Vitor Pereira defends record in attempt to placate Everton fans

Vítor Pereira has attempted to placate Everton fans opposed to his appointment by giving an unusual public interview to defend his managerial record and claim “Pereira Out” graffiti on Goodison Park is evidence of passion rather than a personal attack.

Everton’s latest managerial search strayed into farce on Wednesday when Pereira gave a lengthy interview to Sky Sports News while awaiting a decision from the club on his interview to succeed Rafael Benítez as manager. Within hours of it emerging on Tuesday that the Portuguese coach was Farhad Moshiri’s favoured candidate, graffiti was daubed on a wall at Goodison that read: “Pereira Out, Lampard In”. The former Chelsea and Derby manager Frank Lampard has also been interviewed for the vacancy.

Pereira had reached advanced negotiations with Moshiri, and Moshiri’s business associate Alisher Usmanov, with Everton’s majority shareholder again ignoring reservations among his board over his managerial choice. Whether Moshiri’s interest in the 53-year-old cools as a result of the negative reaction remains to be seen, but Pereira took the unorthodox step of publicly reacting to the criticism and selling his vision for Everton in the meantime.

“This is the first time in my career that I see this kind of thing,” said the former Porto and Fenerbahce manager of the graffiti. “I never had in my career this kind of comment about me. My CV speaks for itself but I think this criticism is not to me, it’s the environment now because the club is not in a good position.

“The supporters have passion and I think this passion is the power of the club. I remember when I watched Everton games a few years ago and sometimes the spirit of the supporters won the game. Passion in football can have a