Homepage Update: Recruiting strategy is key...

[Blue Roo]

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For almost the entire season and especially since the Anfield derby the form of Everton has, at best, been patchy and at worst downright embarrassingly awful, and this has led to an increasing number of questions over the capabilities of the manager Marco Silva.

Now this article hasn’t been written with the outright intention of adding further fuel to the fires of discontent that burn in certain quarters and are reaching wildfire proportions in others in wanting to see Silva ousted, it’s an offering of how the appointment of key staff like a head coach or manager could/should be handled.

Full article here: https://www.grandoldteam.com/2019/02/16/recruiting-strategy-is-key/

Couldn't agree more with your article (well almost).
Thanks for the insights with regards the other two articles attached (hadn't seen these before)
I think the underlying issues you raise in them are immersed in the core of the problems the club faces.

On recruiting I would go further and say that before - candidates are identified and thoroughly researched and vetted and no stone is left unturned, everything explored and thoroughly dissected - the club needs to know in no uncertain terms what it is looking for.

The problem is that what the club is looking for is not simply answered or understood. So even if you go through the processes mentioned, it may be that your at nothing anyway. Maybe results improve but I would argue there remains a shallowness underneath it all.

I have been arguing that the answer is in getting the right leadership - esp in terms of a manger and a mandated DOF - as the way forward and to bring about real change. Prefaced by a discussion about what is the 'right' leadership, what type, what character.

But maybe its not that simple. To really decide on that answer you have to go deeper, to what is, and what should be, the character and psyche of the club.

Well you might say that's the same question facing all top tier professional football clubs and supporters. The same forces are at play, changing and shaping the nature of football clubs.
The behaviour of the Chelsea goalkeeper epitomises how the game has gone in one respect.
If things were really right in the world the Chelsea supporters would have turned their backs on Kepa.
There was a part of me hoping they would win, if only to shine a poignant light on the state of the game...a trophy made all the more meaningless.

But of more fundamental importance is the disenfranchisement (for want of a better word) of club supporters.
Hype, advertising campaigns, talking heads etc telling us of the value and importance of fans really doesn't cut it. As it shouldn't.
They have cheapened and sullied the meanings of tribe, community, spirit, passion and what it means to be a supporter. Its shallow and lacks any integrity.

Everton has possibly a unique perspective in all this....in terms of success.
We're not one of the modern big boys, but stand separate from the rest. We are never really threatened by relegation and never really threaten for the title. A foundational club with the richest of history. A culture or realness with an intrinsic sense of community. There's a humility to it, not weak or misplaced, and in stark contrast to the ones the club unfortunately spawned. Simply put, we are a bit of an anomaly.

Given this, how does the club psychology manifest itself. What is the nature of our pride and joy, anger and frustration.
Currently I think there is a sense of disillusionment.
Its something that's difficult to articulate, and its not just down to having the right coach.

I think the answer lies in what we really want the club to be. How should it be relected.
I hate this concept, but for want of a better word, what its/our identity?

What are we really competing for?
Are we trying to be one of the clubs above us, and what they see as success and the means by which they achieve it,
or can we do things differently - and be successful at it?

The answer to these questions are what should shape the clubs directions, actions and processes, including recruiting.

So maybe these answers will mean that throwing money at players and coaches and buying 'success' should be out.
Recruit players who want to play football and be proud of the club they represent, that monentary concerns beyond a certain amount are of less importance. Proving your character and representing the club ethic becomes paramount.
Maybe I'm naive but I think there are enough skillful beings around who would be willing to be part of something like that, and be successful in the process. And believe that Everton is the club that can make this happen.

But I don't think its going to happen without supporters willing to challenge the way things are.
I've been reading/listening to a lot of Jordan Peterson at the moment (the world is going to change from what he's saying).
He's has a very good critique of the tribalism and identity politics.
But I still think there is a place for the right type of tribe (while we go about our lives as sovereign individuals).
Football is the perfect place.

We hear a lot of bs coming out of management on all sorts of things, but is it addressing anything meaningful?

There is nothing more dispiriting or inane in the world of management than lines of meaningless words with boxes to be ticked off, pretentiously framed by buzzwords, mission statements and the like; generally acted out in a world where the response to change and so called innovation is fatigue and more fatigue. In spirit everything is just passed on. No one is really listened to and any real change is too big to be contemplated.

 

[The Missing Lineker]

Couldn't agree more with your article (well almost).
Thanks for the insights with regards the other two articles attached (hadn't seen these before)
I think the underlying issues you raise in them are immersed in the core of the problems the club faces.

On recruiting I would go further and say that before - candidates are identified and thoroughly researched and vetted and no stone is left unturned, everything explored and thoroughly dissected - the club needs to know in no uncertain terms what it is looking for.

The problem is that what the club is looking for is not simply answered or understood. So even if you go through the processes mentioned, it may be that your at nothing anyway. Maybe results improve but I would argue there remains a shallowness underneath it all.

I have been arguing that the answer is in getting the right leadership - esp in terms of a manger and a mandated DOF - as the way forward and to bring about real change. Prefaced by a discussion about what is the 'right' leadership, what type, what character.

But maybe its not that simple. To really decide on that answer you have to go deeper, to what is, and what should be, the character and psyche of the club.

