PICK AXE FEARS FOR BOSS SILVA
JORDAN PICKFORD says it was too close for comfort when Ronald Koeman was given the chop by Everton.
And the Goodison and England goalkeeper, 25, hopes Everton’s hierarchy hold their nerve and stick with underpressure boss Marco Silva despite their erratic start to the campaign.
After the ruthless sacking of Unai
Emery by Arsenal, Pickford knows
Silva could well be next after a fan backlash against the Portuguese coach following their woeful defeat by Norwich.
But he hopes Everton can bounce back and save Silva from the fate that befell Koeman in October 2017.
“I don’t want to see the manager sacked. I was here when Koeman lost his job and it wasn’t nice to see at all, it was horrible,” said Pickford. “We were in the building when it happened and you never want to see anyone lose their job like that. “Emery has just lost his job after a bad run of form and although a few bad performances shouldn’t put the manager under pressure, that’s the industry we are in. “For us now, it’s about putting in a good performance.
“The manager has been great with us and we’re behind him 100 per cent. I think you can see he’s emotional and has got passion.”
And Pickford (left) added: “Sometimes we have to look at ourselves as individuals and as a squad. It is not always right to blame the manager. There’s a lot of fighting spirit in the dressing room, I just feel we’ve been a bit unfortunate.”
Silva and his stars must try to emerge from a daunting spell of three games in the next seven days starting at highflying Leicester today before Wednesday’s Merseyside derby at Anfield and Chelsea on Saturday. After that it’s Manchester United – and despite a vote of confidence from director of football Marcel Brands, they’re games that will define Silva’s future.
A losing streak could plunge Everton into the relegation zone – but Pickford said: “That’s obviously not nice but you have to look at the positives as well.
“If we had beaten Norwich we would be back up the table and not talking this negatively. “We need to stop Leicester in their tracks. They are a great side but we went there last season and beat them and we need to do that again.”