Managers and coaches need to be good communicators but, before yesterday, I'm not sure I'd ever heard Duncan Ferguson speak. I'd met him - asking for an autograph with my then 13 year old son as he got back onto Everton's team bus after an away match at Southampton back in the 1990s. Ferguson wordlessly complied and then upset some other parents by diving quickly onto the bus. At least until I pointed out that he had reappeared sitting in the driver's seat and signing everything that was pushed through the open window at him as long as there was anyone showing interest. "He's got a heart of gold, Duncan" said one of them.
Anyway, I expected he would pump the team up with simple messages and they would at least put in more effort than they seemed to be doing under Marco Silva. I've said before that I hoped the players understood more of what Silva was saying than I could from his TV interviews, which always came across to me as confused and lacking inspiration. It seems they didn't.
But yesterday Everton did more than put in effort, which should be a given in all games anyway, but of itself won't win you anything. They executed more tackles than any team in any Premier League game this season, though that in itself shows they were under pressure much of the game. But some of the players of whom I've been very critical produced performances which I hadn't believed them capable of. The best example was Alex Iwobi, who has looked occasionally talented on the ball but hopeless when the opposition is in possession. The first time I saw Iwobi from the stands rather than the TV I couldn't decide if he was lazy, unfit or just couldn't be arsed when the opposition had the ball. His positional play was poor and he didn't seem capable of getting near enough to the ball to exert any pressure. Yesterday was a revelation. It looked like Ferguson had told Iwobi that to close down an opponent you actually have to get close to him.
I read an interview with Chris Wilder, the Sheffield United manager, last week in which he was asked what the difference was between managing in the ninth tier of English football, where he started with Alfreton Town and the Premier League. His answer was nothing at all. I realised this when I coached in the Oxford Boys' League. Sure the top players are faster and much more skilful. But the basics of what need to be done are nearly identical and the way individuals and groups behave has more to do with human nature than anything else. Above all I found in my playing career that the messages I responded best to were simple and punchy. I could never imagine Silva conveying a point that sharply.
So there was no guarantee that Ferguson could cajole a performance out of a team but it wasn't a surprise. He's always had passion and has been coaching at Everton now for 8 years after volunteering to help at the academy and being subsequently taken on to the staff. Promoted to coaching the first team five years ago, he has worked under four different Everton managers, so unless Kenwright has told them all they must keep Duncan, he presumably has coaching ability.
However, as Ferguson himself said, it was one match. Coaching a team to sustained excellence and dealing with all the other aspects of club management is another matter.
Those other aspects include dealing with the media. The reason I hadn't heard Ferguson (pronounced FAIR-guss-n in Scouse by the way) speak was because, for most of his occasionally controversial playing career Ferguson would not give interviews. I imagine he felt the press had given him a raw deal, though they had plenty of material. While at Rangers in 1994 Ferguson was sanctioned for headbutting an opposition player. The referee didn't see the incident but Ferguson was subsequently charged and found guilty of assault - very rare for an on-field incident. As it was his, ahem, third conviction for assault (the fist was for headbutting a policeman) he was jailed for three months.
That sentence came after Ferguson had gone on loan to Everton, then as last week struggling at the bottom of the Premier League. Everton took him on loan for three months in the dog days of Mike Walker's reign as manager, when blues fans had to put up with rednoses asking "what's the difference between Everton and a compass?" (A compass has four points was the answer; Everton had three from eight games). The loan signing felt like desperation by both parties: Ferguson had to get out of Scotland and Everton couldn't get anyone else. Nothing much happened in his first few matches, until Walker was sacked and ex-Everton centre forward Joe Royle took over. Royle's first match was a Merseyside derby. Ferguson scored. Everton won and proceeded to move quickly up the table. His loan was made permanent and he played a big part in the club qualifying for Europe and winning the FA Cup over the next couple of seasons.
I've only recently read a remarkable account of Ferguson's "preparation" for that first derby, which took place on a Monday night. It involved a Saturday night out in Liverpool - maybe not the best idea while waiting for the assault case and still on probation - a lot of red wine, driving through a no entry sign into a bus station, being banged up in St Anne Street police station overnight, failing a breath test and being let out the next morning. The consolation for Ferguson was that the young lady who was in the car with him (I doubt he knew her well...) was waiting in his hotel room when he got back there. "I will be back. I don't know when, but I will be back" he had told her as he got arrested and gave her the room key.
By Duncan's own account this less than ideal preparation meant that he felt he owed Royle a performance. But his night really sparked to life when Neil Ruddock kicked him from behind and, in Royle's words, Duncan "went to war", but this time using his head in the right way for football.
Duncan's first full season at Everton was interrupted by that jail sentence and the imposition of a 12 game ban on top imposed by the Scottish FA. Ferguson quit international football in protest and had nothing further to do with Scottish football and its governing body until taking his first UEFA coaching course at Largs in 2011. And probably it also made him circumspect with the media.
