Next Stop Fulham? A closer look at Marco Silva’s managerial record

During an eventful three-year period Marco Silva was seemingly everywhere in England.

The Portuguese coach crammed in spells at three different clubs after he unexpectedly burst onto the managerial scene with Hull City in early 2017, before he marched down to Watford for six-months, only to return North to Everton.

At first, Silva swiftly developed a reputation as a bright young impactful boss, yet his shining light gradually faded towards the end of his time on Merseyside, and he’s not been seen since.

It’s now been 18 months since Silva was sacked by Everton, but he is now in-line to return to these shores with Championship side Fulham, who were left managerless earlier this week following the departure of Scott Parker to Bournemouth.

*Marco Silva has since been appointed Fulham manager*

Below we take a look at Silva’s managerial record, which not only includes those three spells in England but a couple of jobs in his homeland of Portugal, as well as a successful tenure in Greece at the helm of Olympiakos.

Estoril

Games: 116

Wins: 54

Draws: 31

Defeats: 31

Win Rate: 46.55%

In his early 30s, straight after his playing days came to an end, Silva was appointed director of football at Portuguese side Estoril. Soon after, he became manager and propelled his side from 10th to the second-tier title in his very first season. 

The following term he claimed a superb 5th-place finish in the top-flight and qualification into the Europa League for the first time in the club’s history. He then went one step further and finished 4th.

It was therefore no surprise when one of the country’s big teams made a move for the young boss, who became the new Sporting CP manager in the summer of 2014…

Sporting CP

Games: 53

Wins: 31

Draws: 15

Defeats: 7

Win Rate: 58.49%

In his one and only season at the Estadio Jose Alvalade, Silva led Sporting CP to their first piece of silverware in seven years - the Taça de Portugal - 3rd place in the league and the club’s highest points tally (76) in 15 seasons, while they only lost twice. 

They bowed out of the Champions League group stages - where they were defeated twice by Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea - and then failed to make an impact in the Europa League.

Four days after he won the domestic cup, Silva was sacked in bizarre circumstances as Sporting CP compiled a whopping 400 page document which detailed why they wanted to sack him. 

Some of the reasoning was extremely petty e.g. they were furious that he failed to wear an official club suit for a league game six months earlier! Ludicrous.

Olympiakos

Games: 48

Wins: 38

Draws: 3

Defeats: 7

Win Rate: 79.17%

After his farcical departure from Sporting CP, Silva ventured off to Greece where he took charge of Olympiakos, who had won the last five league titles.

So, claiming another title may not have been the greatest managerial feat of all time, but Silva delivered in dominant fashion; accumulating a staggering 85 points from 90 available as his side finished 30 points clear of the pack. His start to life in Greece - Silva won his first 21 domestic games on the spin - will probably never be topped.

Silva’s side missed out on the double after losing to AEK Athens in the final of the Greek Cup, while he was unable to go deep in Europe, although Olympiakos did register a creditable nine point in a Champions League group containing Bayern Munich and Arsenal, memorably beating the latter 3-2 at the Emirates.

He then surprisingly left for personal reasons, having accrued a stonking 79.17% win rate.

Hull City

Games: 22

Wins: 8

Draws: 3

Defeats: 11

Win Rate: 36.36%

"He has a great track record and we feel this is a bold and exciting appointment in our aim to retain the club's Premier League status,” Hull vice-chairman Ehab Allam said upon securing the services of Silva mid-way through the 2016/17 season.

At the time Hull were rock-bottom of the Premier League with 13 points from 20 games under Mike Phelan. They were in all sorts of trouble but within a month Silva had conjured up three wins in three competitions, including a victory over a Man Utd side featuring Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and Marcus Rashford.

During his six-month spell Hull’s home form was particularly impressive, with the club winning eight of their 11 games at the KC. Silva undoubtedly oversaw an improvement in results and performances but ultimately he fell just short of escaping the drop, yet on a personal level he did his reputation no harm and he was soon back in the Premier League.

Watford

Games: 26

Wins: 8

Draws: 5

Defeats: 13

Win Rate: 30.77%: 

Watford, who sacked Walter Mazzarri, jumped at the chance to appoint Silva as their new manager.

Silva was given the funds to sign Richarlson, Andre Grey, and Will Hughes. He subsequently enjoyed a bright start to life at the club; he lost only one of his opening eight league games, claimed a 3-3 draw against Liverpool, beat Arsenal, and had Watford up in the European places.

Then came the infamous approach from Everton. Silva had only just reached double figures for league games in charge of the Hornets, who were rocked by the approach, which they rejected. 

Watford’s form suddenly nosedived as Silva’s future took centre stage, then come mid-January the relationship was beyond repair and they sacked their boss: 

"The catalyst is that approach [from Everton], something which the board believes has seen a significant deterioration in both focus and results to the point where the long-term future of Watford has been jeopardised," the club said in a parting statement.

Everton

Games: 60

Wins: 24

Draws: 12

Defeats: 24

Win Rate: 40%

Come May, and Silva had bagged this third Premier League job in 18 months, and soon signed Richarlison again. His first match in charge was a club-record 22-0 friendly win over Austrian side ATV Irdning, which saw four players grab hat-tricks.

Everton finished 8th in Silva’s first season. Highlights included a 4-0 thumping of Man Utd, plus wins over Chelsea and Arsenal. While they were more entertaining to watch, it was a largely inconsistent campaign in which they exited both cups early doors.

Everton splashed out over £100m in the summer but come December of his second season, Silva was sacked after a 5-2 loss to Liverpool which dropped Everton into the relegation zone.

In truth, the sacking had become inevitable and surprised no one. It was hoped Silva would be Everton’s ‘Mauricio Pochettino’ and elevate the Toffees to the next level but in the end he finished with a worse league win rate (35.9%) than the man he replaced, Sam Allardyce (37.5%).

No top-flight team conceded more goals from set pieces during his 18 month tenure, whereas Everton only scraped five points from 28 games when in a losing position (all draws, no wins).

But while many thought that would be the last we’d see of Silva on these shores, the smartly-dressed boss is now the frontrunner to make his comeback at Fulham, with multiple bookmakers suspending betting on an appointment.