Ex-Everton striker Tony Cottee believes replacing manager Marco Silva is not the answer to their problems and has urged the club to give him time.
The Portuguese is facing increasing pressure just eight months on from his appointment at Goodison Park, with the Toffees languishing 11th in the Premier League.
To make matters worse, they were dumped out of the FA Cup by Championship Millwall over the weekend - their fourth defeat in six games.
However, Cottee has encouraged the Everton hierarchy to stand by the former Watford and Hull City manager as he looks to arrest his side’s slump.
“Everton are going through a transitional period – it’s going to take a while for him to get his idea across,” he told talkSPORT.
“They pushed the boat out to get Silva, so I don’t think they’re going to press any panic buttons in terms of getting rid of the manager.
“Everton can’t keep changing their managers. They’ve had Martinez, they’ve had Koeman, they’ve had Allardyce and now they’ve got Silva.
“You can’t keep changing managers, but at the same time you’ve got to see progress.
“The fans are the key to this because they’re the ones who watch the games week in, week out.
“If they can see some sort of progress being made, then I think they’ll live with that, but it doesn’t help when you get knocked out of the FA Cup, because if you can go on a good cup run it can disguise what’s going on in the Premier League.
“I think Silva will come through this, but they do need to start getting results.”
