While Everton themselves are yet to announce the fact that Frank Lampard has been sacked, the whole of the United Kingdom are already aware it has taken place.
Why the Toffees haven’t said anything is anyone’s guess at this point, but they are a club who need a lot of work done in a short amount of time, and many thought Sean Dyche would be the man they would turn to.
But no, because that would make far too much sense for a club that is currently fighting for its survival in the Premier League, and that’s why the bookies’ favourite for the job is currently… Marcelo Bielsa.
The Argentine manager knows the Premier League well from his time at Leeds United, sure, and would certainly implement an attacking brand of football at Goodison Park, but is he the right man for the job currently on offer on Merseyside?
On the face of it, probably not.
After all, this is the same man who quit Marseille after one game in a brand new season due to apparent conflicts of interest with the club’s management, was Lazio’s manager for a grand total of two days because the club weren’t able to get the players he wanted by his own set deadline, before being suspended by his next club, Lille, after just 13 games because they were second bottom of Ligue 1.
Now, there’s no denying what he achieved at Leeds United, helping them escape their seemingly endless stay in the Championship, and return them to the Premier League at his second attempt, but he had time to do that.
Olé in Argentina have an article looking at Everton’s situation and point out the current ‘climate’ at the Blues is something Bielsa will ‘undoubtedly take into account when deciding’ whether to take a gamble on them.
The Toffees also aren’t the only ones interested in him, as the Mexico national team ‘want him to carry out a major restructuring’ after Tata Martino’s exit.
That’s a job he would be well suited for, since he would have time to do his lengthy analyses between international breaks to find the best players for his new-look team, but he won’t be given that at Everton.
Should he take the job, he will likely be given until the end of the season to work his magic, and if he does manage to keep them up, that’s when talk of a longer stay and a greater project could come into play.
As we have seen during his time at Leeds, he isn’t one for long-term commitments, and was happy to make the Elland Road faithful sweat more than once with a ‘will he, won’t he renew’ dance that always lasted until the very last beat of the song.
Everton have made the wrong decision more than once when it comes to managers, and whatever they do next will be of huge importance for a club whose last season in England’s second tier came in 1954.
After so many impulsive decisions in his career as a manager, will he want to potentially be associated with the Toffees’ first relegation since 1951?
Some might say only a madman would take the job in its current state, but, then again, he isn’t nicknamed El Loco for nothing.
