DUNC:THE GLOVES ARE OFF
DUNCAN FERGUSON has pulled no punches with his under-performing Everton squad by warning them that the gloves are off.
Ferguson terrorised defences with his combative approach as a striker and he’s taken the same no-nonsense style into management after taking over from the sacked Rafa Benitez (above) at Goodison.
Asked if his players understand what it means to represent Everton, the Goodison legend replied: “They do now.”
Ferguson, appointed caretaker manager on Tuesday, was blunt in identifying what went wrong for Benitez.
“I’m in here because it’s not been good enough. It’s been a spell of losing, losing, losing but the gloves are off now,” he said.
“Everyone at the club, everybody in the city, knows that the performances have not been up to the standard we expect and I have got into them over that.”
Asked how he delivered his message, the tough-talking Scot said: “I just told them straight. I made sure I got the message to them, but in stronger terms than that.
“People have to be told a few home truths. The form has not been good enough and the fans expect much, much more. That was basically the message. We are here for the fans, that’s it. We are here to play for them.”
Asked if the Everton players understood what that means, Ferguson didn’t hold back.
“They do now,” he said. “They should know anyway, but they know now, put it that way.”
Ferguson, who was Benitez’s assistant manager, admitted he wasn’t surprised to get the call in midweek following the sacking of the unpopular Spanish coach following a dismal defeat at Norwich City last weekend.
And he conceded that unless he doesn’t turn things around swiftly, then
Everton could easily be facing the grim reality of the relegation fight Benitez was fast plunging towards.
“If we can pull a little bit of form together I think we will be OK, but if things don’t improve quickly then it can be very different for us,” he said.
“I don’t see us in a relegation battle but if the results don’t improve very quickly then we slip further down the league.
“We have had a really bad run and the results speak for themselves. You can’t go on like that, so I wasn’t too surprised (to get the call). I don’t think Rafa would have been too surprised because at the end of the day the results weren’t there.”
Ferguson, who stopped short of pitching for the Goodison manager’s job on a permanent basis, said the Everton players are ready to fight for the shirt. And in conceding that Everton do not have a strong identity after six managers in six years, he insisted that he will bring something different during his time in the hot seat.
“My style is maybe different to other managers,” the 50-year-old said.
“I’ve had my identity as a player, I’ve got my identity as a coach. The players know what to expect from me, they know what I want.”