Premiership: Gough - Everton board 'taking a gamble'

Richard Gough feels Everton have taken a gamble by sacking Walter Smith with the club locked in a relegation battle.

The former Rangers manager has been axed after a three-and-a-half-year reign at Goodison following a string of poor results which have left Everton fighting for their Barclaycard Premiership status and seen them dumped out of the FA Cup by Middlesbrough on Sunday.

But Gough, who played for Smith at Ibrox before joining up with him again at Everton in 1999, reckons the decision could prove costly.

‘‘With only nine games to go, it is a strange time,’’ the former Scotland international told Sky Sports News.

‘‘The board have made a decision and it is a gamble I hope for Everton it works.

‘‘It is a fickle game now and I think Walter will move on and get another job if he wants one he could get another job quite quickly because he is very well respected.

‘‘It has been a difficult time over the last couple of years for him at Everton, but he is a quality man and a good manager.

‘‘A lot of his important players picked up bad injuries and were out for a long time.’’

Preston boss David Moyes has been touted as a possible replacement for Smith, and Gough believes whoever takes over the Goodison hotseat will have a job to stop Everton from dropping into Nationwide One.

‘‘They were one of the top clubs in the country five years ago, but you can’t say that now,’’ added Gough.

‘‘I don’t know who the new manager is going to be, but I wish him well because it is going to be a difficult job.

‘‘We have been in this situation and have managed to get out of it before.

‘‘So they have had the experience of it before, but I would be a lot happier if they had Walter Smith at the helm who has been there before and is very cool under pressure.’’