Tony Pulis a shock candidate to take over at Everton until end of season before Watford boss Marco Silva is targeted

TONY PULIS is a shock candidate to take over at Everton until the end of the season.

Ronald Koeman was sacked more than a month ago and Toffees majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri has identified Marco Silva as his top managerial target.

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But the prolonged pursuit of Watford boss Silva has hit the buffers - with Goodison chiefs fearing he will not be available until the summer.

Another target, Ralf Rangnick, signed a new deal at RB Leipzig.

Meanwhile, Sam Allardyce wasn't interested in being appointed in the short term.

But it seems Pulis would be happy to step into the breach.

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According to the Times, Pulis - dismissed by West Bromwich a week ago - it happy to keep the manager's seat warm for Silva until the end of the season.

Everton, who spent £140million in the summer transfer market only for virtually everything to go wrong this season, had thought themselves to be above appointing a firefighter.

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But their predicament - they are just two points above the Premier League drop zone - has changed all that.

Caretaker-boss David Unsworth has failed to right the ship. Sunday's 4-1 loss at Southampton followed the 5-1 midweek home defeat to Atalanta in the Europa League.

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They now face two crunch matches against West Ham on Wednesday and Huddersfield on Saturday.

Both league showdowns are at Goodison Park and form part of what Unsworth describes as a "massive week."

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Hays that “big decisions” have to be made both on a new manager and the current squad if the club are to punch their weight in the Premier League.

“We're in a tough moment and we're desperate to get back to some home comforts and play in front of our home fans," he said.

"I've never known a team that needs their fans more than our team does at the moment.”