Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been the first player to speak of Carlo Ancelotti's sudden departure.
The Italian left Goodison Park this week after 18 months at the helm to return to Real Madrid for a second stint with Los Blancos.
Ancelotti's return to the Santiago Bernabeu caught everyone on the hop – even the Everton dressing room.
England star Calvert-Lewin said: “It's come as a shock. I don't think anybody expected it.
"But it's how football works and you have to move forward.
“I haven't spoken to anybody at the club, apart from the Everton lads who are with England but we all felt the same.
“It's a big, big surprise, but you just have to roll with these things in football.
“When Carlo came in, I was just hitting some good form under Big Dunc.
“But for a manager of his stature to come in and put his belief in me like he did was all that I needed at that time.
“Carlo's temperament and the way he manages players was a great fit for me. He managed to get some great form out of me.
“He didn't really give me too many instructions other than just to be more focused in the box, those were his words.
“He made quite a big thing of me scoring off one touch which has worked well this season.
“He stressed my job is to score goals so if I get players in to create chances my job's to put them in the back of the net and I think particularly in the first part of the season, that's how it went."
But the Toffees No.9 doesn't feel abandoned – because he's still got mentor Duncan Ferguson.
“Big Dunc is pretty cool, calm and collected in a similar way to Carlo, He always oozes calmness.
“Whether at half time when he's saying to do this and that - it's always in a calm manner although he can lose his head when telling us something we need to be told!"
