Kevin Campbell reacts to ‘weird’ Everton recruitment policy
We’re delighted to welcome former Everton striker Kevin Campbell as our exclusive columnist. Each week the former Toffees captain will be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Goodison Park…
Kevin Campbell feels the recent Everton transfer business appears to have brought in players who “aren’t fit for purpose”.
Full-backs Nathan Patterson and Vitalii Mykolenko arrived in January under the direction of former manager Rafael Benitez.
But the Spaniard was soon sacked, and neither player has been able to make much of an impact under Frank Lampard.
Speaking exclusively to Goodison News, former Toffee Campbell said: “This is a different manager who brought all these players in.
“Frank Lampard believes in – you train the way you play, he sees people doing it in training and he picks his team accordingly.
“Patterson’s a young lad who I thought did alright in the FA Cup game, but he [Lampard] needed to change the system to unhinge Boreham Wood and they went on to win the game comfortably in the end, which was fine.
“So looking at Patterson, he’s going to be on the bench, will he get a chance?
“Seamus Coleman has been incredible for the club but really he should be back up right now.
“Coleman should be back up so he can conserve energy, and certain games he can come in and play, but he’s having to play too many games as far as I’m concerned.
“It’s a matter of whether you can transition Patterson quickly, or is he just going to learn his trade?
“Maybe that’s what they’re thinking, he’s got to learn his trade first, so you’ve got to look at the recruitment again at Everton.
“It’s another manager whose brought people in who maybe aren’t fit for purpose at times.
“Although Mykolenko has started certain games, it’s a weird one, it really is.
“They didn’t think Benitez was going to be sacked, but it’s crazy.”
The situation that surrounded the January transfer window and the sacking of the former manager encapsulated everything that is wrong about the decision-making of Farhad Moshiri.
The owner had backed the ex-Liverpool boss at all costs up until that point, then suddenly pulled the plug after sanctioning nearly £30million in purchases, apparently for the future.
It has subsequently become evident how badly the side needed strengthening now, but the sequence of events made that almost impossible.
In other Everton news, Paul Merson has told Toffees fans they should stop giving one of their players stick because they “need him”.
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