Everton sack Ronald Koeman

Ronald Koeman has been sacked as Everton manager.

The Toffees sit third bottom in the Premier League after winning just two of their opening nine league games and the Dutchman has paid the price.

A statement from the club read: "Chairman Bill Kenwright, the board of directors and major shareholder Farhad Moshiri would all like to express their gratitude to Ronald for the service he has given to the club over the past 16 months and for guiding the club to seventh place in last season's Premier League campaign."

Koeman led the club to a seventh-placed finish last season, his only full campaign at the helm after arriving from Southampton, but has had a torrid time of late.

Two home defeats in four days, 2-1 to Lyon in the Europa League and 5-2 against Arsenal on Sunday, and the chorus of boos that followed each time proved the end of the line for 54-year-old.

The departure of Romelu Lukaku, who joined Manchester United for £75million in the summer, left the Toffees light up front but Everton's use of those funds has been questioned.

Gylfi Sigurdsson and Davy Klaassen cost almost £70m between them and Wayne Rooney was brought back from Old Trafford on a high-profile free transfer but Lukaku was never adequately replaced.

A further £55m was spent on goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and defender Michael Keane, yet the Toffees have conceded 18 goals in nine league games and only rock-bottom Crystal Palace have a worse goal difference.

Koeman reported for training at the club's Finch Farm facility on Monday morning, with preparations for Wednesday's Carabao Cup game at Chelsea seemingly under way.

But Kenwright and chief executive Robert Elstone were later reported arriving on site unexpectedly and Koeman's dismissal was confirmed soon after.

He becomes the third top-flight boss this season to lose their job, following Frank de Boer at Palace and Craig Shakespeare at Leicester.

Speaking after his final outing in the dugout, Koeman confronted speculation over his position head-on.

''I still believe I can change the whole situation but everybody knows how it works in football. That is all I answer about this situation," he said.

''If you start to think negatively then maybe there is no solution. I am not like that. All the rumours in the newspapers are normal.

"All these kinds of decisions are not in my hands.''

Leon Osman, who played for Everton from 2000 to 2016, believes Koeman's fate had become inescapable given the unsuccessful restructure of the playing squad.

"It's not just results, performances of late have been really below par, really worrying and I think it was pretty inevitable this was going to happen," he told Sky Sports News.

"Everton aren't a club to react too quickly. I'm pretty sure the chairman and Mr Moshiri will have been thinking on this for a while and made the inevitable decision.

"Having someone like Lukaku up front last season and losing him...it sort of changed Ronald Koeman's style of play. Players need to be brought in slowly, this season he's had 10 new players and it's showed on the pitch."

Osman played the majority of his career under David Moyes' guidance and believes a return for the Scot is possible, with under-23 boss David Unsworth his long-range tip.

On Moyes, who has struggled at Manchester United, Real Sociedad and Sunderland since his 11 years on Merseyside, Osman said: "I think he would be able to do a good job, he knows the club inside and out.

"(But) are they looking for someone to get immediate results, someone who has got a real pedigree of winning trophies or are they looking to bring someone like David Unsworth from the academy, who really knows the club, can bring through the young lads and really inspire an Everton core."