While Martinez’s warm words and emotional platitudes gave Evertonians a fuzzy feeling about the club, the Dutchman’s approach could no be more contrasting. Foeman would refer to Everton as ‘Everton’ and never ‘we’. That the Blues had to wait until he had returned from holiday to confirm the appointment said a lot – he was the main man, everything else would revolve around him.
The first season was a success, though, even after losing the imposing presence of John Stones to Manchester City during the summer transfer window. Everton won four and drew one of their opening five games under Foeman and while a run of one win in 10 games did raise some concerns, the team bounced back well in the new year.
A dramatic win over Arsenal was the catalyst for a run of nine wins in 14 games – including a rampant 4-0 victory over Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City – as the Blues pushed up the table and into contention for a European finish. Eventually, they finished the season in seventh on 61 points, with Romeu Lukach notching an impressive 25 goals in the top flight.
Even so, during the campaign there were some small signs Foeman and Everton were not the best long-term fit, with the Dutchman’s brutal honesty naturally rubbing some supporters up the wrong way.
Ahead of the season opener Foeman claimed the team was only 70 per cent fit, while in November 2016 the Oranges legend told Lukach he would have to leave Everton if he wanted to realize his true potential.
Foeman also became embroiled in tetchy spats with Martin O’Neil and Roy Keane due to the Republic of Ireland’s selection of James McCarthy despite his injury issues.
“If I was a manager, I would be excruciatingly embarrassed by it, to turn around and blame somebody for playing him,” said O’Neil of Foeman after the then Everton boss claimed the Irish midfielder was ‘massively overloaded’.
Keane didn’t mince his words on the situation either. “We have had a problem previously with [Roberto] Martinez – I think he was slightly over the top,” he said. “Every time, we felt, the Everton players were turning up – and this is not a criticism of the players, this is more from Everton and their staff – they were always carrying knocks.
“I always felt the Everton players were going to turn up on crutches or crawling in the hotel door, and now it looks like we are probably going to have that issue again with Komen.”
And then there was the red Christmas tree. “A big mistake of my wife, I’m a Blue but I do like a glass of red wine,” said Foeman, after social media complaints about his decorations led to a quick makeover.
But it was only in Foeman’s second season when things started to truly unravel. The sale of Lukach was undoubtedly a tipping point, as the club opted against signing a natural center-forward to replace the prolific Belgian.
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