Sam Allardyce, reflecting on his time managing Everton, called it “unbelievable” and “one of the best jobs” of his career.
Allardyce managed Everton for six months between December 2017 and May 2018. The Blues were 13th in the league when Allardyce replaced Ronald Koeman in the dugout.
“For me, this was the biggest breakthrough that I never thought I’d experience again – to take a big club back into Europe and into a new stadium,” Allardyce told The Wayne Rooney Show.
“That was it, that was the format that was set forward by Farhad [Moshiri] but unfortunately, because of others – which obviously is probably not best naming at that time – there was a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes to get me out.
“But I thought it was one of the best jobs I’d ever done.”
Although he led the club to an eighth-place finish in the league, the team’s style had regressed and left the majority of fans dissatisfied.
The Toffees finished the season ranked 20th for total shots, 19th for total shots on target, 16th for passing accuracy and 17th for shots faced in the Premier League, leading to Allardyce’s exit.
“I thought, this is one of my big chances again, because the fact of the matter is it is such a big club and it’s got money behind it. Real money for the first time in a long time.
“So I think there just wasn’t the right players in some of the right areas, and then there was too many players in the same area. That caused the problem, and if you’re spending £250m in one season, the fans are going to expect such a great big lift in performances. That was never going to happen.
“My job was to stabilise a team, but to finish eighth? Unbelievable.”