Everton boss a hot outsider in the next manager sacked market
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Roberto Martinez has never been sacked as a football manager before. In his time with two clubs before joining Everton, he stayed for over 100 matches before moving up the proverbial ladder.
According to Ladbrokes, the Spaniard isn’t under any danger of the chop at Goodison Park. The bookmaker has him priced up at 16/1 in their Next Manager to Leave market, behind five other counterparts.
There is an argument, however, that Martinez should be a far shorter price. In fact, many Toffees fans would argue that sacking the former Wigan Athletic boss is the best move to make now their season has effectively ended, even with an FA Cup tilt still possible.
Exiting the Capital One Cup at the penultimate hurdle means there is little left for the Goodison Park club to play for. Prices of 7/10 and 11/1 on respective top-ten and top-six finishes provide a fair indication of where their league campaign is heading; mid-table anonymity.
After a challenge for the top-four in his first season at the helm, that ended with the consolation prize of a Europa League entry, this would be the second consecutive finish around the top-flight’s fold for Martinez. A club of Everton’s size won’t tolerate that too long and calls for a change are already emerging.
Not helping the Swansea icon’s case to keep his job is Everton’s poor league form, which in turn further clouds the futures of the club’s best players.
Five games on the spin without victory, along with the League Cup exit, does little to convince doubters that Martinez is their man. A finish out of reach of the European places, currently eight points out of reach, will likely lead to a number of player sales.
John Stones, Romelu Lukaku, Ross Barkley and perhaps Gerard Deulofeu will all attract interest in the summer if the Toffees fail to improve on their current position of 12th too drastically. Mounting top-six charges in the future without the bulk of that quartet will be tough.
By then, the Everton board may have concluded, like some of the club’s fans, that they would be better off handing the rebuilding project to someone else.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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