In every sense of the phrase, Carlo Ancelotti has well and truly steadied the ship at Everton.

What started out as a relegation battle has become a race for the European spots, with the Toffees climbing from 18th to ninth since the sacking of Marco Silva in December.

Getty Images - Getty 2 Ancelotti’s men staged a remarkable comeback to beat Watford 3-2 on Saturday

Their only defeat in Ancelotti’s opening seven Premier League games in charge came at the Etihad to Man City – and there’s no shame in that.

And a win over Saturday’s opponents Crystal Palace – live on talkSPORT – could see them enter the top eight.

But mid-table isn’t good enough for Everton, regardless of the circumstances. Just ask Sam Allardyce.

“I finished eighth when I took over,” he tells talkSPORT.com. “So I had the same impact on Everton that Ancelotti’s had. We finished eighth from 16th.

“Marco Silva, in his first year, got them to eighth. But eighth for Everton, in the eyes of everyone, isn’t good enough.

“So now it’s about building a team that’s good enough to get to sixth, and if he continues getting points at this rate, they’ll do that.”

Martin Keown says Everton have appointed 'one of the all-time great managers' in Carlo Ancelotti

Everton owner Farhad Moshiri has spent untold amounts of money to drive success at Goodison Park. Allardyce brought substance, and Silva’s appointment was supposed to add style. In the end, it delivered neither.

Perhaps both men were over-reliant on one or the other. Results did little to prevent fans growing frustrated under Allardyce, while a possession-based philosophy didn’t help to get results for Silva. Ancelotti’s job, surely, is to strike the balance.

“You have to bear in mind that he’s Italian,” Allardyce adds. “Italians base all of their coaching philosophies on defending and that’s where most of his success has come from in his career.

Getty Images - Getty 2 Allardyce was sacked by Everton in 2018 despite some impressive results

“Yes, he’ll be creative with the creative players he’s got. But he placed just as much emphasis on defending at Chelsea as Mourinho did. In the end, if you get the balance right, you’ll get the success Everton need.

“You can’t be a flair team if you can’t defend properly. That’s why Marco Silva lost his job. He tried to bring flair, but he lost too many game because the opposition scored more than they did.

“You’ve got to get that balance right and Ancelotti can do that.”

Despite a small sample to base comparisons off, there are early suggestions that Everton are getting that balance right under their new manager…

Goals per game Allardyce: 1.13 Silva: 1.32 Ancelotti: 1.57

Everton have scored in every Premier League match under Ancelotti and average a slightly better goals per game ratio than they did under Silva.

The club’s 11 goals under Ancelotti have been scored by five different players, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin has claimed almost half of them, with five since the Italian took over.

Ancelotti’s Chelsea side were the first team ever to bag more than 100 goals in a single season when they won the title in 2009/10.

They averaged (gulp) almost three goals a game.

Shots per game Allardyce: 8.9 Silva: 13.2 Ancelotti: 14.9

Ancelotti has got Everton creating more chances than ever.

Allardyce was a master of maximising his team’s opportunities, ensuring that one chance was all it took to achieve victory.

Meanwhile, Silva’s side created more in attack, but this left them far too open at the back.

Ancelotti’s current outfit is the most threatening of the three – based on his opening seven games – and he’s also keeping the opposition out more effectively…

Goals conceded per game Allardyce: 1.25 Silva: 1.38 Ancelotti: 1.14

Despite being more expressive in attack, Everton have also tightened up at the back under Ancelotti.

The Toffees have only conceded eight goals in their opening seven games under the Italian, having shipped 27 in the 15 games which Silva took charge of earlier this season.

So Ancelotti hasn’t sacrificed any defensive stability for more threat going forward – the Toffees are just attacking in ways which don’t leave them vulnerable.

Possession (average) Allardyce: 44.2 per cent Silva: 51.3 per cent Ancelotti: 52.5 per cent

Again, you can see a subtle improvement from Ancelotti’s opening seven matches in charge, with Everton spending slightly more time on the ball.

Silva’s Everton enjoyed far greater possession than Allardyce’s side, but it got him nowhere in terms of results.

Ancelotti will hope that his side can use the ball with more purpose than under his predecessor.

Points per game Allardyce: 1.4 Silva: 1.3 Ancelotti: 2.0

“Two points per game will get you in the top six,” Allardyce says. “It could be even better this year.”

It’s perhaps a little unfair to take Ancelotti’s record from seven games and compare it to the others, considering they faced the so-called big six on multiple occasions, while the Italian has only faced them once.

Nonetheless, it’s a clear indicator of how results are improving since Ancelotti took charge, and the reason why they have started moving up the table, rather than down.

Saturday is GameDay on talkSPORT as we bring you TWO live Premier League commentaries across our network, including Everton vs Crystal Palace at 12:30pm