I cant really get my head around all this 'Brands's signings have been a disaster' stuff.
Bernard, Richarlison, Gomes, DIgne all good signings
Mina, ok signing with the potential to be good.
JPG, unknown as of yet.
Sidibe - not a bad loan signing.
Kean, not great so far but I think he's part of the reason Ancelotti is here so for that he was worth it.
Iwobi - meh, not great but showed signs at 10.
Edit- Delph, forgot about Delph, a definite negative there
With the exception of Iwobi (and ruling out JPG), all these players are capable of playing in a top 6 side.
After Walsh, Brands wasn't in the position to go out and gamble on future prospects. He needed to steady the ship.
If you look at the current Everton set up,
the disasterous signings still at the club are
Sigurdsson, Schneiderlin, maybe Walcott, Keane, Sandro, Bolasie, Niasse, Martina.
Basically, Ancelotti looked at the DoF setup at Everton and saw that Brands was on the board and still took the job.
If it's alright by Ancelotti...