Everton SACK Marco Silva following a miserable start to the season

Silva, who joined the club in May 2018, was on borrowed time after a run of form which has seen the Toffees win just once in their last six Premier League games.

The loss on Wednesday saw Everton drop into the relegation zone and that was clearly the final straw for the board at Goodison Park who have decided to dispense with Silva’s services heading into the busy festive period.

Club legend Duncan Ferguson, who has been a member of the coaching staff under the last five Everton managers, will take charge of the first team for Saturday’s lunchtime visit of Chelsea.

In a statement released on Thursday evening, the club said: ‘Everton Football Club can confirm that manager Marco Silva has left the Club.

‘Majority Shareholder Farhad Moshiri, Chairman Bill Kenwright and the Board of Directors would like to thank Marco for his service over the last 18 months and wish him well for the future.

Duncan Ferguson has taken temporary charge of the first team and will manage the side for the game against Chelsea on Saturday.

‘The Club aims to confirm a new permanent manager as swiftly as possible.’

Everton have won just four of their 15 Premier League matches this season, losing nine, but the manner in which they were torn apart by their neighbours on Wednesday suggested Silva’s reign was beyond repair.

Marcel Brands, the director of football, and Alexander Ryazantsev, the club’s CEO, were angrily gesticulating in the Directors’ Box at Anfield while fans left early as they watched Everton fall to another defeat across Stanley Park.

Silva has followed former Everton manager Ronald Koeman, who was sacked after a 5-2 defeat to Arsenal in October 2017, out the door after an embarrassing loss.

Today’s decision by the club finally puts Silva out of his misery following weeks of intense speculation about his future.

When Silva was asked about his future at Anfield on Wednesday night, he said: ‘I am not the right person to talk to you about the situation. I cannot answer to you.

‘Since I joined the club and until the last day I am here I will always be 100 per cent professional, giving my best every single day.

‘I understand why the questions are coming. If we are winning all the games, you are not asking them.

‘It is not for me to take those situations. I don’t like to talk after every single match about my future.’

Silva said virtually the same thing after a last-gasp defeat by Leicester on Sunday in a performance which briefly offered some hope of a renaissance.

However, there was no such evidence at Anfield – where the Toffees have not won since 1999 – and some dismal defending and disorganisation saw their table-topping hosts take full advantage.

David Moyes is now waiting in the wings to make a sensational return to Goodison Park, six years after leaving the club for Manchester United.

Moyes, who is ready to start work immediately and could bring popular former player Tim Cahill back as part of his coaching staff, had a successful 11-year stint in charge at Goodison Park from March 2002 to May 2013.

Mark Hughes was also put forward to owner Farhad Moshiri as a possible solution but Moyes’s knowledge of the club is likely to prove crucial.

Marcelo Gallardo of River Plate in Argentina and Bournemouth’s Eddie Howe are also said to be in the running. 

Everton have sacked manager Marco Silva after Wednesday night’s humiliating defeat against Liverpool in the Merseyside derby.