Merseyside club Everton owner, Farhad Moshiri, has given Rafael Benitez\u00a0his full commitment and backing, assuring the Spaniard that he will be given the \u2018time\u2019 and \u2018support\u2019 he needs to strengthen his squad and put the situation back on its feet.<\/p>\n
Having lost six of their last seven matches in the Premier League, the Toffees are now languishing awkwardly down in 14th place, an uncomfortable five points above the relegation zone.<\/p>\n
The Toffees had been eagerly hopeful of turning the tables on their Merseyside rivals Liverpool but were unfortunately routed in a comprehensive 4-1 defeat at home to Benitez\u2019s former team. The 61-year-old ruefully admitted post-match his side will have to quickly find a way to re-engage the winning mode to ease the mounting pressure.<\/p>\n
The derby loss has understandably, and inevitably, increased the volume of calls for the club to re-consider the gaffer\u2019s future, but in an unexpected tangential twist, many supporters have instead targeted their criticism at the club\u2019s board with regards to the vast amount of money doled out in recent years with the Merseyside outfit having splashed out almost \u00a3500million on transfers over the last half-decade. Infuriated fans could be seen up in arms venting their furious displeasure towards chairman, Ben Kenwright, and the director of football, Marcel Brands, shortly after the derby.<\/p>\n
Club owner Moshiri was not in attendance for the derby at Goodison Park on Wednesday night but spoke to talkSPORT<\/em> this morning offering a placid view to the situation, while dispelling speculation that Benitez could be headed for the exit door.<\/p>\n When the question was put to him whether Benitez still has his backing, Moshiri told presenter Jim White: \u201cYes. Football is about crisis one and glory the following day.<\/p>\n \u201cRafa is a good manager and under-performance is largely due to the injuries.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the next two weeks we will get to a full squad. In the meantime results will improve.<\/p>\n \u201cRafa needs time to have his mark on the squad. He will be supported to add depth to the squad, managers need time.<\/p>\n \u201cI have no doubt that we will have a strong second half to the season.\u201d<\/p>\n Addressing the media with cool composure at his post-match press conference, Benitez said \u2018stability\u2019 was \u2018really important\u2019 if Everton are to lift themselves out of maelstrom they are currently in.<\/p>\n The widely-experienced former Liverpool and Real Madrid manager who succeeded Carlo Ancelotti back in June believes the club have learned experientially that constantly changing managers does not always equate being productive.<\/p>\n \u201cI am in constant communication with the board and Mr. Moshiri so I have this feeling that that they realise that they were changing managers in the past \u2013 even changing the profile of the managers in the past \u2013 and it was not working,\u2019 Benitez told reporters.<\/p>\n \u201cSo they know that we need stability and they know that is really important for changing things in the future so you can\u2019t blame the owner for spending a lot of money.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is just that we have to be sure we do things right in the future and the reason why we can\u2019t spend now is because the Premier League rules don\u2019t allow us to do that.<\/p>\n \u201cSo hopefully we can manage in a better way, we can sell some players at a profit and we can use this money to improve the squad and to ensure we are stronger.<\/p>\n \u201cI think they [the board] realise the over the years that changing managers, changing the way to do things is not right, it is not productive, and hopefully we can keep this stability.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"