Everton place David Unsworth in temporary charge as Toffees begin search for Ronald Koeman's successor

Everton have appointed Under-23s boss David Unsworth as interim manager in the wake of Ronald Koeman's sacking and have begun searching for the Dutchman's successor, with Watford boss Marco Silva, Huddersfield Town manager David Wagner and Burnley chief Sean Dyche all being considered by major shareholder Farhad Moshiri.

Koeman was relieved of his duties on Monday (23 October) after overseeing a dreadful start to the new campaign on Merseyside both domestically and overseas. The Toffees currently lie 18th in the Premier League table and are all but out of the Europa League after just three group stage matches.

The 5-2 defeat at home to Arsenal proved to be the final straw for the Everton hierarchy, who have now trusted Unsworth and youth coach John Ebbrell with first-team duties until a new manager is found. Unsworth, a former Everton player and an impressive coach at youth level, wants to take control at Goodison permanently and will be given a chance to stake his claim for the job over the next four matches against Chelsea, Leicester City, Watford and Lyon.

Everton chairman Bill Kenwright and some members of the squad want to see Unsworth take charge full-time, according to Sky Sports, but Moshiri and the club's board are looking at external replacements. The British-Iranian is weighing up moves for Dyche, Wagner and Silva, according to The Times, while there have also been links with Thomas Tuchel and Carlo Ancelotti.

Watford boss Silva has worked wonders since taking over at Vicarage Road and would be difficult to prise away from Hertfordshire having only been appointed manager in the summer. Silva will be at Goodison Park soon, but Watford will hope he will be situated in the opposition dugout when the Hornets travel to face Everton in November.

Huddersfield boss Wagner had the chance to leave the Terriers last year when Bundesliga outfit Wolfsburg sought to poach him, but the German refused to leave the John Smith's Stadium and would likely do the same if Everton came knocking.

Burnley boss Dyche was touted as the early frontrunner to succeed Koeman and did not exactly nail his colours to the mast when asked about his future. The former Watford boss has recently been linked with moves to Crystal Palace and Leicester City, and it is not known how long his current contract with Burnley has left to run.

"It's very flattering, I've been linked with other situations before," the Burnley boss told the Daily Mail. "I just keep getting on with my job until things change. It's out of my hands, I'm just getting on with what I do."