Joe Royle last night challenged Duncan Ferguson, saying: 'You've built the legend, now live up to it.'
The Everton boss axed his pounds 4million striker for the first time in his stop-start Goodison career on Saturday because he is not yet fully fit after a two-month lay-off.
Ferguson wasn't happy and vented his feelings with an angry finger-pointing after coming on as a sub and scoring as Sunderland won 3-1.
But Royle believes Ferguson's reputation is bigger than his achievements at Everton. Fergie has missed 48 of 107 matches since arriving from Rangers two years ago, and Royle is now demanding an uninterrupted run.
He said: 'Duncan has become a legend in some ways before he has become a player. And he's not become a player simply because he's not played often enough.
'He has games and spells when he looks unstoppable. But he has other times when I look at him and I think: `Dunc, let's get going'.
'On Saturday I felt he still wasn't match fit.'
