‘TAKE A LEAP IN THE DARK AND IT WILL BE ANOTHER NIGHTMARE’

PAT NEVIN has warned Everton to act quickly if they are going to sack Rafa Benitez – to give his successor a chance to make an impact.

If pressure from disenchanted fans is eventually going to tell, former Blues winger Nevin (below) believes it is best that the board are decisive.

He said: “I think Rafa deserves more time but, if he doesn’t get that, I understand why they’ve been panicked into it.

“Because between now and Christmas if it doesn’t go much better, everybody else is capable of going on a good run and dragging you into it down at the bottom.

“Against Liverpool, they looked a long way off and there are definitely massive concerns.

“Every Everton supporter at the moment is not looking up the table, they’re looking at the bottom.

“And that tells you the story of where the club is.

“But if they’re going to change it, do it fairly soon, because whoever’s coming in is going to have to get his feet under the table and know what he needs by January.

“If you don’t make the decision soon, you might as well stick by Rafa.”

In his autobiography, The Accidental Footballer (published by Monoray), Nevin recounts the story of Colin Harvey’s mid-season sacking by Everton in 1990 – a decision he and his teammates felt was made in haste.

And the Scot has warned the current board that a change of manager is by no means a guarantee of improved fortunes.

He said: “If you do make a change, you better know you’re getting somebody in who’s definitely going to be better, who’s a top-level coach, who’s going to be able to attract players and know who to bring in next month.

“You better know that, because if you don’t and you take another leap in the dark, it’s another nightmare that’s going to cost you even more.

“I’ve been a chief executive at Motherwell and I’ve been in charge of hiring and firing – and my thoughts were that half a season is not enough to turn around something like that.

“You take a massive chance when you start with someone new.

“Who are the top managers at the moment that are available and can bring in the players that he can work with and get the best out of the ones that are there? There are no absolute certainties out there.” Nevin also shared his belief that most managers would struggle to get much more out of a lopsided Everton squad that is unlikely to receive the overhaul it needs during what could be a tricky January window.

He added: “Everton have spent a huge sum of money over the past number of years under the new ownership and it’s not been great, it’s not been balanced.

“There was a period where they had five No.10s and you think, ‘hang on a minute, you need a bit of balance’.

“And if you get serious injuries impacting on a squad lacking depth, then you will suffer – just like Everton are now.”