• 14 hours ago
A look at his best moments at the club during a very turbulent time.
Transcript
00:00So, well, looking at Everton and Kevin Thelwell, and obviously we've mentioned a few times
00:05his role in terms of the uncertainty of it because of this huge change, you know, ownership
00:12and the sort of reset that they're going to face in the summer with the contract situation
00:16as well, and obviously David Moyes coming back, new stadium, so many things to look
00:21forward to as Everton, you know, go into this new season. In terms of Thelwell and his sort
00:27of situation, obviously, going to be heading out of the side, what will his sort of legacy
00:32be in terms of, you know, digging in, and it's been quite a tough time, he's had quite
00:37a bit of hard work to do during his Everton, you know, spell, and then moving forward,
00:42how do they sort of look to replace him?
00:45I think he'll always have the respect of Everton fans, to be honest with you. When he arrives
00:52in February 2022, I doubt that he thought that the situation was going to be just as
00:59precarious as it was, but it really, really was difficult. He came in, played for Marcel
01:05Brands, and Everton fans were obviously up for a director of football whose primary focus
01:12was getting players through the door, really, and instead he's had to put out fires around
01:19the club in terms of the financial situation, help balance the books, cut the wage bill,
01:26etc., player sales, and he's ensured that Everton have remained a Premier League club
01:33in a real, real tough environment, and he's ensured that Everton are going to the new
01:38stadium in the top flight, and I think that has to be commended, to be honest with you.
01:42He's always served with a lot of dignity, a lot of integrity. I think he'll be, in terms
01:50of transfers, I think he'll be remembered more for his sales than his purchases and
01:59his signings, because he's really broken some good deals. Richarlison for, what, £60 million
02:05was a fantastic deal, especially how that's played out. I think Anthony Gordon for £45
02:11million, look, Anthony Gordon's become a really good player, but at the time I thought that
02:15was a fantastic deal for Everton, for a player who's still relatively inexperienced. Players
02:22like Alex Owobi, getting, I think, £20 million for him with one year left on his contract.
02:28Demaree Gray was sold for £11 million, albeit he was at the club already, but came in for
02:33£1.5 million, so a significant profit on him. The money made for a fringe player in
02:38Ben Godfrey last summer, there have been some really good sales. There's been some
02:41good signings as well. Illerman and Dyer's been excellent. We're seeing Jake O'Brien
02:47now in the team, he's really excelling. Beto, the jury's been out for him for a long time,
02:53but maybe he just didn't have the right manager, he was signed for the wrong manager. But there
03:00have been some poor signings as well. I mean, Neil Morpay will be one that a lot of people
03:05remember. Arnaud Dandemare, was he ever going to fit into a Sean Dyche style of football?
03:12The same with Jesper Linz, albeit he's playing football that he's playing now, but with Jesper
03:17Linz from a Premier League player, is he up to the physicality? But again, some good signings
03:24like James Garner as well, and Amadou Onaner, Everton made a decent profit on. So as I say,
03:31he's done well. And I think going forward, I think David Moyes now might have a little bit
03:36more power in terms of recruitment. It's certainly seen that way in January because
03:41Thelwell has had some targets earmarked and David Moyes come in and has a look at them for us.
03:47I probably don't fancy them. So I think that's the model that they will go down.
03:52I don't know, there probably will be some sort of technical director coming in because Everton
03:56have got to make strides off the pitch as well. They've got to improve areas like the academy,
04:00they've got to catch up on clubs. They've had to sell a lot of the better players,
04:05infrastructure, things like that. So something will happen in that point. But yes, as I say,
04:13Kevin Thelwell, I think he goes out with a lot of respect from Everton fans for the job that he's done.

Recommended