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Muscat and Rose sound like names from the wine menu

We know what's going to happen. If the team is competing for the league, winning games we're expected to win and giving Celtic a challenge then the majority of fans will be happy. If we're 10 points behind them by November, our new players haven't bedded in and we've just dropped points at home to Falkirk then the pitch forks will be out. It'll be the manager who gets it first, but eventually Thelwell will come under fire and finally the board if nothing changes. Sacking a manager every autumn keeps the fans from outright revolt. A decent percentage of fans couldn't care less who owns the club and who runs the club, if we're winning the league. Look at the SDM years if you think I'm exaggerating. If we're finishing the league as Champions then our new owners could strip the oak panelling from the Main Stand and sell it for fire wood and many in our support would turn up and help them shift it. We're being sold to total strangers, people with no connection or affection for our club, people who's motives we can only guess at, and I'd say the majority of our support are welcoming them with open arms and a decent number are actively cheerleading them. There's little sense of nervousness, no worry or concern from an awful lot of people. Those who do have concerns are told they're happy settling for second and have no ambition. Like most of us I saw our club teeter on the very edge of oblivion not that long ago. It amazes me how many of our support are happy to gamble it all again. It was interesting learning about Athletic Bilbao again recently. A club with an identity, with a purpose, who know exactly who they are.

Would definitely fill the criteria of knowing his way around the physio room...

Dyche and Mourinho don't develop players. They like to work with the finished article. Whoever we get needs to be able to polish up a few rough diamonds (or turds, depending on who you ask).

A lot of it is behind the scenes and unseen by the support, so I'm not convinced it's driven by them. My (uninformed) view is that it's the board that hasn't had the conviction to follow through on it, perhaps by employing the wrong people, and perhaps they have a lack of patience with their "toy".

Wouldn't surprise me to hear he joins Lyall Cameron in signing for us in the summer. Must be time for @der Berliner to start the summer transfer thread....

Steven Gerrard Never convinced by going back to a previous player or manager. Has he improved since leaving us? What has he learned by his failures at Villa and abroad? Would he want Beale as his assistant again? Jose Mourinho Hasn't won a league title in a long time. Has been nomadic in his jobs in recent years. Would command a huge wage and budget. Russell Martin Knows the club somewhat but reputation isn't great amongst fans. Modern methods over orthodox coaching? Daniel Farke Has done fairly well at Leeds but not every fan of theirs is convinced. Would he come to Scotland as his stock is high? Barry Ferguson Has spoken pretty well whilst in interim charge but results and performances haven't improved. Sean Dyche An experienced operator but perhaps lacks the charisma and/or modern style fans would prefer. Kevin Muscat Successful in foreign leagues and has an agreeable attacking outlook. Has distanced himself from the job previously. Marco Rose Has been linked with some big jobs after good work in Austria and Germany but is off a poor season with Leipzig. Too similar to Clement? Rafa Benitez Very experienced manager but has done little in recent years to justify the risk. Has also been out of work for over a year. Jesse Marsch Some good early work as a manager in Austria but struggled at Leeds and is currently head coach of Canada. In conclusion, I think everyone listed has their pros and cons but none really stand out as my own preferred candidate. I'm a difficult fan to please though as I'd prefer an experienced manager with a modern outlook and successful background which aren't easy qualities to tick off. I think Clement filled that bill to a degree but clearly lacked that something extra to get the job done at Rangers and that concerns me about some of the names listed here. Farke, Muscat and Rose all have reasonable reputations but I'm unconvinced. Mourinho stands out in terms of pedigree but surely his best days are gone?

After going all in on Clement I do not feel qualified to make a choice here so went for Jose for the lols.

