Everton and Rangers legend leaves first job in management after just one win in 18 games

Former Everton striker Duncan Ferguson has left Forest Green Rovers after less than six months in charge.

Having been appointed in January with the club rooted to the bottom of League One, Ferguson went onto win just the one game in charge as he was unable to prevent the club from being relegated. His solitary victory in charge was a tight 1-0 triumph over Sheffield Wednesday, who went onto to achieve promotion to the Championship via the play-offs. In his other 17 games in charge, he oversaw three draws and 14 defeats.

Finishing on 27 points, they sat rooted in 24th place, some 19 points from safety and 16 points from 23rd-placed Accrington Stanley. It was a difficult spell for Ferguson in what was his first full-time head coach role, having previously been the interim manager at Everton on two seperate occasions.

He had initially signed a five-year-deal with the Gloucestershire side and revealed upon his appointment that “I plan to be here for a while” but has now moved on before the start of the 2023-24 EFL campaign.

Speaking on his departure, Forest Green owner Dale Vince admitted it was a difficult decision to part ways with the former Premier League striker.

“It’s been a privilege to work with Dunc these last few months and this was a very difficult decision to make,” said Vince.

“I’m grateful to Dunc for joining us in such difficult circumstances and for all of his hard work at the club. But I feel this is overall the right decision for everyone and I wish Dunc well in his next coaching role. We are parting as friends. You can’t ask for much more than that.”

The former Everton fan-favourite scored 73 goals for Everton as a player in two spells between 1994 and 2006 and joined up with the Toffees coaching staff in 2014.

Ferguson stepped up for Everton are interim manager in 2019 following the dismissal of Marco Silva, before Carlo Ancelotti was appointed. His second term in charge was following the sacking of the hugely-unpopular Rafael Benitez in 2022, prior to Frank Lampard taking charge of the club.