Despite Ferguson's troubled early career and his occasional brush with referees subsequently he was generally more sinned against than sinner. When your reputation precedes you with opponents and referees you often have to put up with a lot. The only player I've seen who routinely had to put up with as much provocation, especially in terms of holding, was Marouanne Fellaini - for similar reasons. Duncan was a far more skilful player than most neutral fans gave him credit for. But you still might not have expected Ferguson to turn into a competent coach, which he clearly is.
And his only publicised problems since in terms of assault have come in 2001 and 2003 when burglars broke into his house. Each time an man ended up in hospital and it wasn't Ferguson.
As for dealing with the media now, I was impressed with his post match interview on BT Sport. Under persistent questioning from Jake Humphrey Ferguson declined to pitch for the Everton manager post, saying he expected the club would go out and try to get the best manager it could. As Humphrey persisted Ferguson stopped him in his tracks, saying firmly but politely "I think I've answered your question". This showed a degree of competence which hinted that Ferguson might have the characteristics and intelligence needed. While football managers don't need to be Brain of Britain - as Bob Paisley demonstrated - they have have nous and emotional intelligence.
What Everton do next could be critical. Fans had thought the Moyes era had brought to an end the persistent flirting with relegation that blighted the nineties and early noughties. Only Arsenal can better Everton's proud record of 65 successive seasons in the English top flight. Having said that the club was poorly lead at board level from the time John Moores grew old. Their purple patch in the 1980s under Sir Philip Carter was delivered by Howard Kendall's excellence as a manager and concealed a strategic void at the heart of the club. As a result it went into the Sky/Premier League era still counted as one of the "big 5" but rapidly fading. They were unlucky in the timing of the English teams exclusion from Europe but missed the boat as the modern era of riches dawned. The once "Mersey Millionaires" would not have fallen out of contention so permanently had they made the right decisions through the 1980s.
The Bill Kenwright era brought a welcome stability but with Manchester United and Liverpool's persistent financial strength, Abramovich investing in Chelsea and Manchester City being given a stadium followed by a a rich Arabian genie appearing as if from a lamp the gap is now so large that it's hard to see how it can be closed. Tottenham - who Everton were well ahead of until just a few seasons ago - might be a model, though they haven't actually won anything yet. And Leicester have shown that miracles might not be temporary. Farhad Moshiri's arrival has brought hope but has so far only revealed that you have to spend money wisely.
So what Everton do next is critical. They can cement their place in the Premier League for the several seasons necessary for the new stadium project to come to fruition after which it might be conceivable that they can build a stronger future. The alternative is terrifying.
In the time I've been watching football only Arsenal and Everton have always been in the top flight. I can remember Liverpool being promoted in 1962. I've seen all of Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham relegated. While big clubs often bounce straight back, there is no guarantee as City found. If you can't get straight back, financial fair play as implemented by the EFL makes life really hard for recently relegated clubs once their Premier League parachute payments cease and some, like Sunderland, go down further.
After initial promise Martinez faltered, Koeman floundered, Allardyce was a stop gap and Silva was just not up to the task. If Everton keep getting it wrong the future is worrying. This time it's important they get it right. Niko Kovac was at Goodison yesterday watching the game. That worries me. The ex Croatian national manager took Bayern Munich to the German title in his first season. It was Bayern's seventh consecutive title so he inherited a decent team used to success. This year it's gone sour and Kovac left last month by mutual agreement after a 5-1 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt. Bayern are currently seventh in a league in which it is hard for them to be below second place. Sounds a bit Marco Silva-ish to me.
Other candidates include Vitor Pereira, who they considered in 2013 but rejected because of his poor English. He'd won the Portuguese League with Porto and subsequently he has apparently learned English, as well as winning a double with Olympiacos. But he didn't last at Fenerbahce and took 1860 Munich down from the second German tier before going to China where he has won their super league with Shanghai. Hmm.
Then, as I've rehearsed recently there is Max Allegri and the more familiar candidates: Pochettino, Howe, Moyes and Benitez, though the last of these is probably not available at the current time.
Duncan Ferguson has given Everton some breathing space at least. The fixture list is still studded with hard matches but there seems no need to panic. It's more important that they get it right this time. I would give Ferguson a few matches and forget the January window. If things go ok let it run to the end of the season while lining up the best candidate. Duncan might thrive, though I wouldn't bet money on it.
But I guess if Pochettino would come now I would go for him, even though his interviews leave me as puzzled as Silva's.
* Alan Patullo write up of Ferguson's remarkable account first Merseyside derby was in the Guardian on 26 Sept 2014: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/sep/26/duncan-ferguson-everton-liverpool-merseyside-derby
When you get rid of Duncan please send him to Mansfield Town Nil, we could do with some inspiration!
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