Carlo Ancelotti can be Everton’s answer but questions remain about both the club and their new manager

The Italian’s best days appear to be behind him as he joins a club desperate too to return to their former glories

Everton unveil new manager Carlo Ancelotti (Getty Images)

It is hard to escape the feeling that Carlo Ancelotti is slumming it at Goodison. The Italian takes charge of Everton for the first time against Burnley today and will get a raucous reception from the home fans. The arrival of a manager with the 60-year-old’s credentials is a cause for celebration on the Gwladys Street.

Logic suggests that big names go to big clubs. Unfortunately, Everton’s top-class status resides in another age. The lyrics “If you know your history,” blast out of the public address system at Goodison but the “Grand Old Team” of the song have long lost their lustre as one of the game’s giants. Everton have potential but it is delusional to believe that Ancelotti is a quick fix for a club that won their last trophy – the FA Cup – 24 years ago.

The new age promised when Farhad Moshiri took control has not materialised. The British-Iranian businessman has not provided any greater sense of direction from the boardroom than Bill Kenwright. Moshiri has pumped in more than half a billion pounds. That investment generated optimism but not success. There have been too many expensive disappointments. The latest gamble has been to bet in the region of £11.5million per year on the new manager’s salary. Everton’s owner is not afraid to pay for quality.

Ancelotti’s record suggests that it is money well spent. Yet, like his new club, the best days of the three-times Champions League-winning manager appear to be behind him. It is true that his last two jobs have not been easy. He followed Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich and inherited a troublesome dressing room. At Napoli – a significant step down after Milan, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Bayern – he had to deal with Aurelio De Laurentis, the sort of owner who is almost impossible to please.

There were mitigating circumstances in Bavaria and Campania. Like it or not, though, Everton is a further downward step. Napoli may not be a European powerhouse but they have been regulars in the Champions League in the second half of the decade. Goodison does not need a rebuilding job. It needs someone to almost start again and create a structure designed for the club to progress. Generating a winning mentality from the ground up is a huge challenge. This is where questions about Ancelotti’s suitability have a genuine basis.

The new Everton boss is not a 24/7 manager. He has a much more sensible outlook on life. Football is not everything to Ancelotti. He knows the sport inside out and conveys his ideas and experience with authority and intelligence, but he is not obsessed by the game. If anyone on Merseyside expects him to make Goodison an all-consuming passion they are likely to be disappointed.

This approach allows a wider perspective and makes Ancelotti an engaging personality and a valued thinker about the sport. Everton might need more. The re-creation of the club may require a more obsessive character to drag the team to the level where they imagine they should be competing.

There are many things that Ancelotti does superbly, however. Over the years there have been some suggestions that he is soft on players and allows them too much leeway. This is an exaggeration. He is an excellent man-manager and gets the best out of the dressing room but he is not afraid to show his ire when individuals underperform. You do not get to win the Champions League with two different clubs by being an easy touch.

He also works very well within a structure. His relationship with Adriano Galliani, the vice chairman of Milan, contributed strongly to the team’s success. The two men bounced ideas off each other and Galliani took on the parts of the job that Ancelotti found onerous. If Marcel Brands can find common ground with the new manager, Goodison’s director of football should find dealing with Ancelotti a pleasure. Brands will also be able to make the most of the Italian’s standing in the game. Potential recruits who might not have considered returning Everton’s calls in past transfer windows may suddenly become interested in the prospect of joining.

Ancelotti will not like slumming it for long. He has more uptown tastes. As long as his energy and appetite match his ability and experience, Everton will be heading for better times.