Howard Kendall preserved Everton's Premiership status precariously but the effort may not have been enough to save his job. The manager will leave for a short holiday today facing an uncertain future after being called before the Goodison board yesterday to explain how a club of Everton's stature avoided relegation merely on goal difference from Bolton.

Kendall cut a jubilant though relieved figure on Sunday evening after a home 1-1 draw against Coventry had guaranteed survival but the euphoria dissipated quickly yesterday.

He spent more than an hour with the board at a meeting held at a secret location to avoid the threat of demonstrations by those supporters who feel sweeping changes must be made at a club who have lurched from crisis to crisis in recent years.

Several key Everton directors, including some who supported Kendall's appointment months ago, are believed to be questioning whether he is the right man to lead the club forward into a new, more fulfilling era.

Although the chairman Peter Johnson would be loth to sanction the removal - by force or voluntarily - of a third manager since he seized control four years ago, he is deeply concerned about an apparent lack of progress towards his proclaimed object of "a return to greatness". It remains to be seen if Johnson himself will survive the summer months. Four Everton directors - Sir Philip Carter, Arthur Abercromby, Bill Kenwright and Lord Grantchester, the grandson of the late Sir John Moores - are believed to be considering making Johnson a formal offer for his 68 per cent shareholding. Anyone wanting to buy him out would probably need a financial package worth at least £70 million.

Everton's veteran captain Dave Watson yesterday applied for the vacant managerial post at his former club Norwich City.