, I was not at that table."
Ferguson, following the appointment of Frank Lampard, decided to leave Everton last summer in search of managerial opportunities. He would later join Forest Green Rovers in January, before leaving earlier this week, meaning he watched his former club from afar last season.
But Everton's fortunes did not improve in the way Ferguson hoped they would. Once again, the Blues avoided relegation to the Sky Bet Championship by the skin of their teeth.
Only a final-day victory over Bournemouth prevented Everton from dropping into the second-tier. It was another close shave, just like it had been in Ferguson’s last season at the club.
While off the pitch, trust among supporters in the club’s hierarchy completely broke down, so much so that three members of the board of directors left their roles just a couple of weeks after the season finished.
The chief executive, Denise Barrett-Baxendale; the chief finance and strategy officer, Grant Ingles; and the non-executive director, Graeme Sharp, all left their positions after months of protests by fans against the board and majority shareholder Moshiri.
All four, along with chairman Kenwright, who has only remained on the board after being asked to by Moshiri, never watched Sean Dyche take charge of a game at Goodison Park last season after being advised to stay away due to a "real and credible threat to their safety and security".
After the initial relief of staying up on the final day, there were again chants of "sack of the board" as supporters made their feelings known. Fans also staged a number of protests against the of the club during the second half of the season.
And while Ferguson admits the scenes witnessed during the final months of the campaign were not nice to see, he believes fans have every right to voice their opinions as they are the "blood of the club".
"It is not nice, and obviously the board couldn’t go to the games in the last few months of the season, and that is not nice," he tells the ECHO.
"But the fans are the blood of the club, and they support the club the way they want to support the club.
"It is not nice to see; however, the fans have got an absolute right to do what they want to do. I think Everton fans have been absolutely magnificent.
"I only went to a couple of games last year, but the last season I was there, they were unbelievable and pulled the player over the line, and I’m sure they did this year as well.
"It is not nice to see the lads protesting and marching up and down, but it is absolutely their right as it is their club."