Well you might say that's the same question facing all top tier professional football clubs and supporters. The same forces are at play, changing and shaping the nature of football clubs.
The behaviour of the Chelsea goalkeeper epitomises how the game has gone in one respect.
If things were really right in the world the Chelsea supporters would have turned their backs on Kepa.
There was a part of me hoping they would win, if only to shine a poignant light on the state of the game...a trophy made all the more meaningless.

But of more fundamental importance is the disenfranchisement (for want of a better word) of club supporters.
Hype, advertising campaigns, talking heads etc telling us of the value and importance of fans really doesn't cut it. As it shouldn't.
They have cheapened and sullied the meanings of tribe, community, spirit, passion and what it means to be a supporter. Its shallow and lacks any integrity.

Everton has possibly a unique perspective in all this....in terms of success.
We're not one of the modern big boys, but stand separate from the rest. We are never really threatened by relegation and never really threaten for the title. A foundational club with the richest of history. A culture or realness with an intrinsic sense of community. There's a humility to it, not weak or misplaced, and in stark contrast to the ones the club unfortunately spawned. Simply put, we are a bit of an anomaly.

Given this, how does the club psychology manifest itself. What is the nature of our pride and joy, anger and frustration.
Currently I think there is a sense of disillusionment.
Its something that's difficult to articulate, and its not just down to having the right coach.

I think the answer lies in what we really want the club to be. How should it be relected.
I hate this concept, but for want of a better word, what its/our identity?

What are we really competing for?
Are we trying to be one of the clubs above us, and what they see as success and the means by which they achieve it,
or can we do things differently - and be successful at it?

The answer to these questions are what should shape the clubs directions, actions and processes, including recruiting.

So maybe these answers will mean that throwing money at players and coaches and buying 'success' should be out.
Recruit players who want to play football and be proud of the club they represent, that monentary concerns beyond a certain amount are of less importance. Proving your character and representing the club ethic becomes paramount.
Maybe I'm naive but I think there are enough skillful beings around who would be willing to be part of something like that, and be successful in the process. And believe that Everton is the club that can make this happen.

But I don't think its going to happen without supporters willing to challenge the way things are.
I've been reading/listening to a lot of Jordan Peterson at the moment (the world is going to change from what he's saying).
He's has a very good critique of the tribalism and identity politics.
But I still think there is a place for the right type of tribe (while we go about our lives as sovereign individuals).
Football is the perfect place.

We hear a lot of bs coming out of management on all sorts of things, but is it addressing anything meaningful?

There is nothing more dispiriting or inane in the world of management than lines of meaningless words with boxes to be ticked off, pretentiously framed by buzzwords, mission statements and the like; generally acted out in a world where the response to change and so called innovation is fatigue and more fatigue. In spirit everything is just passed on. No one is really listened to and any real change is too big to be contemplated.

Great post.

Football clubs aren’t like most other corporations. There’s an enduring, intrinsic and indelible link with the community it serves. The identities of the two entities is inextricably linked. If we want to delineate the identity of the club we have to hold a mirror up to ourselves. We have fans along a spectrum of identities - from the traditionalists at one end exhorting a purist approach to the Sky-pumped neoliberals at the other end who want a sugar daddy buying us immediate success. We’re conflicted and the club is transitioning into something that we can’t crystallise yet. If it were one thing or another, most fans between the spectrum poles could adapt. But it’s currently so formless and characterless that we can’t relate to it like we did do and should be able to do.

 

[Blues Harp]

Well balanced article, although I don’t think the Allardyce fan club ( all three of them ) will be happy with him being called an “ indelible stain on the club “

No that's brownshoes...............ok perhaps not as bad a "stain" as BFS but a footnote certainly

 

[deipnosophist]

If the article sudgests Silva should be sacked then i will say without evening reading it, thats its a good read

I read it in the morning...and it was a good read then as well.

 

[COYBL25]

No that's brownshoes...............ok perhaps not as bad a "stain" as BFS but a footnote certainly

Oh no, Allardyce still has three fans on here.

One of them only emerges in the Silva thread, after a defeat, lamenting his departure.

His favourite mantra is " but he got us eighth, should never have got rid of him for this fraud ".

The other two are just wums.

See if you can spot them after the next defeat ?

 

[OneTrueLegend]

I don’t think recruitment can be the key at the moment. Not player wise anyway.

The absolute key has to be the biggest clear out we’ve ever seen. Which will be one of the hardest things to achieve.

Only then will we be able to consider recruitment again.

We need players out but looking at the current first team, we have 2 loanee's in the first team that we either need to sign or get replacements for and for me we don't have a striker, so we need at least 3 first teamers minimum.
I think people have done lists before of 15 out and 10 in, I can't see that many comming in but with players retiring, transfers and loans I could see about 15 going out;

Jagielka
Zouma
Bolasie
Gomes
Schniederlin
McCarthy
Sandro
Niasse
Besic
Vlasic
Pennington
Mirallas
Tarashaj
Williams
Garbutt

I would say we need 3 defenders 2 midfielders and a striker, so six minimum. All of that will be almost impossible in one transfer window, unless your on PES or Fifa

 

[D410]

Is there another manager out there that could get a better long term performance from this group of players? If the answer is Yes then we know the root cause and we have an opportunity to improve both the manager slot and coaching staff.

Personally the board have know all along they were taking risks on Tier 3 managers so the sooner they stop pulling the wool over the eyes of the fans the better.