Richard Keys has suggested that Farhad Moshiri should sack Rafa Benitez and apologies to supporters should Everton be beaten by Liverpool on Wednesday night.
Keys has slammed the appointment of Benitez as Everton boss claiming it was shameful and believes the whole thing was destined to end in tears.
Benitez, who replaced Carlo Ancelotti after he left to return to Real Madrid in June, arrived at Goodison with a wealth of experience having managed in Spain, Italy, England and China in the past.
However, his appointment was arguably the most-controversial in Merseyside football history due to his past with Liverpool.
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Benitez managed the Anfield club between 2004-10 and helped guide them to Champions League and FA Cup glory, and a second-place Premier League finish.
But after a bright start to the season, the Blues have struggled in recent weeks and were once again beaten by Brentford on Sunday afternoon.
Everton are now winless since September 25 when they beat strugglers Norwich City 2-0 and currently sit six points above the relegation zone.
It is the club’s longest winless run since April 2016 and has not gone unnoticed by the supporters, who made their displeasure clear after the full-time whistle at the Brentford Community Stadium.
And Keys believes the Spaniard should never have been given the job in the first place, and it is a case of the wrong man at the wrong club, and has called on Moshiri to give the gig to Duncan Ferguson.
“Benitez should never have been given the Everton job. Wrong man. Wrong club. It was always going to end in tears,” he wrote in his blog.
“What I wrote when he was appointed didn’t go down well with everybody. I get that. Benitez has got a small army of ‘friends’ in the press (and the odd former player) who he’s managed to con for years and they quickly got to work to support the appointment - rubbishing me and others of the same view. I didn’t mind because I knew time would be his greatest enemy.
“I also understood that Evertonians would swallow their guff and get behind Benitez, because whatever else, we all want to see our team do well.
“The Rafa-lites also told me I knew nothing about what Evertonians really wanted. Wrong. During my four years in Liverpool I got it to know the club inside out. Many of my closest footballing friends are Evertonians. It’s a club closer to my heart than any other after Coventry.”
Before he continued: “Evertonians bought into Rafa because they were drip fed the appointment over weeks - in order that their anger about it would subside - and because they wanted someone to bring back the glory days. Moshiri promised a safe pair of hands - someone with pedigree. He delivered Benitez, whose hands were covered in Liverpool red. Let’s just say ‘red’.
“It was a shameful appointment. Of course, the Rafa-lites were making plenty of noise as they swept to home wins over Southampton, Burnley and Norwich and for a while were almost replicating the start Ancelotti had delivered the previous season. But, inevitably, the wheels came off. It’s now two points from 21.
“Benitez is starting to do what he does best - try to blame everybody else. It’s not his fault that he can’t sign players. It’s FFP. He blamed the restrictions for slipping Andros Townsend into Goodison. This guy couldn’t get into an average Crystal Palace team. There’s a reason Damarai Gray was in exile - and then there’s Salomon Rondon. I wonder why he follows Benitez everywhere? It’s certainly nothing to do with talent.”
He then concluded, saying: “There isn’t any money, but what I’m not having is his latest excuse to try and disguise the capitulation at Brentford. He reckons the fans should be more understanding of the ‘intensity’ and ‘mentality’ of the players, adding that there was a disconnect between fans and players last season, which he wasn’t responsible for. He claims he’s now working at repairing the relationship. No there wasn’t a disconnect . Most of last season passed without fans in the ground. Any ground. So how can he talk of a ‘disconnect’? How does he judge that?
“If Everton lose the derby this week Moshiri should sack Benitez the very same evening - and apologise to Evertonians for his error. And it was his error. Bill Kenwright didn’t want Benitez - nor did anyone else at Goodison. Give it to big Dunc. And give Benitez what he really wants - an early conclusion to Agent Rafa’s master-plan.”
