Today in 2016, Farhad Moshiri made his first appointment of an Everton manager but did Ronald Koeman’s first move as Blues boss sound a warning that still needs to be heeded?
Over 20 years on from the first time he’d briefly worn an Everton shirt for the first time – a moment captured by ECHO photographer Colin Lane in Rotterdam after Koeman had swapped shirts following a European Cup-Winners’ Cup tie – he was back in royal blue.
Back on that night in 1995, Koeman had enraged Evertonians with Craig Short being sent off for retaliating to what manager Joe Royle described as a “disgraceful tackle”, but here he was, sat as the club’s manager, being asked by then head of media Brian Doogan how it felt to be wearing the Everton “apparel.”
Koeman had donned a Blues training t-shirt, complete with the obligatory initials of ‘RK’, he held up a replica shirt and waved the scarf around, all in the time honoured fashion of any new signing be they manager or player.
But there was something different to this unveiling. It didn’t take place at either Goodison Park or Finch Farm but approximately 1,700 miles away from Merseyside in Koeman’s Portuguese holiday villa.
Becoming Everton manager wasn’t enough of an event for the Dutch master to break off from his summer jollies and the British Press had to wait a further three days until Koeman did arrive on these shores – via private jet in keeping with the high-profile his appointment brought to rival Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho in the North West region Mr Moshiri had dubbed as the “Hollywood of football” – before a media conference at the Blues training base.
It might seem somewhat churlish to scrutinise the now Barcelona coach for such actions if he was already away and only had another 48 hours or so left on his break but unfortunately it set the tone for a difficult period that lay ahead.
For all his various foibles, predecessor Roberto Martinez, at least seemed to a certain degree to ‘get’ Everton but for Koeman, whose transitory nature already meant that he was the only man to have both played for and coached all of the Netherlands’ big three clubs (Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord), it seemed in many ways for him, the Blues were just another job.
Unlike his brother Erwin, who served as his assistant and lived in Liverpool, Koeman was tucked away in Alderley Edge in Cheshire’s ‘Golden Triangle’ surrounded by other Premier League stars and millionaire business people.
When asked on his choice of location, he remarked: “It is better to stay outside and focus on your job.”
The isolation though prompted accusations that Koeman was out of touch with the fanbase – especially after the storm whipped up by the red decorations on his Christmas tree – a public relations faux pas he tried to pin on his wife Bartina.
While the choice of one’s festive baubles might seem trivial, the lack of good-will banked by Koeman in those early days at Goodison Park ensured that when things started to go wrong in his second season in charge, everything unravelled at terrific speed, in contrast to the pedestrian football his side had been playing since Romelu Lukaku’s departure.
Despite losing their main goal threat that summer, Everton had embarked on the biggest spending spree in the club’s history, including the acquisition of record signing Gylfi Sigurdsson, but the new-look team failed to gel and Koeman was axed on October 23 2017, after a 5-2 home defeat to Arsenal left them in the relegation zone.
Mr Moshiri’s first pick as Blues boss had lasted just 16 months in the position but Koeman’s successor Sam Allardyce was gone even quicker with his tenure between November 30 2017 and May 16 2018 the shortest of any permanent Everton manager.
While vastly different in circumstances and profile, subsequently both Marco Silva and Carlo Ancelotti have both lasted approximately 18 months each but here the Goodison Park hierarchy are again, searching for the fifth appointment of man in the dugout in as many years since Mr Moshiri took control.
The subsequent period of turbulence combined with hopes that the proposed new stadium will hopefully be ready in time for the 2024/25 campaign have ensured that Everton’s next manager desperately needs to possess staying power.
If Bramley-Moore Dock is completed on schedule, that’s only three more seasons away.
Given that Roberto Martinez was dismissed by Mr Moshiri with a final day game at home to Norwich City still to come, the Blues haven’t had a boss who lasted three full seasons since David Moyes left eight years ago.
As well as being able to produce results on the pitch and find a style of play palatable with the club’s long-suffering supporters who should start to return in greater numbers as coronavirus-induced restrictions ease – in truth the fare served up for large chunks of 2020/21 was excruciating to watch – the next Everton manager also needs to develop a fruitful working relationship with that other Dutchman who has put down roots at the club, Marcel Brands.
The current Everton squad is a patchwork quilt of various managerial philosophies but if they’re to improve going forward and finally produce a credible challenge to the Premier League’s established ‘big six’ – other would-be usurpers such as Leicester City and even newly-promoted Leeds United have outperformed them on that score – then the Blues are in urgent need of some joined-up thinking between their director of football and manager.
