Roberto Martinez pays tribute to former Everton boss Howard Kendall
Tuesday 20 October 2015 11:54, UK
Roberto Martinez has paid tribute to former Everton manager Howard Kendall, who died on Saturday at the age of 69.
Martinez described Kendall as an inspiration and has called on the club to capitalise on his legacy at Goodison Park.
"As you can imagine it was a real shock," he told Sky Sports News HQ. "It was very sad news to get, so unexpectedly.
"Since then we've had time to reflect and his is a legacy that will be with us for the rest of our history. Howard Kendall as a footballer was iconic but as a manager he is reference and he will always be an inspiration. Our thoughts are straight away with his family."
Kendall ended a 14-year trophy drought at Goodison Park by winning the FA Cup in 1984 and reaching the League Cup final - then the Milk Cup - where they lost to Liverpool.
The following season they won the First Division title and the European Cup Winners' Cup, beating Rapid Vienna 3-1 in the final.
"From now on we want to use Howard's influence and career as real inspiration for the future and that's what we want to take from that sad day."
Everton captain Phil Jagielka added: "We had a poor result against Man United but obviously the most devastating news was Howard passing. He was a fantastic man, but I'm sure we'll find at his funeral there will be a massive turnout and we will see how much he was loved."
