Kevin Thelwell is overseeing a 120-point plan to overhaul Everton.
The director of football, appointed in February, is leading the Finch Farm revolution in hope of bringing sustainable progress on the pitch and across the academy setup. It is part of a series of changes introduced as a result of a strategic review into the football operation held as the Blues slid towards trouble last season.
Twelve months on from its launch, 26 members of staff have been appointed to different roles - including to the positions of academy director, loan pathway manager and head of sports science.
Everton head into the resumption of the Premier League with the club’s season on a knife edge. A win at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Boxing Day could set the tone for a positive January that, with Brighton and Hove Albion and Southampton also due at Goodison Park, presents opportunities for the Blues to climb the table. But with the club just one place and one point above the bottom three, a disappointing result on December 26 could lead to the club entering 2023 in the relegation zone.
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Thelwell and, just before him, manager Frank Lampard were appointed with the club heading towards trouble last season and, while senior figures are confident progress is being made, the threat of another gruelling campaign hangs over this one. Yet while the defeat at Bournemouth in the final game before the World Cup break was described as a “reality check” by Lampard, who has pointed to the club’s struggle last season and loss of talisman Richarlison as key factors to consider when assessing progress, much has changed at Finch Farm under his and Thelwell’s watch. Their hope is that, with patience and support, they are laying the foundations for sustainable, long term progress.
Everton launched the club’s strategic review just before the end of 2021, the club referring to it in a statement released when it split ways with then director of football Marcel Brands. Brands cited “a clear difference in the vision and direction for this beautiful club” upon his departure, while Everton commented: “A strategic review of the football structure will now take place which will inform the best model for the club to proceed with in the long term.” Then manager Rafa Benitez soon followed - though while his appointment had been divisive it was the club’s miserable form that sealed his fate.
His replacement, Lampard, and then Thelwell were the first major appointments said to have been inspired by the review, led by chairman Bill Kenwright and chief executive Denise Barrett-Baxendale. Lampard was the first Blues boss of the Farhad Moshiri era appointed as a collective decision agreed upon by the entire board. Thelwell represented a change of approach - not only was he not appointed to the board like his predecessor but he was tasked with looking at the entire football operation. Brands and, before him, Steve Walsh, had been heavily recruitment-focused. Lampard and Thelwell also get on - the pair’s offices are opposite each other and they have a better relationship than some of the previous manager and director of football partnerships at the club.
Thelwell is essentially charged with overhauling a football operation that, under the reign of majority shareholder Moshiri, has spent more than half a billion pounds on transfers only to lurch between crises. After his appointment the former Wolves sporting director summarised his job as “trying to make the support services around Frank as strong as possible to give him the best opportunity to win games and make Everton successful”. He later provided insight into his thinking about how this can be achieved, explaining: "I've always worked on two pipelines. Performance - what we do today to really ensure what everybody sees is as strong as it possibly can be on the pitch; but also preparing for tomorrow and a pathway for young players. I think any top football club is built on that sort of foundation.”
This vision can be seen through some of the changes he has implemented. Thelwell undertook his own three month review that sought to analyse each department at Finch Farm and create a plan for improvement in each. One early, notable change was to split the roles of academy director and Under-23s coach after David Unsworth left to pursue his managerial ambitions. Paul Tait was promoted from within to take on what became the Under-21s head coach while Gareth Prosser, who previously worked with Thelwell at Wolves, became academy director. He is seeking to create a “best-in-class” youth development programme and part of efforts to create a more streamlined academy strategy - where players can transition easily between age groups - is for the style of play to be consistent across the sides. Under him, the club is keen to identify talent on and off the pitch and desperate not to let promising youngsters slip away from their system - at least not without proper consideration over their departures and preferably transfer fees if they move elsewhere in the football pyramid. A role that will have prominence in the coming weeks is that of the loan pathways manager, handed to former Everton starlet James Vaughan, who will have the job of overseeing suitable loan moves for some of the club’s most promising youngsters.
Other significant appointments since the strategic review include Brian Sorensen as manager of Everton Women, Jack Nayler as head of sports science, Carl Darlington as head of academy coaching and, most recently, Sean Miller as physical performance coach. The posts of head of recruitment and senior manager of scouting and operations are among further roles currently being sought.
Huge emphasis is being placed on the work behind the scenes at Everton and the belief that the subsequent change of culture will help the club become more competitive in the long term. It may require patience in the short term should the Blues endure a difficult restart to the Premier League and only time will tell if the plans bear fruit. But one thing is clear - Finch Farm is a very different place from 12 months ago.
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