Duncan Ferguson oversaw a 3-1 win against Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday
Sunday 8 December 2019 17:33, UK
Duncan Ferguson embodies what Everton fans want from their players, Andy Dunn told Sunday Supplement, but do the club have a plan in place for a permanent manager?
The former Everton striker is in temporary charge of the side since Marco Silva was sacked on Thursday, and oversaw a stunning 3-1 win against Chelsea in the Premier League.
The results sparked wild scenes of celebrations among the Goodison Park stands - including a hug between Ferguson and a ball boy - and Dunn says Everton and their caretaker manager have a real affinity with one another.
The Mirror's chief football writer said: "It was a throwback afternoon to an occasion when Goodison Park was literally shaking. Duncan is a hero to all those fans, his lads sit in the Gwladys Street stand and a throwback is exactly what it was.
"He embodies what Everton fans think their players should give, and that's absolutely everything - physically, not being scared, tough, hard, committed in every game. Everything Everton fans want from their players is to go out there and you may not be technically the best in the league or in your team, but as long as from start to finish, you give everything, that's all they want.
"And that's what Ferguson did, he had the connection with the fans through the goals he scored. He scored some memorable goals, ones against Manchester United particularly spring to mind, and he just gets the club, he gets the feeling around there and that's why they love him.
"Obviously he gave them that lift yesterday, there's no doubt about that, but in the cold light of day, I thought Chelsea played OK actually but everything that could go for Everton yesterday, went for them, which is good.
"But they also had that level of commitment that was a step up from what they had under Marco Silva and a step up from what they had against Liverpool in midweek. There was no excuse for not being 100 per cent committed against Liverpool in a Merseyside derby and I didn't see 100 per cent commitment.
"There were some big stats going around yesterday about Everton winning 37 tackles. Two things: one, why were they not putting that sort of shift in under Marco Silva and two, and the slightly worrying aspect, should you have to make that amount of tackles? You'd rather have more of the ball than have to make 37 tackles.
"It was a fully deserved win, the place was rocking and it lifted everyone but in the end, you're having 30 per cent possession at home. They're still not playing with any great fluidity but whichever way you look at it, it's a huge lift for the fans and for the club.
"The fans could not see a direction on the pitch or a philosophy. They know what Duncan Ferguson's philosophy is, which is probably to get it forward very quickly, play an old fashioned 4-4-2, get the knockdowns, be committed, tackle everything that moves and if you don't, you won't be in the team and you'll certainly know about it from Duncan Ferguson.
"Is that sustainable game in, game out? I don't know, but it's certainly better than what's gone before."
While Everton fans revel in their victory, the question remains over who will take the permanent managerial position, and Dunn does not believe the club has a plan for who will be coming in next.
"The situation Everton now find themselves in is that I suspect they didn't have a plan," he added. "Let's not forget when they sacked Ronald Koeman, they didn't have a succession plan then and we know what happened then, they went from a caretaker manager to Sam Allardyce.
"It took them about 12 hours to sack Marco Silva after the derby because they basically don't have a plan. David Moyes will have some backers in the boardroom, Vitor Pereira has backers either trying to get him into the club or putting his name forward and when a job like Everton comes up, you'll have a hundred applications, with an awful lot from established managers.
"But they're in a situation now where they cannot make an appointment until Ferguson starts burning out."
However, Ian Ladyman believes if Everton do have another manager lined up, he should be appointed soon with decision-making among the club's hierarchy becoming a problem.
"If they have a plan, they should execute that plan," the Daily Mail's football editor said. "The problem at Everton is that any plan at the club has to be agreed by two people, which is Farhad Moshiri and Bill Kenwright, whether that be players or managers, and that to me seems to be one of the things that is continuously getting in the way.
"Koeman spoke to journalists once he'd left the job and talked about how difficult it is to manage at Everton when there were separate factions working at the club. At the moment, although Kenwright and Moshiri get on, someone at that club has to be in charge of making decisions.
"Until they get some kind of unified direction of travel, they will continue to make strange decisions and I fear that they're about to make another strange decision with the appointment of the next manager."
