Everton's transfer strategy was discussed by panellists and viewers alike on the latest edition of the Royal Blue podcast
Everton’s transfer strategy proved to be a hot topic on the latest edition of the Royal Blue podcast. While the Blues have historically been one of the powerhouses of English club football, in recent years, clubs like Brighton & Hove Albion, Bournemouth and Brentford, who don’t have a single major honour between them have established themselves in the Premier League thanks to canny recruitment policies, which begs the question as to whether Hill Dickinson Stadium chiefs could or should try and emulate them.
Regular guest Gavin Buckland, Everton’s official statistician, said: “It’s a wider discussion about the club and where its standing is. Where Everton are as a club within the hierarchy of English football.
“It goes back to the discussion from the other week over whether Everton are a big club. Is our transfer strategy dictated by the size of the club? Of course it is.
“Our problem, and we’re not alone in this, if you’re not in that ‘Manchester City/Chelsea group’ you haven’t got enough money to buy the best, and be able to afford mistakes. They can throw a load of money at it and if two or three players work out from five or six, you’re fine, the others you can sell on.
“If you’re not in that group but you’re too big to employ a Brentford, Brighton, Bournemouth strategy of ‘we’re just happy to buy players, sell them on and stay in the Premier League,’ – and we’re certainly not in that group are we – we’re in that middle group where we can’t do either strategy.
“Imagine if you were a director of football at Everton and you turned up and said: ‘Our plans for the future are that we’re just going to buy young players, sell them on at a profit, and maintain the club.’ You’d be pilloried because there’s no ambition there.
“The club wants to be successful, and the fans want to be successful, so that strategy is not going to wash really. You’re left with something that’s in between aren’t you?
“What is that strategy? What are you going to do?”
Buckland added: “The only time that we really handled that strategy well was in David Moyes’ first incarnation. He bought players who were usually aged around 23-24, who were not unproven players, but you know that they’re going to improve at Everton and make you better – the likes of Phil Jagielka, Joleon Lescott, Leighton Baines, Steven Pienaar and Tim Cahill.
“All good players who can do a job for you initially, but they can get better. That’s the strategy really that’s in between those two.
“In those days, you could buy a Baines for six million quid or a Jagielka for less. Those type of players probably cost you £40million now or something like that, so even that’s not a strategy you can afford.
“So you’re left thinking: ‘What is our strategy?’ You end up doing a bit of both.
“We try and do a little bit of youth development, we try and buy the best players we can, but actually they’re not the top players, they’re not elite players. So, we end up with a bit of a mishmash, which is what happened in the summer to a degree.
“It’s how we get that strategy right when we can’t buy the elite players but we’re too big a club just to develop players and move them on and everybody’s happy like they are Brighton, Bournemouth, Brentford and so on. I think that’s a reflection of the size of the club we are, and where we are historically because in all of this, you’re bound by your history aren’t you?”
Here are a selection of viewers’ comments in reply to the discussion...
@GavEfc01
Fact is those teams have recruited well over the last 5 years or so and we have not but hopefully that is changing for us now.
@steevenfrost
Those Southern clubs have settled into the Premier League and can afford to take a chance on players. We have to sign established proven players to be in top part of the Premier.
@markfoster1567
Their recruitment model is based on analytical data and they have been recruiting that way for a few years now. They buy players who fit into their style of play.
@daykennedy1384
Spot on Gav. We have a diluted version of the top teams which is ultimately a substandard squad and managers.
@gaspiped
Barry is decent! He’s got a nice touch, he just needs nurturing and developing and that’s on Moyes. But blaming recruitment has become our ‘go to’ excuse.
@dannyellis8030
We are definitely shopping in the seconds basket.
@Jay-tm3mx
I’d have liked that Thiago at Brentford. He’s bagged 8 goals already.
@simoncoolhand
I don’t think any club has a strategy of having bad recruitment, every team thinks they are buying the best players they can. Barry could turn out to be like Isak, Rohl could be a star, as could Aznou.
@BrianBurns-o9g
Yes Brighton etc have a good recruitment policy, but what have they won?
@Amu7343
I’ve been saying until I’m blue in the face, the first thing we need to do is decide our football style or philosophy. Then buy players, in the same way Brighton do, to complement that style.
@geofthompson3844
I enjoyed this debate and I understand the points made. But I think we fans tend to overthink things. In my humble opinion, The Friedkin Group have a clear long-term plan and they don’t really care about reputation or opinion.
They just make pragmatic decisions and ignore the noise. They’re ambitious but also smart business people. So, we just need to stay patient and look at the long-term health of the club.
@svenp6626
This is where Evertonians have to start adopting a wider perspective. The LFC factor definitely only affects local Blues, what about the masses elsewhere?
We’re busy explaining who Everton are and where we originate from, that’s how much we’ve fallen out of the wider psyche… Our ‘expectations’ aren’t as big in real terms as we like to think they are and as they actually should be.
The lack of seeing anything Everton in any sports outlet anywhere outside the city of Liverpool is a case in point. I live in Bournemouth and spent over 20 years in Germany so I understand how Everton is viewed elsewhere (if at all) very well.
@theblues8840
Ian it’s easy to say “just recruit well” but there’s a reason that clubs like Bournemouth and Brighton are recruiting better than us. Not only do they have better scouts, they’ve got a better environment to grow in which determines whether signings are successful or not.
For instance, if a young player at Bournemouth puts in a crap corner you’ll hear a few groans at most. At a club like Everton you’ll hear half the crowd screaming: “F*** off lad you’re f****** s****” because our fans have higher expectations. Our fans will never be as nonchalant as the fans of clubs like those.”