Marcel Brands’ response to angry Everton fan as ‘board meeting is scheduled’ to discuss Rafa Benitez’s future
The director of football issued a five-word retort after the embarrassing 4-1 Merseyside derby defeat to Liverpool.
Sections of supporters fired their frustrations at Everton board members in the aftermath of their Merseyside derby loss against Liverpool.
The Toffees fell to a humiliating 4-1 defeat to their bitter rivals at Goodison Park on Wednesday night.
What happened?
It wasn't the first time this season Everton have been beaten in such lacklustre fashion. The 5-2 reverse at the hands of Watford and a meek 1-0 defeat at Brentford were almost as bad.
But this latest result tipped fans over the edge - and they couldn't hide their ire at full-time.
Rafa Benitez has copped plenty of flak as Everton's horrendous winless streak stretched to eight matches, with only two points being collected during that period.
However, sections of Evertonians unleashed their rage at director of football Marcel Brands and chairman Bill Kenwright as they made their way out of the directors' box.
Video footage on Twitter shows a conversation one fan had with Brands during his way out, asking if he recruited the players on the pitch.
The Dutchman briefly engaged and retorted: “Is it only the players?”
What does it mean?
Brands has come under fire for some of the signings he’s made since his appointment in 2018.
Fees in excess of £20 million have been paid for the likes of Jean-Philippe Gbamin and Alex Iwobi, who have failed to live up to their price tags.
Such profligacy has left the Blues sailing closely to financial fair play rules and their summer recruitment was hamstrung, with only £1.7 million able to be spent.
However, Brands was seemingly saying that the issues lie deeper than just the players who featured against Liverpool.
Will Benitez be sacked?
However, Rudy Galetti - who is an Italian sports reporter - has claimed that a board will be meeting today to discuss Benitez's future.
He wrote: “#Everton, after the defeat against #Liverpool (1-4), Rafa #Benitez is at great risk.
“A board meeting is scheduled for the next hours: the possibility of sacking the manager before the match against #Arsenal will also be discussed.”
Benitez picked up 13 points in his opening six games after succeeding Carlo Ancelotti as manager in June.
However, Everton have garnered just two points in their subsequent eight matches and dropped to 14th in the table.
Before the Liverpool loss, Football Insider claimed the Toffees could axe either Benitez or Brands by the end of the week amid a supposed power struggle behind the scenes.