According to , Everton are confident of Portuguese boss Vitor Pereira being in place by the time the Toffees visit Manchester United on Sunday afternoon. The 51-year-old is currently the boss of Chinese Super League team Shanghai SIPG, who have reportedly offered Pereira a new deal worth £25million for one more season.
Pereira has enjoyed a mixed career
The Portuguese boss has certainly got around in his managerial career so far. In fact, the 51-year-old has managed nine different senior teams in six different countries during his career so far. In truth, his career has seen many highs and lows.
He has enjoyed success with Porto, winning two straight Portuguese titles In China he won the Super League with Shanghai SIPG, while in Greece with Olympiakos as well. However, there was a major low at German club 1860 Munich, where his team suffered relegation to the third tier.
It is far to say Pereira is a colourful character and he has shown that he does have managerial acumen. Whether he can transfer that to the English top-flight is the big question.
Pereira appointment would be a gamble
The 51-year-old was interviewed for the Everton job back in 2013 prior to the appointment of Spanish boss Roberto Martinez. However, it was Martinez who won the day. He then took Everton to their highest points total in the Premier League era, before a major dip saw him leave the job.
The fact that the Toffees are going back to him six years later suggests that the appointment has nothing to with the club’s highly-paid director of football Marcel Brands.
The Dutchman’s job is supposed to be to run the football side of the club for majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri. Brands is also on the club’s board, so he should have a big say in the team’s next boss. However, the signs point to Brands having very little input in the decision.
If this is the case, has chairman Bill Kenwright or Moshiri chose Pereira? If they have then why have Brands in the first place? Most managerial appointments are a gamble. However, with Pereira, it s an extra gamble. The Merseyside club needs stability, yet the former Porto boss has not stayed at any of his clubs very long.
Pereira is certainly a more charismatic than former predecessor Marco Silva. The fact that he has no managerial experience in the Premier League is concerning, as Silva arrived with a similar record of success in foreign leagues, yet struggled to make an impact in England, despite some promising signs.
Pereira is now the red-hot favourite for the job
It is strange that Sky should be reporting that Pereira is so close to becoming the Everton boss, as different sources suggest that the Toffees are also chasing Carlo Ancelotti, Unai Emery, Niko Kovac and Marcelino. There were even claims that Emery and Marcelino have rejected the job.
After the Sky Sports report, . Those are very short odds and point to the fact the appointment is imminent. Whether this true only time will tell.
If Pereira is the new Everton boss then the fans will get behind him, as the Toffees need something to cling to with the team poor form. However, as Saturday’s 3-1 victory over Chelsea showed, the right man can get results out of the current group of players.
Everton fans are keen to avoid a similar situation as under Silva, where the team fails to perform and lurched towards the relegation zone. They are still not out of the woods in the league, whether Pereira is the right man to move the team is questionable.
Is Vitor Pereira the right man to help Everton progress?
