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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Tom Cavilla

'We also forget'- Tony Bellew names perfect candidate to replace Rafa Benitez at Everton

Avid Everton fan and former professional boxer Tony Bellew believes Duncan Ferguson should be appointed the new first-team manager of the Blues until the end of the season.

Ferguson was today confirmed as the club's new boss on a temporary basis, with the former striker to take over for "upcoming games."

The ex- Everton striker has previously held the position of interim coach at the club following Marco Silva's dismissal during the 2019/20 season.

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Bellew is certain that the Scot would be the right candidate to steady the ship at Goodison Park, and believes Ferguson's four-game stint as interim coach provides an indication of the impact he would have.

“Give it to Duncan until the end of the season,” he told talkSPORT.

“Give him a good go at it and see how it goes, and I think a lot of fans will love to see it.

“We just need an impact, and if anyone is going to make an impact, it could be Duncan Ferguson.

“It’s not just his passion and love, you have got to remember Duncan has been involved with every manager since the gaffer, David Moyes left.

“So he will have picked up something and learnt from all of them in all different ways, and there’ll be so much he can do.

“We also forget that when he did have a little spell in charge for four games, he went unbeaten, and he didn’t go unbeaten against the likes of the smaller clubs.

“He went to the likes of Old Trafford, he went to some tough places and got results, and as I said before he got a reaction from the players.

“I mean Dominic Calvert-Lewin was a completely different player when Duncan got him to when Duncan left him, that was just one person I could name.

“There’s a number of instances that we have seen, but give the man a chance, give the man a go. It couldn’t be any worse than what we’ve just been going through recently."

Convinced that Everton now find themselves in the middle of a "relegation fight", Bellew is adamant that the club cannot afford to make another managerial mistake.

“For me right now, we’ve just got to be really careful with the appointment. We have to take stock of where we are, and what we’re about at the minute with Everton Football Club," he said.

“Let me tell you right now, we’re in a relegation fight and we’ve got to get out of it, it’s as simple as that.”

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