BBC Sport pundit Mark Lawrenson has suggested that interim head coach Duncan Ferguson has brought the spark lost under Marco Silva back to Everton.
Ferguson will take charge of his final game as caretaker boss on Saturday afternoon when Arsenal visit Goodison Park, having been given the reigns to organise proceedings in the post-Silva era on Merseyside.
Results saw an immediate lift when Chelsea came to town on December 7, and we remain unbeaten in regular time under Ferguson with a draw at Old Trafford and a Carabao Cup clash with Leicester City forced to penalties.
Lawrenson has pin-pointed our recent success to Ferguson’s ability to ignite the fire in the belly of the players, having been mismanaged under Silva and are now a work-in-progress that Carlo Ancelotti – who is set to sign a £9million-per-year contract – will have to fix.
“Ferguson has had three good results since taking temporary charge,” Lawrenson noted in his column for BBC Sport. “Yes, they went out of the Carabao Cup on penalties to Leicester on Wednesday, but they are still unbeaten in actual games.
“It just shows what these Everton players can do under someone who knows how to get hold of them and get them at it, but as a squad, they are definitely a work-in-progress.
“That’s why I have my reservations about Carlo Ancelotti, if he does get the job. He is not a builder, he is more of a roofer, because he is a manager to finish a job off.”
Can Ancelotti fix the mess made by Silva?
Yes, absolutely
Not without spending
No, he isn't a 'builder'
Lawrenson expects the interim Ferguson era to end on a relatively high note, having predicted a 1-1 draw for Arsenal’s trip to Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon.
It would only be our fourth point taken off the Gunners since beating them 2-1 in December 2016, having lost four of the five matches played since to an aggregate scoreline of 15-4, while winning the last encounter 1-0 in April.
In other Everton news, the club have been linked with a January move for a first-team mainstay Ancelotti has previously worked with.