TFG have ‘easy Kevin Thelwell call to make’ after what he said on Everton future
Kevin Thelwell has been through a lot with Everton over the past couple of seasons trying to manage transfers at Goodison Park while working within the parameters of PSR.
That was made even more evident after the Toffees were docked a total of eight points for two separate breaches last season.
However, with The Friedkin Group having taken over the club and brought David Moyes back as manager, things finally seem to be looking up on Merseyside.
TFG have Kevin Thelwell call to make
The most recent winter showed the difficult the director of football was working under with TFG understandably reluctant to spend too big and risk reducing the amount of funds they have to work with in the summer.
Carlos Alcaraz was the only new face brought to Goodison Park in the winter transfer window and although Everton now have a healthy nine-point buffer to the relegation zone, there is no doubt a couple more faces would have boosted Moyes.
It seems TFG could be considering their options behind the scenes as Graeme Bailey reported (6 February) that the owners are looking for a new director of football to replace Thelwell, who is reaching the end of his contract with the club in the summer.
However, Thelwell – in an interview with Evertons official website (10 February) – suggested that he is looking beyond the summer alread.
He said: “I think once we get through the summer, we’ve got a real opportunity to look up again and what we all want to be doing is we want the fans to be excited about the quality of player that we’re bringing in, we want them to be excited about the number of players that we’re bringing in and we also want those players to make a significant difference to how the team looks out on the pitch and of course, that translates to league position. We start to look up the table rather than look down the table.
“It’s taken us three hard years to get to that point but the summer will be a start to that and I don’t think it will be a revolution, I think it will be an evolution and so it should be. It should be conservatively strategic is probably the description of it.
“But it should be the start of something and then of course, once we’re into the new stadium and the financial regulations change then that new stadium gives us the chance to build on the solid foundations we’ve built so far.”
Kevin Thelwell can oversee Everton’s new era
Thelwell has overseen a lot of tough times at Goodison Park which has involved him making tough calls, but you can understand why TFG may want to work with their appointment in such a senior position as they look to implement a long-term strategy.
However, when you listen to the way Thelwell speaks about the future with Everton, surely it is worth sticking by the man who has seen the Toffees through such a hard time and brought them out on the other side during one of the most difficult period’s in the club’s illustrious history.
According to the print edition of the Daily Mirror (7 February, page 56) Everton are the only Premier League side that have made a profit over the last six transfer windows after generating £224.7million from the sales of Anthony Gordon and Amadou Onana which resulted in a profit being made of £80.1million.
Therefore, the 51-year-old has proven his ability to work in difficult circumstances to keep the Toffees ticking over and in the place where they need to be.
This, combined with his measured but ambitious plans for Everton’s future at Bramley-Moore Dock, surely gives the owners an easy decision to make regarding his future. He deserves an opportunity to be part of the future.