Sam Allardyce’s admission that he is under pressure at Everton will no doubt please some of the club’s fans, but they need to be careful what they wish for.
Allardyce came in for plenty of stick after last Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Burnley and he faces a massive home game against Brighton and Hove Albion this weekend.
The Toffees have won just twice in 12 matches and a defeat against Chris Hughton’s side would ramp up the pressure on the former England boss.
Despite support from the club’s major shareholder, Farhad Moshiri, the 63-year-old admits he will meet the same fate as former boss Ronald Koeman unless results improve.
“Whatever Farhad says is very positive but I am under no illusions about my position,” Allardyce told the Guardian.
“I have always said that managers stay in a job when they win football matches.
“I can’t continue to lose football matches. It is as simple as that.
“There is no point beating about the bush and saying you can have as much backing as you want.
“There is great backing from the owners, but I have to win matches to reassure them that I am the right man for the job.
“While that support is there, it is my responsibility to alleviate the pressure on everybody – Farhad included – by winning football matches.”
While Everton’s recent form has been poor, it’s fair to say that Allardyce was on a hiding to nothing when he took over at Goodison Park.
Koeman left behind an unbalanced squad that was short on confidence and although results briefly improved, performances soon reverted back to their early season level.
A fair proportion of Everton’s fans don’t want Allardyce as manager, but a quick look at some of the names being touted for the role suggest there’s a fairly high level of delusion in play.
Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone and Shakhtar Donetsk’s Paulo Fonseca are the popular choices, but why would either of them move to Goodison Park?
If Simeone ever leaves Madrid it will be to a bigger club than Everton, while would Fonseca really fancy giving up Champions League football to replace Allardyce?
Everton haven’t won a major trophy in nearly 25 years and their fans need to get real and understand where they are in the grand scheme of things right now.
Given a pre-season to clear out the dead wood and assemble his own side, Allardyce would get Everton heading in the right direction.
Getting rid of him before giving him the opportunity to do that just doesn’t make sense.
For any doubters out there, feel free to look up Venky’s and Blackburn Rovers when you’ve got an hour or two to spare.
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