A snippet of an Athletic article from February: A director of football does far more than just manage transfers, even if some fans still mistake them for heads of recruitment. Thelwell oversees the medical and sports science departments, the academy and women’s teams and data/analytics. Three years in, his fingerprints are evident across all of them. Jack Nayler, formerly of Chelsea and Real Madrid, was appointed head of sports science in September 2022. Gareth Prosser, Thelwell’s former colleague at Wolverhampton Wanderers, became academy director and Carl Darlington, previously of the Welsh FA, joined as head of coaching. Former player James Vaughan initially returned in the new role of loan pathways manager and now also heads up academy recruitment. There have been promotions for the highly-rated Dan Purdy, now head of recruitment, Charlie Reeves (head of insights) and Matty Hawkes (head of first-team analysis). Data has been moved to the start of the recruitment process, while Reeves produces game reports to be presented to managers and coaching staff. Under Thelwell and Vaughan, Everton’s loan strategy has been revamped, with the focus shifting from winning youth matches to player development. Loans are used for different purposes — to give players the necessary exposure to secure a deal elsewhere and help Everton recoup some money, or to help a potential future first-team player like Harrison Armstrong, who moved to Derby County last week, take the final leap into the senior set-up. Deals contain penalty clauses if a certain threshold of games is not reached. Everton sold Tom Cannon and Ellis Simms for a combined £15m in the summer of 2023 after successful loans in the Championship. Also factoring in the departures of Ishe Samuels-Smith to Chelsea and Gordon to Newcastle, they have made around £70m from academy graduates in Thelwell’s time at the club. They would not have wanted to lose all of those players, but PSR and the financial situation dictated that they had to make difficult decisions. After consultation with staff across all levels, Thelwell, Prosser and Darlington have produced a ‘game model’ to be implemented by every Everton side, with the aim of improving the pathway to the first team. There is a feeling strides have been taken, but an acceptance stocks will need to be replenished at academy level too if Everton are to compete again. It is a familiar picture across the board. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6134154/2025/02/14/kevin-thelwell-everton-future-transfers/

Now that a Sporting Director has been announced, next up should be a new manager. I thought I'd create a poll to see where our preferences lie. These are the managers with the shortest odds with the bookies. 'Ave at it! Multiple choices allowed.

For all their mistakes, the current board have kept the lights on. Fair enough to criticise what they got wrong but your tiresome tirades against them are just a demonstration of an ungrateful and entitled predisposition. Your simplistic vision for success is laughable and comes from Burnistoun. Just dae it better than they dae

How many injuries has he had

Style is my main criteria. Roughly: Gerrard - 4-3-2-1, defensive Mourinho - 4-2-3-1, park the bus (3-4-1-2 this season) Martin - 3-5-2/3-4-3, heavy possession Farke - 4-2-3-1, possession, gegenpress Ferguson - Vibes Dyche - 4-4-fackin'-2, Brexit ball Muscat - 4-2-3-1, high intensity pressing Rose - 4-3-1-2/4-2-2-2, verticality, intensity, red bull Benitez - 4-2-3-1, defensive Marsch-4-2-2-2, high intensity pressing, red bull

Some comments from Everton fans forum

Yeah, true indeed I suppose that wasn’t a good idea mentioning him 🤣 I just seen New York/ New Jersey and thought of Reyna. Amazing talent but your right he has had to many muscular problems and his last one putting him out for 8/9 months

A valid concern, but perhaps, for the first time, we may have owners who are willing to commit to the model for the medium term and not throw it away after 6 months, which will hopefully lead to big improvements throughout the club.

Maybe Nathan Patterson aswell on loan if his is fit.

You can vote more than once. So you can now make a serious vote.

'Brexit ball' 🤣🤣

Mostly blue with some red and white details. See you all next year.

I'll pass your feedback on...😀

It's as laughable and tiresome as your defence of the indefensible. They keep the lights on - but why? Not my impatience or "entitlement ", but their continued bad decisions. If they ran the club correctly and got the big decisions correct, they wouldn't have to "keep the lights on". They've crippled us. Tirades? Pointing out they have no clue on how to run a football club isn't a tirade, it's factual; look at our accounts, look at our footballing appointments and look at our lack of (domestic) success. It is as simple as just do it better than them. How else are we going to catch up with and overtake them?

Yep. Don’t vote.

