Marco Alexander Saraiva de Silva had a reputation as a young, exciting, one-to-watch manager. A likeable personality and, seemingly, the talent to back it up led to his name being linked with almost every vacancy in European football.
Now, he finds himself with a reputation as a careerist; a manager who wouldn’t think twice about leaving a club for another of higher standing in the game and by some fans, a traitor.
Silva came into English football following a short but record-breaking stint at Greek side Olympiacos. Having been sacked (for not wearing an official suit at a match) from Portugal’s Sporting CP just four days after winning their version of the FA cup – the Taça de Portugal – he took his new team on a 17-match winning streak – a European record in the 21st Century – and won the Super League with six games to spare.
The scene was set for what would surely become a highly successful Greek Odyssey. Surprisingly, almost one year to the day since taking charge, Silva would cite personal reasons and hand in his resignation.
Fast forward six months to January 2017 and Marco Silva would find himself sitting in the dugout of the Premier League’s bottom club, Hull City. However, a four-month spell that improved performances of the struggling club and offered renewed hope to the fans would ultimately end in failure and relegation to the Championship. Two days after resigning from Hull he was hired by Watford FC for what would become his most troubling time as a manager.
Early into the 2017/18 season, with Silva’s Watford firmly in the top half of the table, rivals Everton were in the market for a new manager. Silva’s head was turned and his heart lost interest in Watford. Poor performances and a terrible run of results infuriated the fans and the inevitable was soon to come. In January the Watford board had had enough and sacked Silva citing the “unwarranted approach” from Everton – the club Silva would join just a few months later. A Watford club statement read:
…the Board believes it has seen a significant deterioration in both focus and results to the point where the long-term future of Watford FC has been jeopardised.
A few seasons ago the Goodison Park crowd would have jumped at the chance of hiring Marco Silva, a club crying out for a fast & exciting style of play to match their Merseyside rival’s resurgence under Jürgen Klopp.
Now, Everton fans are divided as to whether they have the right manager at all – poor defensively and toothless in attack, the career of European football’s once most sought-after manager is in a relegation scrap. How the next few months play out may well determine how history records his time in the Premier League.
