Farhad Moshiri can only blame himself as embarrassing Rafa Benitez truth emerges

First and foremost, I, like many Evertonians, didn’t want Rafa Benitez anywhere near the club in the first place.

However, I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt and support him like I would whoever was in charge of Everton.

You just hoped from the off that what he said in his first press conference would come true, and he would be professional and look to get the best out of the players we have.

But unfortunately none of that happened and we went backwards under him. Six points since September is frankly embarrassing.

It was a massive gamble by the owner to bring him in and it has sadly ended in tears, just like many of us thought it would.

The big thing with the Norwich City game was that Rafa simply had no excuses. Not only are they struggling, they’ve also struggled to score goals and we had a near full fit squad.

But to me the players kind of downed tools. They simply weren’t at it. It looked to me like they had lost all belief in not just his tactics, but Rafa himself.

Anger we have seen towards him as well from supporters has nothing to do with the fact he is an ex-Liverpool manager either.

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There were major questions about him when he was appointed given he has done very little over the last 10-years.

But because of his CV, and the fact he already lived on Merseyside, that was seemingly taken into account. It was just a baffling decision by the owner.

The fans turned up, as they always do, in huge numbers at Carrow Road at the weekend and unfortunately we got battered and were simply second best.

We were outfought, outplayed and outthought tactically. Nothing was working and he simply had to go.

In truth he probably could have been given the sack a number of weeks ago as it feels like we have been building up to this moment for some time.

But his decision at the weekend to play Salomon Rondon instead of a Brazilian international was a sackable offence in itself.

I understand the argument that Rafa may not have wanted to risk Richarlison with a large period of the season still to play, but we haven’t got time.

We are not a game of Championship Manager.

We need points on the board now. Saturday was one of our biggest games of the season and he is resting two of our best players.

Just play them! Get the game over and done with and hopefully get yourself into a position where you can bring them off after 60 or 70 minutes.

Rafa had started putting himself before the club, and when you look back on his time at Goodison Park, he is probably the worst manager in the club’s history.

And then to add insult to injury, he puts out a statement following his sacking that for me lacked class, especially after he was more than happy to take the financial package offered to him in the summer.

It has to be Duncan Ferguson over Roberto Martinez

As soon as the news broke that Rafa Benitez had been sacked, my first thought was that I couldn’t wait to get to Goodison Park on Saturday.

As mad as that sounds, especially given our current situation, I can’t wait to get there and restore it to its former glory.

Everybody on board and everyone together in the crowd. Getting behind the team, which we do anyway, and making the place a real fortress.

Because let's have it straight, it has been far from that this season because Farhad Moshiri massively misjudged the fans.

Whether it is Duncan Ferguson, or somebody else from the outside coming in, everyone is going to be bang up for it.

But you then read last night that Roberto Martinez is the frontrunner and you think surely the board can’t be misjudging the fans again.

Everyone knows Roberto is a top coach and is well respected in the football world, but Everton need results now.

A rebuild is needed, but we also need someone who can come in and hit the ground running because two or three bad results in the next few weeks and we will be in the mire.

And that’s why I want to see Duncan given the chance to lead the team as he’s already shown he can get Goodison Park bouncing again.

The players will react to that as well. How long that continues, who knows, but let's give him the role and see how we go.

That’s what we need right now because that is what has been lacking at Goodison for far too long.

The togetherness Duncan brought when he was last time in caretaker charge was the last time I enjoyed going to Goodison.

The place was bouncing and we put in a real shift and got a great result against a very good Chelsea side.

But the club should not be thinking about bringing Roberto Martinez back; neither he or Rafa Benitez should be anywhere near the shortlist for the role.

Roberto Martinez took Everton to court when he was sacked back in 2016 to ensure he received his full pay-off.

The club hasn’t got an identity at the minute and we are just going to keep going round in circles if the board is appointing people because they are mates with them.

Certainly on a short-term basis, and possibly on a long-term basis, I’m in favour of Duncan taking over.

I trust Duncan to get a reaction from the players and he would certainly get the backing of every supporter.