In another era at Everton, a bright Monday morning on Merseyside after a managerial change would have meant one thing.
“When a manager gets the sack, it hurts. At a club like Everton – where the club historically looks after its managers and players – it should really sting. In my day, players would have been angry about it,” says Don Hutchison, who played 75 games under Howard Kendall and later the late, great Walter Smith.
That Benitez is Everton’s seventh manager in the last six years exposes that the problems lie deeper than who sits in the dug-out.
Recruitment, according to those familiar with Everton’s inner workings, is the biggest issue and it has caused a malaise in the dressing room that has all too often seeped into performances. Everton have had groups with less talent than this one, but much more chemistry, endeavour and spirit.
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“When a manager goes in the way Rafa did, what happens in a strong dressing room – and I played in plenty of them – is you’d get a call from the captain to be at the training ground at 10am sharp on the Monday,” Hutchison tells i.
“You’d kick everyone out of the canteen – the chef, the security guard, all the coaches – and it’d be just the first-team squad and the reserves in there. No-one else. Then you’d get it all off your chest with the implicit understanding that it goes no further than those four walls.
“The goalkeeper would tell the defenders they’d been letting him down, your star midfielder might be getting told he’s been hiding for a month. Nothing is off the agenda.
“I was in loads of them down the years. Then you’d go out for a training session afterwards and it’d be the sharpest you’d been for ages. It sounds dysfunctional but it’s actually the sign of a strong dressing room, run by good characters.
“Do you think this Everton side are doing that? I doubt it. It doesn’t look like that sort of group to me.”
As Everton begin the search for the next man – with Roberto Martinez heavily favoured by influential voices within the club – it is worth reflecting that perhaps some of those responsible for the downfall of Benitez should look within.
They have experienced the light touch of Carlo Ancelotti and the micro management of Benitez and neither has suited an expensively assembled squad that is currently the Premier League’s greatest underachiever.
The current crisis stems, clearly, from Farhad Moshiri and a summer gamble that only ever made sense if he was prepared to back Benitez come what may. When he cropped up on Talksport six weeks ago to offer a short statement of support it seemed as if he was prepared to do that, in spite of counsel from elsewhere.
But as the mood turned toxic at Carrow Road – and the club lurched dangerously close to a relegation they can ill afford – it was clear there was no turning back. Moshiri’s catastrophic call unravelled.
Hutchison, who knows Bill Kenwright, says there was a split in the summer over the successor to Carlo Ancelotti. “I know Bill Kenwright really well and he wanted Roberto Martinez in the summer over Rafa Benitez but Farhad Moshiri himself insisted on Rafa,” he says.
“It was the first sort of split between them and Farhad, understandably, ended up getting his way as the majority shareholder. But how was it ever going to work with Rafa? I don’t understand that.”
Everton’s next move is against the backdrop of a growing threat of relegation. Martinez feels like a baffling choice, even if those who advocate him say he is underrated in England.
His stock is low in England because of the messy way it ended at Goodison Park and he is yet to translate the rich resources at his disposal with Belgium into tangible success. But those who know his work say he is a team builder capable of delivering results. They speak of an innovator at the cutting edge of sports science and tactical trends.
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But of the realistic candidates listed, there is one compelling name who features: Brighton’s Graham Potter.
Heralded as England’s “best coach” by Pep Guardiola in October, he has built a team that play expansive, progressive football and are punching above their weight in the Premier League’s top ten. He carries the sort of reputation that would unite Everton fans but it would require a big sales pitch from Everton’s hierarchy.
“The reality is I’m at a really good football club that can help me, that allows me to do my job and trust me. These things are important,” he said when confronted with the links on Monday.
“For me, Potter is the outstanding choice. He should be in the frame for the Manchester United job, Arsenal should have been looking at him over Mikel Arteta – he’s ready for that sort of job,” Hutchison says.
Whoever is appointed, the short-term mission is now survival.
With a stadium move on the horizon and the sort of finance invested in the project, Everton should not be lurching into another crisis. But they have arrived at one and it’s fraught with danger.
“The fans deserve better. They deserve so much better,” Hutchison says. It’s hard to disagree.
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