Marco Silva does not expect the sack should Everton lose what he has labelled a “must-win” game against West Ham because he believes he retains the backing of the club’s hierarchy.
The Everton manager was set a target of European qualification this season but his team are in the relegation zone after four consecutive Premier League defeats. The last of those, at Burnley, sparked a furious response from the travelling support towards Silva, and his admission that West Ham had to be beaten at Goodison Park to ease the pressure. But he claims not to have considered the repercussions of another defeat.
“I don’t think [I will be sacked] in this situation,” he said. “It is not something that is ever in my mind because when I’m winning five or six games I’m not thinking I will renew my contract and get three years more. A football manager doesn’t have to lose one second thinking about this situation. We have to think we have worked well during the week, we have planned everything well and on Saturday our players will perform well in our stadium and show togetherness. The other things I don’t lose one second thinking about.”
Silva has been in regular contact with the majority shareholder, Farhad Moshiri, in recent weeks. Marcel Brands, the club’s director of football, also has a major influence over the manager’s future and Silva believes the pair continue to support him.
“If you ask what is my feeling from what comes from our owner and our structure, I never had doubts about that,” Silva said. “Of course we are talking about results and if you have a good project in football but don’t win football matches you don’t forget it [the project]. They [the board] know what has happened. We have to get the results but about confidence, I never had doubts.”
Silva has been criticised for inflexible tactics as well as poor performances but appears unwilling to bow to calls for a two-man attack. He said: “Our worst performance during the season was the Sheffield United second half. We played 35-40 minutes with two strikers.”
