Our Michael Yiakoumi with Ronald Koeman on a good day
Everton sacked manager Ronald Koeman on Monday after they dropped into the Premier League relegation zone following Sunday’s humiliating 5-2 home defeat by Arsenal.
Dutchman Koeman took over 16 months ago and spent a significant amount of money overhauling the squad in the last transfer window, but Everton have won two out of nine league games in their worst start to a season since 2005-06.
“Everton Football Club can confirm that Ronald Koeman has left the club,” Everton said in a statement on Monday.
“Chairman Bill Kenwright, the Board of Directors and Major Shareholder Farhad Moshiri would all like to express their gratitude to Ronald for the service he has given to the club over the past 16 months and for guiding the club to seventh place in last season’s Premier League campaign.
Koeman arrived from Southampton in 2016 amid huge expectation and was granted the resources to revamp the squad in the last transfer window with a net spend of 54 million pounds.
But Everton have won two games in 13 in all competitions and produced another lacklustre performance against Arsenal, a defeat that led to boos and many fans leaving before the end.
Beyond the poor results, Everton’s supporters have been discouraged by a series of muddled displays with formations and players frequently switched as Koeman, an increasingly distant figure, struggled for cohesion.
Our Sports editor Michael Yiakoumi said he was disappointed that Ronald Koeman was sacked and believed he was capable of turning things round but time was not on his side although he was brave enough to bring youngsters through. but the pressure was on and was finding it tough to get the team to gel.
“I haven’t seen a worse Premier League side this year,” said former player and BBC pundit Steve Claridge. “It feels like it’s stale, the players here aren’t of the quality needed, there’s not a set system, not a pattern of play.”
Former Everton striker Tony Cottee told Sky Sports the sacking did not surprise him because Everton’s performances have been “dreadful”.
Ex-Everton midfielder Peter Reid said they made a mistake not signing a replacement for striker Romelu Lukaku while another former midfielder Leon Osman said: “It’s not just results, performances of late have been really below par, really worrying and I think it was pretty inevitable this was going to happen.”
Everton confirmed on Tuesday that Under-23 manager David Unsworth will take temporary charge of the club, starting with Wednesday’s Carabou Cup tie against Chelsea.
Neville, a BBC Match of the Day pundit, has previously spoken about his desire to manage a club full-time.
Former Everton captain Neville was reportedly keen to take over at Goodison Park following David Moyes’ departure in 2013.
He went on to act as first-team coach at former club Manchester United in 2013 alongside Moyes and Ryan Giggs, before leaving in 2014.
He began his role at Valencia in July 2015 but left the club a year later.
Giggs has also expressed an interest in the managerial role, while Burnley manager Sean Dyche and former Bayern Munich manager Carlo Ancelotti have been linked with the vacancy.
The 54-year-old Koeman, who replaced Roberto Martinez at Goodison Park, enjoyed a stellar playing career with Ajax Amsterdam, PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona and Feyenoord. He represented the Netherlands 78 times.
He managed Ajax, Benfica, PSV, Valencia and Feyenoord before joining Southampton in 2014 and leading them to sixth place in 2016, their highest ever Premier League finish.
Ronald Koeman the Dutch footballer who at international level, was one of the stars of the Dutch national team, alongside Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard and Dennis Bergkamp. He won the Euro 88 and played at the 1990 and 1994 FIFA World Cups. After winning the European Cup with PSV in 1988, Koeman moved to Barcelona and became part of Johan Cruyff’s “Dream Team”, helping the club win La Liga four years in a row between 1991 and 1994, and the European Cup where he scored the winner against Sampdoria in 1992.