The only surprise about the mass hysteria linking Ronald Koeman with the Everton job is that given the job he has done at St Mary's it hasn't happened sooner.

When Roberto Martinez was sacked as Everton manager yesterday it was going to be obvious that themedia would start a frenzy of headlines about his replacement replacement and that the normal suspects would be linked.

The Koeman links started at 7.50pm last night when the Liverpool Echo website put up a headline screaming "Ronald Koeman Interested In Everton Manager's Job"

But the story below barely mentioned Koeman insinuated that he would be interested with the only evidence offered as to why being that he only has a year left on his current deal and has yet to sign a new one yet.

Indeed the bulk of the article is about another Dutchman, Frank De Boer who has recently left Ajax.

In fact it seems that De Boer would actually be interested in going to Goodison Park and this is backed up by direct quotes from not only his agent but his brother.

So why didn't the Liverpool Echo use the headline "Frank De Boer interested in Everton manager's job" ?

The answer is probably that the headline that they used would get more page hits, but what it did do was start a frenzy of other media outlets on line portals putting up similar headlines and soon many were claiming that not only was Koeman top of the list, but that he would be lured with a £100 million transfer kitty and that he would be wanting to run to Goodison Park as he would not have to sell to fund the rebuilding of Everton's squad.

The reality is that Everton will see departures to fund the squad, John Stones tried to force a move last summer and will depart this, as will probably club record signing Lukaku if you believe media reports.

So why would Ronald Koeman want to go to Goodison rather than Southampton ?

Everton fans won't want to read this, but the reality is that at the moment Southampton are in a much better position than Everton.

Of course it cannot be denied that the Toffee's have a massive supporter base, bigger than Saints, but even that is limited due to the capacity constraints of Goodison Park.

Goodison only holds around 8,000 more than St Mary's and the club are no nearer moving ground than before and being hemmed in on all sides by houses it cannot be expanded, whereas if Saints wanted to it could put on extra tiers to St Mary's during the summer break.

So from a point of view of being a big club, Everton are no more of an attraction than Saints would be and with West Ham now having the Olympic Stadium and Liverpool adding another 8,000 seats, Everton are falling further behind those who they see as their natural rivals.

The £100 million transfer kitty is being talked up as a lure, but the reality is that some of that will be funded by departures and even when spent, whoever the Everton manager is will struggle to put together a squad the quality of Saints.

When Koeman arrived at St May's he had the basis of a very good squad even after the departures, yes the reality is there where more last summer and probably more this, but the core of the squad is very strong, whereas Everton's has declined over the past three years and as players have left the replacements have been substandard.

So from this viewpoint why would Koeman want to swap a Saints side that could compete for a Champions League place next season for an Everton one that probably won't due to the massive rebuilding job needed.

This being the case, the pressure on whoever manages Everton next season is going to be immense, they will have a supporter base breathing down their neck who expect Everton to be a big club and up in the top six, David Moyes managed to keep them n contention for a few years, but his legacy has been lost and the task to restore Everton to former glory is perhaps at this moment in time impossible.

Perhaps in 5-6 years if Everton did move to a new stadium, but at the moment it is a poisoned challice and one that could ruin any managers reputation very fast.

So perhaps the rumours are nothing more than that, on the face of it there is no reason why Ronald Koeman would want to jump ship, he has always been very clear about what he wants in the future and we are under no illusions as saints supporters that one day he will leave, he has often stated as to how he would love to manage Barcelona or the Dutch national side and they are the jobs that will tempt him away from St Mary's.

His success at Southampton has increased his chances of landing one of his dream jobs at some stage, perhaps both and that is why he will probably not want to ruin all his chances by moving to Everton, a job that could crush any manager with it's demands and already has ruined Roberto Martinez's CV.

Photo: Action Images

RogerToye added 09:43 - May 13 Everton is not a bigger club in mine opinion! Beattie went there amounted to the end of his career. Mosey left there for UTD end of his career. Liverpool maybe a trendy city with a reasonable fan base but Saints will finish higher than both this season whats to move for ?
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saintsnutcase added 10:05 - May 13 The only reason he would go is if the new Everton owner is offering him a heck of a lot of money to spend. But as Nick says, that would need to be more than 100m to close the gap with Saints. Koeman will wait for Arsenal or Barca next summer, and meanwhile try to take us into the top 4. I hope!
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LordDZLucan added 10:06 - May 13 Ronald covets the Barcelona job and why wouldn't he? Does going to Everton increase his chances of landing that job? Answer, No. He's better off committing to Southampton and negotiating himself a specific get out for the Barcelona job should the opportunity arise. Everybody would be happy with that.
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DPeps added 10:15 - May 13 Koeman says every week that he will see out his contract. I doubt he'll stay beyond that, but that's something to worry about in a year's time. I believe he's a man of integrity and won't leave before next summer unless he falls out with the owners, which doesn't seem likely. It's a total non-story
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pintsizedsaint added 12:13 - May 13 It's a non story. It appears De Boer is more likely to be in contention. However, stranger things have happened. I would really like to see Saints FC issue a statement: perhaps jointly with RK. Yet that's not going to happen as its not the way we do business. However it would help to silence some of the crap reporting that is inevitably coming out. Although even that wouldn't stop it completely. I agree Nick: madness to go from Saints to Everton at moment. They may be a bigger club in the sense of fanbase, income etc. But the league positions in last two seasons don't lie. It's a massive rebuilding job.

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SanMarco added 13:08 - May 13 Great article - I was about to start wetting the bed when the 'news' broke last night but I agree with all the above comments. Barca is Koeman's dream job and why put it in jeopardy by moving (at best) sideways...
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