Lucien Favre, Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso are all on Everton’s managerial wishlist following Rafa Benitez’s Premier League sacking, according to reports.
It felt in a way like one of those cliched, paint-by-numbers slasher movies, the sort that appears on ‘Movies for Men’ at 11.40pm on a Friday night. You knew what was going to happen as soon as the opening credits appeared on your screen.
And Benitez was the inquisitive fool who dared to explore the haunted basement where all those teenagers died 100 years ago to the day.
The only way this was going to end was with his head rolling, to the delight of an audience baying for blood.
On Sunday, Everton confirmed that Benitez’s ill-fated, hair-brained spell in charge at Goodison Park had come to an end, less than 24 hours after that dismal 2-1 defeat to bottom-of-the-table Norwich City.
Who next for Farhad Moshiri?
Given all the criticism that has come Farhad Moshiri’s way recently – ‘Sack the Board’ banners were out in force again at Carrow Road, even before Michael Keane’s slapstick own-goal – Everton’s next manager feels like a decision the under-fire owner cannot afford to get wrong.
Moshiri’s certainly hedging his bets, putting his eggs in a whole number of baskets.
Roberto Martinez, who guided Everton to within touching distance of the Champions League in 2013/14, is the early frontrunner.
It is hard to imagine the Belgian FC playing ball, however, with the World Cup just ten months away.
And don’t forget that it was Moshiri who handed Martinez his P45 back in 2016 too.
Who will replace Rafa Benitez as Everton manager?
According to The Athletic, 64-year-old Lucien Favre is another name on Everton’s list of targets. As is club legend and Derby County boss Wayne Rooney.
Favre, softly-spoken and highly respected on the continent, is famed for dragging punch-drunk clubs off the canvas and getting them on their feet again.
Favre, a former Borussia Dortmund, Nice and Hertha Berlin coach, took over Monchengladbach when they were bottom of the Bundesliga and guided them into the Champions League one season later.
Tuttomercatoweb believe that a pair of World Cup winners, Gattuso and Pirlo, are also in contention.
The former AC Milan team-mates are both without a job at present. The former left Napoli in May and the latter departed Juventus following one disappointing season in charge of the Turin giants.
Gattuso came close to joining Tottenham Hotspur before the appointment of Nuno Espirito Santo last summer. He has also been linked with Newcastle and Wolves.
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