By Paul Conatzer
Twitter @Toffeepaul.com
Most people who follow the NFL with any regularity have heard of the concept of the “Coaching Tree.” It operates on the premise that assistant coaches on successful teams have drunk from the same water as the head coach and that water contains the ingredients to turn losers into winners. For example, assistants on the staff of New England Patriots’ head coach Bill Belichick are often sought after for head coaching jobs.
I’m not calling Marco Silva a taxi. Not yet, anyway.
However, there are some interesting branches to look at in Everton’s fairly recent history and they point to Duncan Ferguson as a possible future Everton manager. It also involves Joe Royle, but we’ll start at the beginning.
Let’s start with Harry Catterick. Catterick wouldn’t blow his own horn and didn’t seek out publicity, he shunned it. He didn’t like the media and resisted Everton being on television. Catterick, a centre-forward, had his career disrupted by the Second World War. He played 59 league games and scored 19 times from 1946-51.
After bringing Sheffield Wednesday into the First Division, he took over at Everton and backed with money from Sir John Moores, Catterick built two successful Everton teams. He won the league title in 1962-63 with a team featuring Alex Young, Roy Vernon, Brian Labone and Gordon West to name a few. With a team in transition, Catterick guided Everton to the FA Cup in 1966. In any other year, that final would have dominated much of the sporting conversation. Down 2-0, Everton came back to win 3-2 with a brace of goals from the unknown Mike Trebilcock. That was the highlight of Trebilcock’s career.
After that summer, Catterick started to rebuild. He added Alan Ball and then Howard Kendall through transfer and along with Colin Harvey, they became one of the finest midfield groupings to grace the English game. He brought through youngsters like Joe Royle and Jimmy Husband.
In 1968, Everton reached the FA Cup final against West Bromwich Albion. Everton had thumped the Baggies twice in the regular season. However, an extra-time goal from Jeff Astle gave WBA a surprise win.
In 1969-70, Everton swept to the First Division behind 23 goals from Joe Royle, aided by the afore-mentioned midfield trio, who became known as “The Holy Trinity.” After ill health, Catterick moved out the manager’s office and Everton entered a spell in the wilderness.
Enter Howard Kendall, who, like Catterick served an apprenticeship at other clubs before taking over at Goodison in 1981. Kendall served calls for his head in the early going. However, the board’s patience common sense was reward as Kendall’s team won two-league titles, the FA Cup and Everton’s only European Trophy. After Margaret Thatcher continued her war against the North of England and working people by banning English teams from taking part in European competitions after the Heysel Disaster. Kendall and much of his team left seeking the chance to test themselves in Europe.
Kendall returned to Everton twice, but the magic was gone.
In 1994, Joe Royle took over from Mike Walker in November, guiding Everton to the FA Cup. He finished sixth the next season, but left after a disagreement with Chairman Peter Johnson about transfers.
Now, if you’ve stayed with this, this far, here comes the conclusion. Catterick, Kendall, Royle and Ferguson all played for Everton. Kendall and Royle played for Catterick. Ferguson played for Royle. There’s something else, too. Catterick, Royle and Ferguson were all centre-forwards.
See it’s all ordained. Or maybe not. After all, football is a funny game.