The writing is on the wall for Marco Silva – a 5-2 Merseyside derby defeat means the search for the next Everton manager is likely underway.
So confident were the Toffees’ neighbours across Stanley Park that Liverpool fielded a weakened team and still trounced them. It is set to prove terminal for Goodison Park boss Silva.
This reflects badly upon Everton majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri who pursued the Portuguese while he was at Watford, but had to initially settle for Sam Allardyce.
Some 18 months on from finally getting his man, the Toffees chief finds the club in the Premier League relegation zone. There are some mitigating circumstances, but the table doesn’t lie.
Silva has demonstrated a tactical weakness at dealing with set pieces throughout his time at Everton, but also struggled with key midfielders struck down by injury this season.
Couple that with a lack of strength-in-depth in central defence and no proven goalscorer up front, and it’s not surprising that the Toffees have struggled.
Fans expect better than their current position, however, and the threat of relegation somewhat forces the board’s hand.
Who next in the Goodison hotseat, then? These are the leading contenders according to the early market to be next Everton manager.
Moyes return a divisive issue
As Silva’s fellow former Watford boss Quique Sanchez Flores found out, never go back.
Such is the dearth of suitable candidates to take the Toffees on, however, that David Moyes heads the betting.
Chairman Bill Kenwright worked well with the Scot for many years before he moved to Manchester United as the anointed successor to Sir Alex Ferguson.
That 2013 switch away from Goodison to Old Trafford proved disastrous. Moyes’ reputation has suffered ever since.
He didn’t last the season at United, then spent 12 months in Spain with Real Sociedad, saw Sunderland relegated and had an underwhelming campaign with West Ham United.
Is it any wonder, then, that Everton fans feel strongly that reappointing Moyes is a backwards step? He once got the Toffees into the top four, but this is not 2005.
To his credit, from 2006 to 2013, Moyes kept the club in the top eight for seven consecutive seasons. The Premier League has changed since that solid consistent period, however.
Although leading the market with bookmakers, any Moyes return will split supporters.
In his early years of his first spell on Merseyside he proved able to stave off relegation and that is what Everton need in the short-term.
Don’t ignore plunge on Gallardo in next Everton manager betting
The most significant market mover in the week of the Merseyside derby has been River Plate boss Marcelo Gallardo.
A tricky winger who played for Monaco and PSG in Europe, the Argentine has done well in his homeland with one of the country’s biggest clubs.
Gallardo guided River Plate to the recent Copa Libertadores final but lost out to Brazilian club Flamengo.
He previously won South American club football’s equivalent of the Champions League twice and a raft of other cup competitions.
Manuel Pellegrini and Diego Simeone are other former coaches of River Plate who have made the jump to managing in Europe. Is the time now right for Gallardo to follow suit?
Without wishing to sound patronising, he represents a somewhat exotic alternative to Moyes.
British football fans in general aren’t exposed to South America football very often, so it could go one of two ways with Toffees supporters.
Some will feel it is worth taking the gamble on a Premier League outsider. Others will question what tools Gallardo is equipped with for the dogfight?
Moshiri has by and large worked with foreign coaches since becoming majority shareholder.
The key difference between those and Gallardo is Roberto Martinez, Ronald Koeman and Silva all had previous Premier League experience.
It’s hard to ignore the way Gallardo’s odds of being next Everton manager have tumbled, though. His emergence from obscurity in the sphere of English football could be significant.
Hard to see Howe taking Toffees on
Bournemouth have won just one game since 20 September and lost five games in a row. Has Eddie Howe taken the Cherries as far as he can?
Forthcoming festive fixtures with Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal don’t make his life on the south coast easy. There is something rare about Howe, though. He comes across as very loyal to his club.
Yet he is third favourite in the next Everton manager market. Why he would leave Bournemouth for a team below them in the table is a very good question.
This relative prominence in the betting is down to a lack of obvious candidates. The Toffees’ stock is low at the moment.
Whoever goes into the hotseat is taking on a depleted team who have forgotten how to defend.
Staying put is probably wiser for someone like Howe, who across two spells as Cherries boss climbed the football pyramid. He is a beloved figure there despite the club’s current poor form.
Howe looks an obvious one to lay for exchange punters. He has weathered tough spells at Bournemouth before and will have to do so again, given the club faces an obvious ceiling.
Arteta and Neville have obvious next Everton manager links
The old players route has a hand in the next Everton manager market. Mikel Arteta could be forgiven for staying as assistant to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, though.
It would be a brave decision for the former Toffees midfielder to leave the Etihad setup for a relegation battle.
Arteta looks sure to strike out on his own in management one day, but is waiting for the right time and circumstances.
He has also been linked with the vacancy at Arsenal. Fellow ex-Gunner Freddie Ljungberg is in interim charge at the Emirates, so going for another managerial novice doesn’t seem likely.
Arteta still has things to learn at the feet of Guardiola and so remaining with City is both understandable and makes sense.
England women’s national boss Phil Neville also used to captain Everton and won admirers for the job he did with the Lionesses at the World Cup this past summer.
Again, it’s an obvious link to Goodison. Neville spent eight seasons under Moyes at the Toffees, playing at full back and in midfield.
The national job may be preferable to coming into the shambles on Merseyside. Neville doesn’t need Everton and he’s making bigger waves in coaching than brother Gary.
Others could emerge from nowhere, but there isn’t much for Toffees fans to get excited about. The next Everton manager market looks fairly static.
