Premier League strugglers Everton never interviewed Rudi Garcia for the manager’s job before handing the reigns to former Chelsea boss Frank Lampard instead, as reported by The Athletic.
There’s rather a strange quirk about the BBC’s The Apprentice.
At the end of every episode, Alan Sugar utters those immortal words and shatters the dreams of one unfortunate candidate, their heads bowed by disappointed and a kilogram of hairspray.
‘You’re fired’.
But how can someone be given their P45, hounded out of the boardroom, before they’ve even got the job in the first place?
Hounded out by the Everton supporters before he’d even signed on the dotted line.
In hindsight, Pereira will probably have to admit that going on national TV and trying to appease the supporters who were so opposed to his appointment – largely due to the 53-year-old’s close ties with unpopular owner Farhad Moshiri and agent Kia Joorabchian – probably wasn’t the best idea.
At least, Pereira made it as far as the interview stage. The same can’t be said of Rudi Garcia.
Why did Everton not make a move for Rudi Garcia?
According to The Athletic, the 57-year-old Frenchman ‘initially received some positive noises’ from Everton following Rafa Benitez’s acrimonious sacking on January 18th.
Garcia, however, was never invited to conduct talks with the Toffees board.
Why not is anyone’s guess. Garcia may not be one of the Europe’s genuine A-listers – a la Carlo Ancelotti – or a man with an impressive history of accumulating silverware like Benitez or Marco Silva.
But his CV speaks for itself.
Garcia guided Lille to their first Ligue 1 title since the 1950s a decade ago. His Roma side came within a whisker of snatching the Scudetto from under Juventus’ nose. And, in his most recent coaching role at Lyon, he out-manoeuvred Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City en route to the Champions League semi-finals.
“Garcia is similar (to Guardiola),” explains Seydou Garcia, who played under both managers at Roma and Barcelona.
“He also likes the team to play well, having possession and managing the game. They have the same belief. That results are centred through the way the game is played.”
Can Lampard succeed?
Everton eventually chose Frank Lampard on a two-and-a-half-year deal.
The hope will be that Lampard gets bums off seats for the right reasons at Goodison Park; applauding an exciting, front-foot style of football rather than swarming towards the exit after yet another dismal home display.
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