SILVA CAN STILL BE GOLD
JORDAN PICKFORD was too close for comfort when Ronald Koeman was given the chop by Everton. And the Goodison and England goalkeeper hopes Everton’s powerbrokers hold their nerve and stick with under-pressure boss Marco Silva.
After Arsenal sacked
Unai Emery, Pickford knows Silva could well be next following their home defeat by
Norwich last week.
But he hopes
Everton can bounce back at Leicester today and spare Silva the fate that befell
Koeman in 2017.
Pickford said:
“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 – you never want to see anyone lose their job like that. ‘‘Emery has just lost his job after a bad run of form, a few bad performances shouldn’t put the manager under pressure but 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 are behind him 100 per cent.”
Pickford believes nothing will be gained by sacking Silva. He added: “The only way is to stick together and hope negative results will bring the best out of you. We might be in a sticky patch but I feel the squad is still together, the club is still together and together we can get through it.
“Sometimes we have to look at ourselves. It is not always right to blame the manager.
“There’s still a lot of fighting spirit within the dressing room. I just feel we have been a bit unfortunate.”
After the daunting trip to Leicester today Everton visit Liverpool on Wednesday then host Chelsea next Saturday.
“They don’t come any harder,” added Pickford. “They’re three of the top teams but the opportunity is there for us.
“I believe in this squad.the talent and ability we have is very good and can match any team in the Premier League because we have a lot of international players.”
ASTON VILLA are considering a January bid for
£10 million-rated Millwall winger Jed Wallace.
Villa boss Dean Smith has had Wallace watched in the Lions last three games, including when he scored a rocket free-kick against Swansea City last weekend.
Former Portsmouth starlet Wallace, 25, has been one of Millwall’s most consistent performers this season and their boss Gary Rowett would want a club record fee if he was to go to a Premier League side.