VITOR PEREIRA has gone to extraordinary lengths to convince Everton fans he is the right man for the job amid furious supporter protests. The 52-year-old is believed to have fallen behind Frank Lampard in the running to replace Rafa Benitez at Goodison Park following an angry backlash. That led to the former Porto and Fenerbahce […]
VITOR PEREIRA has gone to extraordinary lengths to convince Everton fans he is the right man for the job amid furious supporter protests.
The 52-year-old is believed to have fallen behind Frank Lampard in the running to replace Rafa Benitez at Goodison Park following an angry backlash.
That led to the former Porto and Fenerbahce boss considering pulling out of the race – but instead he unusually took part in a telephone interview with Sky Sports News to launch a charm offensive on the disgruntled Toffees faithful.
After seeing images of graffiti saying ‘Pereira Out, Lampard In’ on the walls of Everton’s stadium, he claimed during the 20 minute live interview that he was still in the running to take charge.
Although he did admit he was ‘hurt’ by the reaction of fans towards him.
Pereira said: “In my opinion, some of the critics are not for me. Because they don’t know me very well, they don’t know my work, they don’t know me as a person, they don’t know my CV.
“I work in a lot of countries, several clubs, several titles. Before you work with a person, you cannot judge.
“This is the first time in my career that I see this kind of thing. I never had in my career this kind of comment about me. My CV speaks for itself. I think these critics are not directed to me.”
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Pereira added: “Yes of course (I want the job). I have had a few interviews, not just one, more than one, with different people from the club.
“We discussed about everything, I discussed with different people in the club, on the board, I gave them my points of view on what I think about the club, about the team.
“(I spoke with) (owner) [Farhad] Moshiri and (chairman) Bill Kenwright and other people in the club. I think they (the club) were enthusiastic (in) what I proposed.”
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