Is New Everton Boss Marco Silva Actually Worth the Hype After Previous Premier League Jobs?

Everton have a new manager in Marco Silva and optimism in the blue half of Merseyside is starting to grow ahead of next season after the 2017/18 ended with apathy towards Sam Allardyce, a man who had effectively been brought in to save the club from relegation.

In the Toffees' official announcement, new director of football Marcel Brands, majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri and chairman Bill Kenwright all spoke of the many marvellous qualities they believe Silva will bring to Goodison Park.

'Attractive, attacking football', ' vision', 'young, dynamic, energetic and very modern manager' are all words and phrases used to describe the Portuguese coach and his philosophy.

Everton wanted Silva as early as last November when they were looking for a replacement for the sacked Ronald Koeman. So to finally have their man, sounds like great news.

There are two questions that remain, however. Is Silva worth the hype? And is Silva a gamble?

The 40-year-old is yet to really prove himself on a consistent basis and Everton is already the sixth job of a fledgling management career that began less than seven years ago.

Silva's time at Estoril, his first job, remains arguably his best achievement to date. He guided the club to the Portuguese second division title just seven months after taking over and immediately oversaw a fifth place finish in the top flight to qualify for the Europa League.

AFP Contributor/GettyImages

After the best part of three seasons, Silva left and was picked up by Sporting CP in 2014. He delivered the Portuguese cup, but was sacked shortly afterwards, allegedly because he breached the club dress code by not wearing official attire during a game earlier that season.

It seems like ridiculous grounds for a football manager to be dismissed, but Silva was quickly handed a new job at Olympiacos in Greece. There, he won the SuperLeague Greece with the already dominant club, who had won 16 of the previous 18 domestic titles. He also masterminded a Champions League group stage win over Arsenal, but again Silva moved on very quickly, this time choosing to step down after just one season.

Silva's appointment by struggling Hull City in January 2017, although underwhelming at the time given how unknown he was in England, initially looked like a coup for the Tigers. A strong start -four wins in his first four home games in all competitions - soon dissipated, though, and Hull were still relegated after Silva won only of their last seven games.

Laurence Griffiths/GettyImages

Watford were suitably impressed enough to hire him after leaving Hull, but his record at Vicarage Road was worse, with a win percentage of only 31%. The Hornets had kept him out of the grasp of Everton in November 2017, but wielded the axe only two months later and sacked him.

And yet, Everton really, really wanted Silva and are delighted to have been able to get him.

Whether through resignation or dismissal, he hasn't been anywhere long enough to warrant the fine reputation he has developed, especially in England. The optimism surrounding his appointment is full of ideals, what people want to happen, or believe should happen with him at the helm - ultimately, the attractive football that also delivers results.

This is a results driven business and there is little patience if the ideals don't pay off, as Ronald Koeman found out to his peril despite a previous proven track record. Silva, who has never waited very long for a job in his career, doesn't even have that as far as the Premier League is concerned and has a lot of work to do to justify the hype.

It could pay off. But, for now at least, placing so much faith in him is certainly a gamble.