Everton boss can’t get his Raf diamonds to sparkle

RAFA BENITEZ has collected only 1.27 points per game so far at Everton, the worst return of his managerial career.

The fans turned on chairman Bill Kenwright (right) and director of football Marcel Brands after the 4-1 home defeat by Liverpool in the Merseyside derby.

But like his predecessors Roberto Martinez, Ronald

Koeman, Sam Allardyce, Marco Silva and Carlo Ancelotti, Benitez (left) has yet to deliver results in keeping with a £550million outlay on new players under that cast.

And if you look at Rafa’s record, there is a worrying trend. At the top clubs he has managed – with elite players at his disposal – he has got the best out of them. So at Real Madrid he harvested 2.24 points per game, at Chelsea it was 1.96, Liverpool 1.9, Valencia 1.9 and Inter Milan 1.68.

But at clubs where the budgets or expectations have been lower, his return has been more modest. At Everton he has spent only £1.8m to date, while at Newcastle (1.48 points per game) he was operating under the constraints of former owner Mike Ashley’s thrifty regime.

There’s no doubt Benitez can get the best out of top, top players – he has won the Champions League, Europa League, La Liga titles and FA Cup to prove it. And there is no doubt Everton have missed injured

England striker Dominic Calvertlewin massively.

But can he lift lesser players to the next level and turn them into top-four material?

I don’t think there’s any danger of Everton going down.

But without a startling upturn in fortunes on the pitch, there’s also no chance of them being in Europe next season.