The Everton fans in the Transfer Tavern are drowning their sorrows after a miserable opening to the Premier League campaign.
The Merseyside clubs woes continued on Sunday when they did little to inspire the imagination of their supporters during a 1-1 draw away at Brighton. Everton’s point arrived courtesy of a 90th-minute penalty from Wayne Rooney, after Anthony Knockaert had given Brighton the lead with what looked set to be the winning goal in the 82nd minute.
Everton’s torrid start to the season has seen them collect just 2 wins from their opening 8 encounters and unsurprisingly questions regarding Ronald Koeman’s future at Goodison Park are rife amongst the Evertonian faithful right now. However, speculation regarding Koeman’s future appears a little premature considering that Everton are in a transition period, following a summer which saw them lose their talisman Romelu Lukaku and bring in 9 new faces for a grand total of £142 million.
When the going gets tough it is easy to scapegoat the manager, but let’s not forget that Koeman led Everton to a 7th place finish last season and is only 8 games into the new season with a vastly different squad of players at his disposal. This is a project, whichever way you look at it.
Still, there are major doubts over Koeman’s future persisting in the media, it is only natural that speculation regarding potential replacements has already emerged, with Newcastle’s Rafa Benitez reportedly on the shortlist. As you can imagine, controversial rumours linking the former Liverpool manager to Merseyside rivals Everton has sparked a mixed response on Twitter.
With that in mind, here’s how fans have reacted to the speculation so far…
https://twitter.com/JordLFC97/status/919825794653974528
Benitez won’t come to a ‘small club’ – quote will stick in May blues throats. Call me old fashioned, don’t want anyone who slags our club
— Steve (@swoods91) October 15, 2017
https://twitter.com/Ryan1878/status/919600324683366400
Imagine if Rafa Benitez actually ends up as Everton manager. Reds and Blues heads falling off in tandem
— Mario Van Purbles (@MarioVanPurbles) October 16, 2017
https://twitter.com/JA_Onion_Bhajis/status/919590361659568128
https://twitter.com/AidyDews/status/919506403894718464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Dunno who’d be more Rustled if Everton got Rafa mate. Us or the Kopites.
— Bryler Durden (@patto1878) October 16, 2017
