Everton have launched a search for two key roles within the club's set up. The club is looking to appoint a director of its academy and an Under-23s head coach, the recruitment process being led by director of football Kevin Thelwell. The hunt follows the departure of David Unsworth earlier this month.
Unsworth held the roles of both academy director and U23s manager, so the club's move to effectively separate those responsibilities signals a shift in approach to the oversight of the youth programme.
That move is a direct result of a strategic review undertaken by the club's board. Launched at the back end of last year, the review has focused on the football side of the club with the ambition of identifying lessons that could be learned from recent years. The decision to appoint Frank Lampard after the departure of Rafa Benitez was one of several influenced by the work of the review, with Everton officials looking towards building a long-term strategy in the hope of laying the foundations for progress.
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Part of that vision is to make more of the club's youth programme by developing talent and creating a clear pathway to the first team squad. It has already included Kevin Nicholson’s appointment as coach educator at Everton’s Academy. Dan Purdy also returned as manager of scouting and operations in March.
The roles will be advertised externally. It is understood the new academy director will work closely with both Lampard and Thelwell and take overall responsibility for the management and direction of several departments, including the academy's coaching, recruitment and sports science.
The U23s head coach will oversee coaching and development of the U23s side and focus on producing players capable of making the transition to first team football.
In an email announcing the search to colleagues, Thelwell said: "The decision of David Unsworth to leave the club to pursue his managerial ambitions meant we lost somebody with incredible knowledge, talent and passion for the club. But losing such a prominent figure from our academy does, however, provide an opportunity to conduct a recruitment process that aligns with our strategy driving forward... This search for both roles will be thorough and far-reaching. Finding the very best candidate for each position is crucial, given the significance of those roles to our development pathway."
The search follows Unsworth's exit, announced by the club earlier in April. Unsworth, who twice led the Everton first team as caretaker manager, left the club to pursue his ambition of becoming a first team manager.
He said at the time: “This has been one of the hardest decisions I have had to make in my career. “Everyone knows what Everton means to me, it has been my whole life and I have loved every minute of my time here. However, to give me the best chance of achieving my career aspirations – and becoming a permanent first team manager – I believe now is the right time for me to move on."
