What do Everton really want?
That's the question that has come up time and time again across recent years in particular, as the club have stumbled from one manager and system to the next.
But over the last few weeks the query has come right to the forefront of people's minds, as the Blues attempt another tricky search for a new boss after the surprise departure of Carlo Ancelotti.
Rafael Benitez is currently the front-runner for the position, to the dismay of many supporters, which sums up the issue that Everton keep circling back to - and just can't seem to get away from.
What do they want?
Is it short-term success? A manager who will have the sole purpose of winning a trophy or securing European football at all costs in his first season in charge, with failure potentially leading to their sacking?
Or, do they desire a long-term strategy? A slower build to what would be viewed as a more sustainable growth in the years leading up to a move to Bramley-Moore Dock?
One thing that's evident from the club's managerial search is that they are caught in the middle of these two ideas.
Perhaps both can be achieved, but it would be a very rare circumstance for that to happen and would take not just a fantastic managerial appointment, but a perfect transfer strategy and a flawless integration of a new ideology throughout the club.
That seems unrealistic at this stage in all honesty, so Everton will be forced to choose what they really want.
The draw of the short-term seems to be winning the day as things stand and there is a list of understandable reasons why that would be the case.
The Blues have been devoid of real success for far too long and patience across all aspects of the club is really starting to wear thin. So many false dawns over the past few years have dried the well of good will.
And that seems to have led to Benitez right now.
The former Liverpool boss has an admittedly fantastic CV, just as Ancelotti did when he first stepped through the doors at Goodison Park.
But is that really what Everton need?
If the model of short term success fails, then swiftly the club will be right back to square one and this managerial search wearily starts all over again.
This cycle needs to be broken at some stage. Not since the departure of David Moyes have the Blues managed to keep hold of a manager for more than three seasons, for one reason or another.
That could be interpreted as the changing nature of the modern game, of course, with the short-term nature of the role being replicated across almost every club at this stage.
Everton have fallen into that bracket and seem constantly to be gearing up for yet another managerial hunt.
This time things were a little different of course, with Ancelotti's sudden departure to return to Real Madrid coming as a shock to many.
But the list of candidates that have been linked to the role since, including the likes of Benitez and Nuno Espirito Santo who have both been considered front-runners at different stages, shows that the Blues haven't decided what their priority is.
Is it short term gain? Is it a long term strategy?
Each name linked to the role seems to be in a different place on that particular spectrum, with Benitez surely falling on the shorter-term side of things.
If that decision works out and the Blues are able to win a trophy or secure European football, then of course that's fantastic and they will be comfortable in their decision.
But if you go down this route once again and it doesn't work out, then you very quickly find yourself right back where you started.
Everton can't afford to be chopping and changing their managers up until their move to a state-of-the-art new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock - which is still due to begin construction in the second half of this year.
Just over three years from now the club will be looking to be in their new home, and it's imperative that on-field matters are more settled and there is a clear growth strategy in place to make sure they do the waterfront ground justice.
The longer term is what the Blues should want, but a lack of patience is still evident.
The pull of short term success is clearly there, but what happens if things don't work out that way?
Everton are still caught in two minds over what they really want. And the longer that carries on, the more likely it is that they will achieve neither goal.
