Simon Jordan has slammed the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) after naming Roberto Martinez as the next Portugal boss. He was an option to replace Frank Lampard at Everton.
The FPF announced Martinez as its new national team manager on Monday having sacked Fernando Santos following the World Cup. He had guided the Selecao to the quarter-finals at Qatar 2022 before they lost to Morocco. The 68-year-old had been in charge since 2014.
Martinez has accepted an immediate return to international management after he walked away from the Belgium role after Qatar 2022. The 49-year-old oversaw the Red Devils’ dire campaign this winter as they failed to make it out of Group F behind Morocco and Croatia.
Belgium, who arrived at the World Cup as FIFA’s No2 ranked side, would only beat Canada. Qatar 2022 was also Martinez’s third major tournament following the 2018 World Cup and Euro 2020. Yet after finishing in third in Russia, they exited Euro 2020 in the quarter-finals.
The Spaniard overseeing such a dismal World Cup campaign saw Martinez leave his role as the Belgium manager. He was out of contract at the end of December after six years in the position. Yet Martinez’s exit could have preceded a return to club management at Everton.
Jordan slams the FPF for hiring Everton target Martinez as the new Portugal boss
Reports by The Sun listed Martinez as a candidate to replace Lampard at Everton before he accepted the Portugal position. He was one of the names on Farhad Moshiri’s shortlist, six-and-a-half years after the Toffees owner sacked the Spaniard before he took over Belgium.
Moshiri dismissed Martinez just three months after he first bought shares in the Goodison Park outfit. He had been in charge since 2013 but left with the Toffees 12th in the Premier League table. The Spaniard went on to win 56 of his 79 games in charge of the Red Devils.
So, for Martinez to now land in the Portugal role – amid Moshiri’s interest in him replacing under-fire Everton boss Lampard – has stunned Jordan. The ex-Crystal Palace chairman has slammed the FPF’s decision to hire the 2012/13 FA Cup winner with Wigan Athletic.
“It’s a head-scratcher,” Jordan said on talkSPORT. “I think you’re rewarding mediocrity. I think he snatched defeat from the jaws of victory with Belgium. It’s very rare that you get a group of players concurrently that good.
“We are talking about some of the top players in the world who were available to him. I think he managed to set himself a low standard and managed to achieve it. I think, with Belgium, he was nowhere near the level that he could and should [have] been at.
“The falling apart at the last tournament. You didn’t just have a team that was falling apart, you had huge descent amongst the ranks. And to find him in another elite nation would seem to me it’s another example of football rewarding mediocrity.”
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