No, we were / are left in such a state that the only option we have is someone buying us out. There have been previous tentative approaches that the board have not entertained so they haven't gotten far. The current board has crippled us financially. We can generate £95M but still require soft loans to see us complete season after season. The reason for this is NOT fan impatience, but continued bad business decisions. Without this, or another takeover, we'd continue to cost cut, make more bad decisions and drift aimlessly into obscurity. Now, I have never said that this takeover will cure all our ills, it may see is drift aimlessly into obscurity, only time will tell. However, even given the fact that the new owners will be looking for return on investment (that shouldn't come as a surprise to any fan), they look far more capable of returning us to the club we should be. Being simplistic again, all they have to do is look across the city at Celtic who have money in the bank and are hugely successful domestically. All we have too be is be better (in all aspects) than them. That takes the correct structure, ability to run a football (sporting) club, a winning team / mentality. Let's be honest, Celtic whilst dominating domestically aren't exactly a European Super Power. We're not attempting to better Real Madrid, Barcelona or Liverpool here. We've allowed them unchallenged access to CL money and they have a trading model that works. Being better than them isn't insurmountable, it's achievable if we make the right appointments and have the correct / structured backing. That won't come from the current board, so has to come from new owners / investors.

He's had an ankle issue, a hernia and a hamstring tear in the last 5 years but has played 36 times this season so hopefully any major issues are behind him.

Took less than 24 hours from the Sporting Director being announced for this poll to appear, I'm impressed at your restraint @Rousseau

Not sure if it would be of interest to anyone, but it would be interesting to see what their favoured formation and style is.

'Go to hell'. Great stuff.

I'd say we have few options given circumstances and there not being many who want the gig. The status quo was always going to change somewhat given major shareholders were looking to sell or have essentially been forced out (health/ pressure). However what was previously stated is that some of the current shareholders wanted to keep the club out of the hands of one 'outside' controlling interest. The reason being is that it could lead to an existential threat. Now it seems as though the prevailing will is to relinquish what was a controlling emotional stake. In the end, I don't think there was a choice as such. In essence, we are gambling once again. Fans are happy because it is back to frenzied speculation and hope. It is understandable after a lot of relative misery. To be clear. I am not saying that the new controlling interest is spiv like. However they come to make money from a business that has for about 3 decades lost money, year after year. A business that comes with very particular pressure in a very particular league. Let's wait and see what they have to say when the deal is done.

I voted for everyone bar BF - how unstaunch of me 😀 Out of that list, Muscat for me.

Big Sean’s a safer pair of hands second only to big Sam

This potentially raises an important question. The reason that the various projects/models have been tossed in the bin is because they weren't working and as I think you allude to, a lack of patience. This in large part, driven by the support. What happens if after 12 / 24 months of 51% new ownership, it isn't working (ie. still second)? _____________-------------_____________ How do 'modern methods' blend with the pressure and demands at a club like Rangers in Scottish fitbaw ? Only time will tell. If nothing else, it should be interesting.

Premiership and MLS clubs can pay big wages. Is this guy taking a pay cut to come here? Will we get value from whatever we are paying him? There is a risk that, perhaps while the sporting director role works for wealthy clubs, or continental clubs who have utilised this model for several decades and worked out the kinks, it may not work for us. We have tried it with Allen, Wilson and to a degree Koppen. I am still to see the value it creates. I get there will be an argument about structure, visions, club philosophy etc. In fact we have heard it for several years now. We have never managed to get it started. Youth system synergy with formations and systems, farming out players on loan, game models, player trading models. All these things remain a pipe dream, we look on across the globe at other clubs, some far smaller, in envy at their capabilities in these areas. I remain unconvinced that this is necessary to punch down on small fish we need to contend with most weeks.

Well let’s hope with this new ownership / franchise knows how too work out maths properly and knows about buying and selling players at the right time whilst also developing our youth system and buying young players who are going give us a profit and not losses when the time comes to make us profit. They have the loyal fan base so that side of things will never dip in value let’s just keep our out goings low while maximising the income for the club by making Shrewd decisions both on and off the pitch, we get rid of the rotten apples and not just feel grateful for the odd few million pounds hear and there I want us to get back to the glory years of a successfully run football club we all know has been missing for many years now! Plus on the upside of things I want one of those bear hats you can add water/ juice( Irn-Bru ) at half time as the emptying the water into those cups is ridiculous, plus time you gulp all the liquid in the paper cups as for fear of the arse falling away your away to the 🚾 missing ten minutes of the second half.

Now, now John.... It just won't do to be sceptical now that we are on the cusp of getting all the appointments and player trading right and reaching the promised land en breve. As some of the posters on here inform us, it is wonderfully straightforward. Just get stuff right and everything will fit into place. The Alchemist is coming.....

Its the smart move, however ruthless it seems. Farke probably wont mind, will get a nice promotion bonus, nice payoff and walk into another job with his stock still high.