Two of Everton’s football heroes, Duncan Ferguson and Leighton Baines, are reportedly already on standby to replace Rafa Benitez when the buzzer is sounded as it is claimed that the iconic Goodison Park pair will be taking over on an interim basis with Benitez’s head apparently on the chopping block.
The Spaniard’s position as Toffees manager is already very untenable with Everton having won just one of their previous 13 Premier League matches and slumping to 15th in the table.
Calls are intense and escalating from irate supporters for Benitez to be sacked, despite only taking over in the driving seat last summer.
The Blues’ board held talks to discuss Benitez’s future last night and Football Insider claims that a decision has already been made on the former Liverpool gaffer and that he will be relieved of his duties “in the next 24 hours”.
In the meantime, while Everton begin the search for their next permanent boss, Ferguson and Baines will hold the reins as the pair were both huge fans’ favorites during their playing days at Goodison.
Ferguson the current assistant manager and had a spell as caretaker in December 2019, having scored 72 goals during two spells at Everton. Baines, meanwhile, is part of the under-18s coaching set-up, having made 420 appearances for the club between 2007-2020.
After the Norwich defeat, Benitez made the admission that his only task at hand was to concentrate on addressing issues on the pitch – such as the errors that led to the two goals and that the rest was ‘out of his hands’.
“I came here to fix issues that were coming from the last five years,” he said.
“What I have to do now is analyse the mistakes we are making and make sure we avoid that for the future.
“The rest is not in my hands.