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When Roberto Martinez took over at Goodison Park in 2013 he told Everton chairman Bill Kenwright that he would get the club into the Champions League.
Less than three years later and the Spaniard has been shown the door. Despite being in possession of a squad brimming with talent, which that boasts the club’s record signing and two of English football’s brightest young prospects, Everton finished the season in the bottom half of the table.
High points included a run to the semi-finals of both domestic cup competitions and Romelu Lukaku’s goals, while some sublime football was played at times. But an alarming dip in form, an inability to protect a lead and the feeling that Martinez simply cannot organise a team’s defence led to a parting of ways.
Most fans are glad to see the back of him. Many didn’t want him in the first place, seeing little in the manager who had overseen Wigan’s relegation from the Premier League.
The Everton board preferred to focus on his FA Cup win and the attractive football his sides played. A fifth-placed finish in his first season in charge, achieved with Everton’s record Premier League points tally, seemed to have proved Kenwright and company correct.
Martinez inherited a strong team from David Moyes and added a bit of flair to its solid foundations. Youngsters such as Ross Barkley and John Stones were given a chance, some decent signings were made and the future looked bright.
But then things started to go downhill.
In a season where the big clubs floundered, Everton might have been expected to make their big push for the upper reaches of the division. But instead they fell further down the pecking order while Spurs, West Ham and of course eventual champions Leicester City shook up the established order.
Martinez could have turned things around had he won the Merseyside derby and the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United, which came in the space of a few days. But both were lost, the derby 4-0 and the cup game late in extra time.
The meek surrenders against Leicester and Sunderland, where three goals were shipped in both games, sealed his fate and he was spared the ignominy of the final home game of the season. The fact that ended up as a 3-0 win suggests the players were relieved the manager had been shown the door.
That game saw a batch of youngsters given a run-out and shows the potential this Everton squad possesses. The 17-year-old Tom Davies and 18-year-old Kieran Dowell were handed full debuts in midfield, while Under-21 captain Jonjoe Kenny made his first senior outing from the bench.
All impressed.
Meanwhile, the investment from billionaire businessman Farhad Moshiri means the new manager should have transfer funds at his disposal, something many of his predecessors could only dream about.
So who will the new manager be? Inevitably Moyes’ name has been mentioned and the Scot will surely be tempted, if only to show what he can do with the club with some money in his pocket.
Bournemouth’s Eddie Howe has been mentioned, as has Mark Hughes, himself an ex-Evertonian. Manuel Pellegrini, Jose Mourinho and even Rafa Benitez have been touted, while former player Alan Stubbs, now at Hibernian, is a possibility. But the favourite seems to be Dutchman Frank de Boer who has left his post at Ajax.
Whoever ends up in the hot seat will have a big job on their hands. Yes, the squad is a good one, and yes, there is money available, but a lot of the big names will need a great deal of convincing to stay put.
Captain Phil Jagielka has said he believes the number of first team players leaving Goodison Park could reach double figures. Lukaku, Stones and Barkley could all leave as suitors will surely come sniffing, while others such as Tony Hibbert, Steven Pienaar and Leon Osman are reaching the end of their contracts.
The new manager seems highly unlikely to be inheriting a settled squad and must be prepared to carry out a complete overhaul should the need arise.
Ronald Koeman is rumoured to be one of Everton’s preferred candidates to replace Martínez, and he inherited a similar problem when he took over at Southampton in 2014. Could he be lured to Merseyside? Everton fans won’t have to wait long to find out.
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