Out of all the managers sacked by Farhad Moshiri, Marco Silva probably has the most support that he could have been a success under different circumstances. But almost three-and-a-half years from his exit, Everton are still counting the cost of his reign.
While we’ll have to wait to see him in the dugout again given that he’s serving the second of a two-game touchline ban for his barracking of referee Chris Kavanagh in Fulham’s FA Cup exit at Manchester United, on Saturday, Silva returns to Goodison Park for the first time since he was axed following a 5-2 defeat across Stanley Park which left his side in the bottom three. Although the Portuguese coach’s high-profile replacement Carlo Ancelotti was able to steer the Blues to an eventual 12th placed-finish in what became a coronavirus-induced behind closed doors finish to that season, fast forward to now and only goal difference separates Everton and a place in the drop zone as they battle to avoid what would be their first relegation in 72 years.
Given that no team in football has ever squandered so much to become so bad – owner Moshiri admitted in his apology to fans last summer: “we have not always spent significant amounts of money wisely” – we have to wonder how things got so desperate for the Blues after a splurge of over £700million in the transfer market with less than £400million recouped since the Monaco-based billionaire took control of the club in 2016.
