Everton manager Roberto Martínez is confident his predecessor, David Moyes, will have no problems getting a new job after being sacked by Manchester United after just 10 months in charge.
The Scot was relieved of his duties after a disastrous season by United's standards having been given the unenviable task of succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson. Before his ill-fated reign at Old Trafford, Moyes spent 11 successful years at Goodison Park.
Defeat to Everton last weekend was the final straw for the United board, who are now looking for a new manager, but despite the fallout seemingly tarnishing Moyes's reputation, Martínez is confident he will not be damaged in the long term.
"It is not a nice situation when a manager loses his job, especially someone who has such strong links with our club," said the Spaniard. "It has been a difficult experience but any experience is a good experience in this game, unfortunately.
"We know David Moyes will look forward to the next footballing chapter. We all know he is a very successful man and has a real strong winning mentality and he will get ready to bounce back straight away.
"It is very difficult to get that experience, the amount of years he has been working at the highest level, and the know-how he has is a real strength. I am sure he will be ready to get into another job as quick as he can and I am sure he won't have a lack of offers or opportunities when you have someone who is so hard-working, focused and dedicated in his job.
"We all know he is going to be very successful in the future. We wish him the best of luck and he will always be well thought of and we will always be thankful of the job he did at our football club."
Everton travel to Southampton on Saturday looking to regain the initiative over Arsenal in the race for fourth place. Martínez remains confident that victory in their final three matches will secure Champions League football next season.
"I think it is fair to say, just looking at the last 15 years or so, fourth place is well below 76 points," said the Spaniard, whose side currently have 69 points.
"There has only been one season where you have needed 76 points for that [fourth place] and on average it's always been a lot less points. You don't go far wrong when you look at the points tally. We are well aware anything around 72 to 75 points is Champions League football so we are desperate to try to make sure we get that.
"It doesn't matter who you are playing against or who you are fighting against to get into that fourth spot it's always the points tally that matters. I will go as far to say if you get nine points and you don't get into the Champions League, you can be proud and very happy anyway.
"That's the target we are giving ourselves here – how many points we can get from now until the end of the season. We have to make sure that we are fresh, we have recovered and look at every game as a unique opportunity to show what we can do."
