Does Everton’s financial take-over spell the end for this man?

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Last week, it was announced that long-standing Everton chairman Bill Kenwright would sell half of his 26% stake in Everton to investor Farhad Moshiri as part of the deal seeing him buy 49.9% of Everton FC.  This has been a long time coming as Kenwright has been looking for a suitable buyer for years, and now his club are valued at £175 million with Moshiri given the option to buy a further majority share in the future.  This means Everton have financial backing to really catapult towards a European place, but would it be under Roberto Martinez?

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Everton lie in 11^th place this season but are in the FA Cup quarter-finals.  Yet, this will still go down as another disappointing season if all they get out of it is a top-half finish and failure to go and win the FA Cup, and the pressure will intensify on Martinez.  He has built a team full of exciting talent with potential to burn, with Gérard Deulofeu, Ross Barkley, Seamus Coleman and Romelu Lukaku all players who could easily be part of any side in the country. However, since the 2013/14 season where Everton fell short of the top four; although they claimed 5^th in his first season and a record points tally for 27 years, they have not hit the same heights in the following campaigns.  An 11^th placed finish last season got fans on the wrong foot with Martinez but keeping John Stones in the summer and adding Tom Cleverley and Deulofeu built back some trust.  That was once again to be diminished though as what used to be an organised defensive unit looked past its best as Everton conceded to many to win games, look over the Christmas period where they lost 4-3 at home to Stoke late on, then catastrophic 3-3 draws at Bournemouth and Chelsea in the dying embers of added time.  It’s clear the talent is there, hence why they made the Capital One Cup semi-finals this season, beat the likes of Chelsea, Man City and Southampton in impressive showings, but this has been overshadowed by inconsistency.

Now, Everton are set to have some more resources available in the summer. If they can keep the key gems like Lukaku, Barkley, Stones and James McCarthy, then reinvesting around them could see Everton re-join the pack hunting a European spot.  I don’t see this to be with Martinez in charge as he doesn’t seem to possess the skills to adapt his game enough for different opposition and the amount of problems with defences that follows Martinez is cropping up more and more.  After his first campaign in charge, Everton had the second best defence in the Premier League, Phil Jagielka, Sylvain Distin and Tim Howard were integral and built a trusted unit.  Last season that rose to 50 as injuries kept Distin and Jagielka out for long spells and John Stones came in as a first team regular to partner Antolin Alcaraz, who wasn’t the best man to ease Stones into Premier League football to say the least.  With 11 games to go it is 36 in the against column, so it could marginally better last season’s but just watching them this time around, you can see the sloppy errors, rash decisions and constant need to pass the ball around the back which costs them on occasions.  Players like Stones have come in for criticism because of this, and despite Chelsea’s valuation of him at £35 million in their summer pursuit, at many times he’s not shown those capabilities.  The likes of Lukaku and Barkley have had good seasons but Everton can’t rely on individuals to carry them high in the table. That’s why Martinez needs to go.

It is the perfect time for change. Everton are heading into a season where money is coming it at the bucket load.  The TV rights money added to the investment from Moshiri mean that Everton have the bank balance to vastly improve their squad and really make the step-up as West Ham and Spurs have done this season from where they were.  So, who should be brought in? Names like Unai Emery, Jorge Sampaoli and Frank De Boer could be tempted by the tradition and current crop on offer at Goodison Park, with the chance to build a new force in English football.  All three have good track records. Emery has been at the helm of a more than capable European regular outfit in Spain with consecutive Europa League titles in the last two campaigns and impressing many viewers with their style and performances.  He was approached by West Ham and Napoli last summer but signed an extension, but who’s to say he wouldn’t be tempted by this opportunity?

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Sampaoli won the Copa America with Chile last year; the first in their history, but has only managed at club level in South America.  Sampaoli has been heavily rumoured with the Chelsea job but his name has faded out of conversation, meaning he could be an outsider for the Merseyside hotseat and would be an improvement on Martinez.  He is known for an all-pressing intense attacking style but also for an organised rear-guard, something Everton evidently need, therefore he could be a good appointment.  Lastly, De Boer has been built up through the ranks of the prestigious Ajax academy and has been manager since 2010.  He was approached by Spurs for the job before Mauricio Pochettino came in 2014 and has always been a name floated around with any vacant English role.  He won four Eredivisie titles in a row from 2010 to 2014 but now may be looking for a fresh challenge.  There is the widespread belief that he would fit well at Everton – a team with a similar focus on building academy players like at Ajax and focuses on patient football, also identical to that played by the Blue half of the Mersey.  Three very ideal candidates for the job next season, all I believe would improve the team and take them on from Martinez to the next level.

If Everton clear out the squad in the summer and use the funds to invest in better squad depth; and some extra quality in key areas, as well as keeping those vital cogs, next season could be one where Everton make a statement as a side that wants to be recognised on a European stage as well contest for English honours.

Featured Image: All rights reserved by Aleksandr Osipov