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Gossip: Koeman 'on brink of sack at Everton', Bilic 'safe until end of season'

Things are looking grim for Ronald Koeman (left) but Slaven Bilic seems to have earned a stay of execution
Things are looking grim for Ronald Koeman (left) but Slaven Bilic seems to have earned a stay of execution

Two beleaguered managers, two rubbish football teams.

Things weren’t supposed to be like this for Everton and West Ham after some eye-catching summer purchases, but history shows that they so often are.

Two of the Premier League’s great nearly clubs hover just above the relegation zone after serving up seven games of dross, putting managers Ronald Koeman and Slaven Bilic under pressure.

But according to today’s papers only one is facing the sack. The other is safe.

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And it’s Koeman who should be worried.

The Sun says the strawberry blonde Dutchman is “on the brink” of losing his job after the toothless Toffees’ home defeat by Burnley made it four league defeats in five.

Koeman will reportedly face “tough questions” from majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri during the upcoming international break, such as “why did you spend my money on four players who play in exactly the same position” and “do you think I should take the family to Dubai or Marbella next weekend?”

The upshot is that Koeman may have just “one more game to save himself”, which fortunately is against Brighton.

Bilic secures safety with Swansea win

He could do worse than follow the example of Bilic, who seems to have developed a canny knack of dodging the redundancy bullet by repeatedly scraping three points in must-win encounters.

The Hammers’ fortuitous 1-0 win over Swansea on Saturday was a classic example of the Croatian’s special talent – and it will reportedly be enough to keep him in a job.

The Mirror says Bilic will get until the end of the season to “prove he is the man to take West Ham forward” – an optimistic hope given that he has spent the past 15 months taking them backwards.

But despite the Hammers’ poor form, there is apparently “no appetite to make a change” from the club’s owners. They are busy people – they haven’t got time for that palaver.

One man who won’t be rescuing Everton in January is Olivier Giroud. The Star the Toffees have given up trying to sign the Arsenal striker after failing to do so in the summer.

Perhaps they could have a bash at bringing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Goodison Park instead, after the Gabonese goal machine told French TV channel Telefoot that he expects this season to be his last at Borussia Dortmund.

Elsewhere, Juventus will not make another move for Liverpool midfielder Emre Can in January (Mirror), Arsenal legend Emmanuel Eboue is looking to resurrect his career at Cypriot side Turk Ocagi Limassol, who aren’t even the best team in Limassol (Sun) and West Ham legend Carlton Cole says he would be open to a transfer to Crystal Palace but has “not heard anything” from the Eagles about a potential move (Sky Sports). They are just shy.

@darlingkevin