Frank Lampard's stint on Merseyside is over, Everton finally pulled the plug on his reign after Saturday's 2-0 loss to West Ham.
The Chelsea legend leaves Goodison Park with the Toffees sitting 19th in the Premier League, level on points with bottom club Southampton.
No manager in the club's history has lost a higher proportion of their games in charge, Lampard had a win ratio of just 27.2%, to put that into context, Steven Gerrard's win ratio at Aston Villa was 32.5% and Gary Neville, in his disastrous spell at Valencia had a win ratio of 35.7%.
However, the problems at the club run deeper than the man in the dugout; a lack of funds, recruitment, identity and a civil war between supporters and the board are issues that will plague the next man through the door at Finch Farm too.
To have any chance of avoiding a first top-flight relegation since the Premier League era begun, the club must get the next managerial appointment absolutely spot-on as they seek the eighth permanent manager since Farhad Moshiri took over six-and-a-half-years ago.
The bookmakers favourite is Marcelo Bielsa, followed by the likes of Sean Dyche, Ralph Hasenhuttl, Marcelino, Carlos Corberan and Nuno Espírito Santo. Whilst Goodison returns for Sam Allardyce, Wayne Rooney or Duncan Ferguson are definitely not inconceivable.
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Assessing the candidates
The Argentine is a legend in the world of football management, with the likes of Lionel Messi and Pep Guardiola listing him as a significant influence on their respective careers.
His stint at Leeds United was ultimately soured by the last season of his reign but he is still held in the highest regard by the majority of fans.
He steered the Yorkshire club to a ninth-place finish in their first top-flight campaign in 16 years in the 2020/21 season after guiding them to promotion the year before.
His work at Elland Road transformed the club and the atmosphere around the stadium, however he is known to be a manager that prefers to take over in the summer, to implement his ideas in pre-season.
He has already reportedly told the club that the playing squad is too slow to play his way and that they must prioritise pace before the transfer window closes.
The Blues cannot afford to wait until the summer to turn their fortunes around, and Bielsa's style of play usually takes at least a month to implement at a basic level, including his brutal training methods.
Everton do not have a month, they need to start winning matches as soon as possible.
The former Burnley manager would be a shrewd choice, especially in the short-term.
The 51-year-old is no stranger to working with limited funds, he kept the Clarets in the top-flight for six successive seasons on a shoe-string budget until he was sacked in April 2022.
His side were known for their rugged, gritty, resilient brand of football, a typical 4-4-2 that allowed Dyche to get the best out of the arguably sub-par players at his disposal.
It remains to be seen whether the same style of football would be implemented at a team with higher quality players.
It may seem like an underwhelming appointment, however, the Englishman miraculously guided Burnley to a seventh-placed finish and a Europa League qualification spot in the 2017/18 season.
The result of the relegation battle, much like with Bielsa does not matter, Dyche has shown he is capable of keeping his team in the Premier League or bringing them back from the second-tier at the first attempt as he did in 2015.
The club could even hire him now for six months and appoint a permanent long-term manager, such as Bielsa in the summer, once survival has been ensured.
Another benefit is that has worked with Michael Keane, James Tarkowski and Dwight McNeil before, so would know how to best utilise them.
The former Southampton manager is reportedly a 'serious option' for the Everton hierachy.
The Austrian was sacked by the Saints in November following a run of just four league wins in 26 matches.
He had previously guided the club to an 11th-placed finish in the 2020/21 season, and was even top of the league in November 2021.
His tenure on the south coast and his spell at RB Leipzig show that he can set-up a team to outperform expectations, however he did suffer two 9-0 defeats in his stint at St Mary's, which would no doubt be a red flag for many Evertonians.
Appointing the 55-year-old would be too much of a risk considering how poorly his Southampton team performed before he was sacked and the way that he lost the dressing room does not inspire confidence that he would be the right man to turn the Blues form around.
The 57-year-old has never managed outside of his native Spain, but would be an interesting choice.
He ended Valencia's 10 year trophy drought when he guided Los Che to the Copa Del Rey in the 2018/19 season.
Everton's trophy drought is a lot longer, they have not won one since the 1995 FA Cup win.
However, winning trophies is not a priority right now, survival is the issue at hand, and trophies seem a long way away for the Blues right now.
Another concern over the former Villarreal manager is implementing his system, Marcelino prefers to play a 4-4-2 with an emphasis on pressing and defensively solidarity, Everton seem to lack on both of those fronts at the moment.
However, if he could implement it relatively quickly, it could prove to be a very smart appointment in both the short and long-term.
One thing he does have experience with, that will resonate with the Toffees is the toxic atmosphere and civil war between board and supporters, as at Valencia, the fans were locked in a bitter struggle with owner Peter Lim.
