I KNEW IT WAS OVER

Koeman: I’m not daft, it was crisis time after Lyon

RONALD KOEMAN has revealed he knew the axe was falling in his final days at Everton.

The Dutch boss, sacked on Monday, has lifted the lid on his Goodison Park downfall.

He said: “Last Thursday, after our defeat to Lyon in the Europa League, I knew it was crisis time. I am not daft, I know how the football world operates.

“I could figure out how things could go. I was sure I would be on the bench against Arsenal on Sunday. But another defeat

against Arsenal and I could see that anything would happen.”

Koeman felt until the very end he could turn things around. “And if things did not improve, I had worked out what would happen,” he told Dutch football magazine VI.

“Maybe there was a chance to coach against Chelsea in the League Cup, Leicester City away and Watford just before the international break.”

He bears no malice towards chairman Bill Kenwright (above) or majority-shareholder Farhad Moshiri.

Koeman added: “I could be wrong, but I felt real support from these two. I knew Everton do not have a reputation for sacking a manager quickly. But I always knew it could still happen.

“At some stage in football, people are left with unavoidable decisions. There is such a thing as a decision for the eye of the public.”