Take it back to August, Everton have spent nearly £80M, they've bought in players of the calibre of Gylfi Sigurdsson, Rooney is back and has just scored the winner in a 1-0 opening day victory against Stoke at Goodison Park, surely a good season awaits, no?
Fast forward to last Sunday, in which they were dismantled with relative ease by a not so hot Southampton side 4-1, leaving them languishing in 17th in the league, with no manager and only three wins to their name all season. All this without mentioning the humbling they've taken in the Europa League, a competition that was supposed to be an accessible route into next years Champions League.
Now we sit, nearly half way through the season, another season in which the managerial merry go round has delivered it's usual bunch, with Alan Pardew set for West Brom, Tony Pulis out of a job (but probably on the way to Swansea) and seemingly the 'retired' Sam Allardyce coming in to be Everton's lord and saviour. This doesn't sit well with me.
My issue here is nothing against Big Sam. He's succeeded in almost every job he's been at, even England if you count his 100% one win from one game statistic. It's that Everton have spent so much money, all be it not in net spend some would cry out as they recouped over £70M for the sale of Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United (who they are yet to replace by the way) on players, such as Sigurdsson, Klassen, Keane, Pickford, Ramirez, Rooney etc.. that you wonder if Big Sam's preferred style of play will benefit these players in a larger way than David Unsworth's has done in his short tenure as caretaker boss.
Obviously I’m not comparing the two's managerial experience, but I have to doubt whether Allardyce would bring the type of flamboyant, 'sexy', passing football that new owner Farhad Moshiri and the fans have cried out for, for years, and in some part witnessed under Ronald Koeman's reign.
It could be argued, and I do see the merit behind it, that Allardyce has never had the chance to manage what some would perceive as a 'top club', other than his toxic period at Newcastle under owner Mike Ashley, and I would be happy to be proved wrong if he can lead Everton to the promise land of the top four, although I expect fans would be happy to see the top six again the way things are currently escalating.
However, there is also the issue of Everton, as a club, and it's fans just settling for Allardyce as he's the 'best' option available at this time. It's been well documented that they've approached Watford on multiple occasions for permission to speak to their rising star of a manager Marco Silva, who I believe would fit straight into the philosophy Everton are trying to build, and would 100% propel them out of premier league trouble. Though the compensation seems to be an issue, but surely if you're willing to spend £50M on a player in the current market, then why shouldn't managers be worth a substantial fee as well?
It would obviously be a gamble to wait until the end of the season to appoint someone new, with the club's stock falling like a stone, with them sat now only one place above the relegation zone. But it may be one that ultimatley saves them time in their rebuild. As lets say they appoint Allardyce until the end of the season, he does well, keeps them up, then (as clubs tend to do) they reward him with a three year deal, then this time next year they sit around mid table, and ultimatley decide to sack him (as clubs tend to do), the whole process of trying to re establish the club among the upper echelon of the Premier League would be hindered and ultimatley set back further.
So just because someone looks like the obvious fit, as Allardyce does, it doesn't mean he is necessarily the right man for the job, and all of this coming from a Liverpool fan.
