Duncan Ferguson wore the Everton number nine shirt with pride.
Ferguson is a bona-fide Everton hero. The Scot sits behind only Romelu Lukaku as the club's all-time leading goalscorer in the Premier League era. He is worshipped for his exploits during his stints with the Blues.
Ferguson scored 73 goals in 273 appearances for the club across two spells, which lasted from 1994-1998 and 2000-2006, and while others strikers have scored more and walked away from Goodison Park with a bigger honours' list, few, if any, are as revered as 'Big Dunc'.
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Known by many as one of the hardest men in world football, Ferguson had a reputation for taking no-nonsense on the field. Sometimes, though, he overstepped the mark.
When Wigan Athletic hosted the Blues in January 2006, in a match that ended in a 1-1 draw, and things got heated in the closing stages, Ferguson was, of course, involved.
Seven minutes after being brought on as a substitute, the Everton forward was handed a red card for an altercation with Paul Scharner - before Jason Roberts was later dismissed for an elbow on David Weir.
A punch into the solar plexus of Scharner brought Ferguson the eighth dismissal of his career. His famously short fuse had blown - again.
"I cannot defend Duncan. He has left us all down," David Moyes said post-match. "Duncan is disappointed with himself and that [the shortage of strikers] is why he has really let us down."
And Moyes was left further incensed when Ferguson, who had already been given a three-match ban, was then given a four-match ban and a £5,000 fine for another incident that occurred in the game.
While accepting that decision, Moyes became angered by a second charge over a subsequent incident between Ferguson and another Wigan player, Pascal Chimbonda. The second fracas was missed by referee Mike Dean but was actioned upon by the FA compliance unit on reviewing video evidence.
This is what incensed Moyes, who previously used a powerpoint presentation to illustrate his anger of a similar compliance unit charge that brought about a suspension for Tim Cahill.
Moyes claimed the FA was 'picking on' Everton and he called on the FA and Premier League to assess the suitability of the compliance unit to make such judgments. He said: “I think it’s wrong that we are being punished. It looks like victimisation and that we are being picked on.
“And by that, I mean Everton are being picked on, not Duncan. If the compliance department want to charge Duncan then they must be fair and I will take video evidence along to prove that they have not done the same in other circumstances.”
But amid all the anger that followed the game, one moment from it remains iconic today. Namely, the famous interaction between Jimmy Bullard and Ferguson.
Bullard bravely tries to calm the Scottish striker down, but his facial expressions are priceless as he stares back up to his giant opponent, smirking. An attempt to make 'banter' with Ferguson left the now Sky Sports presenter fearing the worst.
Recapping the incident, Bullard said: "I get pulled up all the time about this. Soccer AM were the first to play this clip as this was a midweek game. He'd only been on the pitch for a bit!
"I was telling him to calm down, but he'd gone. He'd lost the plot. I always want to get involved if there's a bit of drama. I loved it as a player. I knew James McFadden and I asked him if Dunc was alright. He told me not to say anything.
"But what you don't see on the video is Mike Dean gives him the red card, and as he's walking away I told Dunc I'd see him in the tunnel, for a bit of banter, but that backfired. Lee McCulloch and McFadden told me that was a bad idea.
"It was a disaster as he was waiting in the tunnel and there was still 15 minutes to play. It was the worst 15 minutes I've ever had, as I kept looking over thinking he was going to punch me!"
While speaking on the Under the Cosh podcast, former Blues defender Steve Watson revealed how Moyes reacted to the incident in the Everton dressing room after the game.
“Wigan away as soon as he is back from his suspension. Paul Scharner, a big lad who thought he was a bit of a hard nut," Watson said.
“He is marking Dunc on a corner and they have had a bit of a scuffle and Dunc has just thrown a full right-hook into the ribs and Scharner has just gone down.
“That’s the picture of JImmy Bullard looking up at Dunc. I think he might have cracked a rib, I don’t know.
“So in the dressing room again afterwards. [Moyes goes] 'F*****g hell big man, you are absolutely killing us'. He says: 'I know, I am sorry. But I caught him a f*****g beaut'.
“We were just trying not to laugh. Towel over the head not trying to laugh. What do you do as a manager? It is so frustrating.”
After retiring from playing following the conclusion of his contract, Ferguson returned to Everton as a coach, first starting out in the youth set-up before moving up to the first team.
However, Ferguson left his coaching role in the summer to pursue his managerial ambition. He was an assistant to Frank Lampard at the time.
Ferguson had served on the backroom staff to a succession of managers at Goodison Park and also had two spells as caretaker manager, the most recent being after Rafael Benítez was sacked last season.
The former Scotland international previously took charge of the Blues after the departure of Marco Silva in December 2019, filling in until the arrival of Carlo Ancelotti later that month.
Ferguson’s decision to move on ended a long association with Everton, dating back to 1994.
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