It seemed doomed from the start but Rafa Benitez’s short reign at the helm of Everton came to an end on Sunday afternoon, with the Spaniard given his marching orders at Goodison Park after just under seven months in charge.
A short statement from the club read: “Everton Football Club can confirm the departure of Rafael Benitez as First Team manager.
“Benitez, who joined Everton in June 2021, has left the Club with immediate effect.
“An update on a permanent replacement will be made in due course.”
Following his famous history with Liverpool, the 61-year-old’s appointment in the summer was widely met with derision from the Toffee’s faithful and after yesterday’s 2-1 defeat to struggling Norwich City, Everton have now lost nine of their last 12 Premier League outings.
Benitez started his tenure brightly with a five game unbeaten run in all competitions, taking Everton to fourth in the table, but a long string of woeful results, compounded by several key injuries such as Dominic Calvert-Lewin, has seen them plummet to 16th, just six points above the drop zone.
A banner demanding Benitez's exit was seen during the FA Cup win over Hull last weekend and it was seen again at Carrow Road after the visitors fell behind to two goals in quick succession, while sentiments towards the manager seemed to have turned sour on social media long ago.
The Everton backroom and owner Farhad Moshiri took a huge gamble with Benitez and were willing to look beyond his history with their biggest rivals and past remarks that Everton were a “small club” and, for a time, the board’s decision to stick with him was admirable.
But it has long been clear that they were fighting a losing battle in keeping and Everton’s next appointment will be crucial. Duncan Ferguson, Roberto Martinez, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney, Graham Potter and Rudi Garcia have all been mooted as potential candidates for the role. Derby boss and former club legend Rooney is the current favourite with Betfred at EVS.
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