When Roberto Martinez produced a card during his job interview detailing how he masterminded victory over Manchester City in the FA Cup final, Everton knew he was the man to lead their bid for Champions League qualification.
The former Wigan Athletic manager, who has forged a reputation for making the best of limited resources and playing attractive football, signed a four-year contract on Wednesday to succeed David Moyes who has taken over at Manchester United.
The Spaniard inherits a team who finished sixth in the Premier League last season and who in Moyes’ 11 years at the club became a solid outfit with regular top-eight finishes but no trophies.
With last month’s FA Cup triumph with Wigan Athletic still very fresh, Martinez arrives at Goodison Park boasting a piece of silverware that his predecessor never managed and raring to build on Moyes’s legacy.
“All I want to do is try to be humble enough and hard-working enough to take to that magnificent job into the next level,” Martinez, 39, told a news conference.
“[There is] huge pressure but I’m extremely proud of that pressure, what David Moyes has done at Everton in the last 11 years is set real standards... and given an incredible platform for the next man to continue.”