Sam Allardyce has revealed that he received an apology from Everton chairman Bill Kenwright after supporters were asked to rate the manager's performance since taking charge.
A survey was sent to fans earlier this week to gather information on an array of topics, including the level of trust in under-fire boss Allardyce.
The 63-year-old, hounded by travelling fans at the Liberty Stadium following last week's 1-1 draw with Swansea City, admits that he has been left disappointed by the club's marketing department for their error of judgement.
"The survey... the managing director of marketing and communications has clearly slipped up," he told reporters at his weekly press conference. "Even though I believe the survey has been recently passed out before, from my point of view it was a big mistake. I think it has allowed you to write some beautiful headlines on that situation.
"The actual question was what do you think of the manager, the players and the staff - and obviously our managing director of marketing is clearly not a great understander of football and how football works, because he is into marketing and branding and market research. An apology? Off the chairman, yes."
When asked what mark he would have given himself, Allardyce joked: "P*** off! Eleven!"
Allardyce takes his ninth-placed Everton side to former club Newcastle United on Monday night.