Vitor Pereira hurt by fans’ hostility to potential Everton appointment as manager hunt mirrors soap opera

Even by Everton’s recent chaotic standards, Wednesday reached a new low with the undignified spectacle of the club’s prime target, Vitor Pereira, pleading on live TV not to be pushed out before he is even in.

Such are the plot turns in what has become a Goodison Park soap opera, that one could be forgiven for thinking Brookside creator Phil Redmond is leading owner Farhad Moshiri’s recruitment process.

Pereira presented his CV and effectively recited his Everton job interview on Sky Sports News in an attempt to warm the affections of a hostile fanbase.

The reaction on Wednesday night to the unprecedented campaign to land such a sought-after Premier League post suggests it backfired horribly, with a chorus of criticism on social media and hundreds of fans staging fresh protests outside Goodison Park. The PR choreography in response to belligerent opposition to Pereira’s potential appointment smacked of desperation, as did the deliberate attempts to claim that chairman Bill Kenwright, rather than majority shareholder Moshiri, was the driving force behind it.

Even Kenwright’s biggest critics will not buy that. Here, the Everton shambles was laid bare in front of a bewildered audience.

Sadly, such a circus has become a recurring theme of the Moshiri era. And since Rafael Benitez’s sacking, the lack of coherent club policy has risen to the fore in an erratic hunt for a replacement.

It began with an instant, ill-fated move for Belgium coach Roberto Martinez, a former Everton manager. Valid questions were asked then as to how the club’s due diligence failed to realise the Belgian Football Association would resist the idea of Martinez performing a dual role during a World Cup year.

Within 24 hours, the Martinez move was off and Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney were confirmed as candidates. Then it was Italian World Cup legend Fabio Cannavaro.

By Tuesday evening, it seemed the job was Pereira’s to lose. Instead, unhappy fans took it upon themselves to try to wrest it from him, the graffiti on the walls of Goodison Park the most visible opposition.

“I understand the feeling of the supporters because in the last years the club did not get good results, and it is normal that they are not happy,” Pereira said.

“But I came here with spirit and intention to bring again good football and the spirit of the supporters. This is my target.”
At times, it sounded like Pereira was reading from a prepared script, especially when suggesting that he wanted to recreate “the time of [Leighton] Baines, [Phil] Jagielka and [Tim] Howard”.

“I remember Goodison Park as a fortress, and that is what appeals to me,” Pereira said. Was he really admiring David Moyes’ team from afar when coaching Porto?

To be fair to him, Pereira finds himself caught in the crossfire, the legacy of mistrust caused by previous failed recruitment processes. In another world, a manager with titles in Portugal and Greece would be granted more respect.

If the perception was that appointing Pereira was indeed the culmination of a six-year chase for his signature, Everton scouts recommending the perfect fit for the club, there would not be such a poor reaction. But the suspicion is that certain names are being recommended because they are high-profile clients or associates of one of the game’s power-brokers.

That explains why Kia Joorabchian’s name also appeared on some banners erected by fans gathered at the club’s executive headquarters in Liverpool city centre.

Given Pereira was the clear favourite for the job on Tuesday night, the TV interview can only be interpreted as a last-ditch attempt to distance him from claims his candidacy is because he has the right adviser whispering in the ear of Moshiri and his business associate Alisher Usmanov. Pereira pointedly dropped in Kenwright’s name as the man who had led Everton’s interest in him.

The opposition is a major problem for Pereira. No one at Everton can ignore the toxicity which preceded and followed Benitez’s appointment, nor guarantee there will be no repeat of the demonstrations in the forthcoming fixtures.

Moshiri might have spent the hours after Pereira’s broadcast interview gauging the fans’ mood, hoping for a positive reaction. Instead, he would be under no illusions of the prospect of further unrest.

That must raise the possibility of others in his shortlist, such as Lampard, coming back into contention.

Derby County manager Rooney would certainly welcome further interest, and there are many in and around Goodison Park who believe that caretaker Duncan Ferguson deserves longer than one match to show that he can be the galvanising force guiding the club to safety.

Amid the carnage, Pereira insisted he has not been persuaded to withdraw his application. “I did my work as a professional, and now it’s the club’s decision. I came for a meeting. I did my work. And now the decision is not controlled by me,” he said.

“I think they were enthusiastic about what I proposed to them.

“We need to give confidence to the team. I felt in the meeting they were very positive. They have other candidates and this is the time for decisions. We wait for the decision.I will move forward with my life, and if they want me, they must call me. That’s all.”