Nuno Espirito Santo
Another former Valencia manager, Nuno Espirito Santo had an underwhelming spell at Tottenham Hotspur, after winning his first three matches in charge, he was sacked following a run of five losses in seven Premier League games.
However, his four-year stint at Wolverhampton Wanderers was highly successful.
He led Wolves to the Premier League in 2018, and then qualified for the Europa League in their first season back in the top-flight.
A second successive seventh-placed finish and a Europa League quarter-final followed in the 2019/20 season.
Everton director of football Kevin Thelwell has worked under the Portuguese previously at Molineux, so knows exactly what his strengths and limitations are.
Nuno's pragmatic tactical approach depending on the squad available to him is a positive, but he does not have pedigree in a relegation battle like Dyche does, despite similarly negative connotations about their styles of play.
The former Porto player prefers a 3-4-3 as shown by his time in the Midlands, a three at the back in possession which switches to a five at the back without the ball.
Once again, this system is dependent on heavy pressing and defensive solidarity, which the Blues are lacking in.
It would be an ambitious appointment, but maybe not the right one given the need for immediate relief.
The former Huddersfield Town and Sheffield Wednesday manager is making waves at West Brom after Steve Bruce's horrendous spell at The Hawthorns.
Since he took charge, his Albion team have the most wins in the second-tier and have conceded the least goals in the division, as a result, also keeping the most clean sheets.
They have collected the second most points (27) and sit in 10th place, just one point off the final play-off place.
That marks a stunning turnaround for the former Premier League club, considering they were 23rd in the table when the Spaniard was appointed and had won just one of their previously 12 games.
That is remarkably similar to the situation at Everton, and he is also used to working with limited finances, as he has done so at both Huddersfield and West Brom.
At West Brom, he has implemented a possession-based style of play, with a focus on width and crossed into the box, which would suit the Blues due to the presence of Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
However, whilst he has experience guiding teams out of relegation battles successfully, that is in the Championship, a very different beast to the Premier League.
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Fan Favourites
'Big Sam' as he is known by the majority of English football fans, led the Blues from 17th in the league to an eight-placed finish in the 2017/18 season.
He has been one of the most successful managers down the bottom-end of the table in the Premier League during his stints at Bolton in the early 2000's, then at the likes of Blackburn, West Ham, Sunderland and Crystal Palace.
He finally suffered the first Premier League relegation in his managerial career in 2021 with West Brom after being hamstrung by Brexit in the transfer market.
His style of play drew criticism in his last stint in the Goodison dugout, but a straight-forward approach allows Allardyce to instil confidence in his team, something that the Toffees are lacking in.
It usually involves a disciplined defensive style, with full-backs only attacking when wide players in front of them have the ball, keeping the defence compact and an emphasis on set pieces, both attacking and defensive and long balls forward.
Playing the first ball forward gets the ball into dangerous areas quickly but also gets the ball out of a teams own half, away from their goal.
However, whilst he is a 'survival-expert', the fact that it would be an uninspiring appointment and that he has not managed since leaving the Baggies, Moshiri should steer clear of his old friend.
The Everton legend has already returned the club once as a player, but a return as a manager, saving the club would be an even more remarkable story.
He performed admirably at Derby, surviving on the final day of the season in the 2020/21 season despite starting his reign with the club six points adrift at the foot of the Championship.
The Rams were relegated to League One at the end of the 2021/22 season, and Rooney resigned with the club's ownership situation still not sorted.
He is currently managing in the MLS with DC United, and it would be a huge gamble for both Rooney and the club at this stage of his budding managerial career.
It is unlikely that Everton turn to the 37-year-old, as he is simply not experienced enough for the situation that the club find themselves in.
Another Blues legend, 'Big Dunc' as he is affectionately known by the blue half of Merseyside has actually been in the Goodison dugout before, several times.
However, this has been in an interim manager capacity on each occasion, as well as stints as Ancelotti and Lampard's assistant.
He first took over after the sacking of Marco Silva in December 2019, leading the club to a memorable 3-1 victory over Chelsea and draws with Manchester United and Arsenal before Carlo Ancelotti's appointment.
The Italian's return to Real Madrid meant that Ferguson took the reigns once again, this time for a 1-0 loss against Aston Villa before Lampard was given the permanent role.
However, he is the least experienced candidate on this list and appointing the Scot would be a huge risk that the club cannot afford to take given their perilous predicament.
The Verdict
Everton should shy away from nostalgia in this instance with Rooney and Ferguson far too inexperienced for a task of this management and Allardyce out of the game for so long.
The most sensible option is Dyche in the short-term on a six month contract with a hefty bonus if he keeps the club in the Premier League.
Then a difficult decision could arise, sack the manager who may have kept the club up and appoint a manager who can turn the clubs fortunes around in the long-term.
Marcelo Bielsa definitely fits the bill.