Everton appoint academy Coach Educator, Kevin Nicholson

Interesting to know Danny's thoughts on whether this signals a significant uptick in how he perceives the Academy coaching to be conducted at Finch Farm going forward?

Dave, I can't see any sign that this is a move to displace David Unsworth. It seems like a new position as far as I can tell.

Why have we had to spend over £500 million on players, who have put us in an embarrassing position. Where are the academy stars? I don't see many. The sooner Kenwright and his cronies move on the better.

I'm quite sure you are correct. Thelwell established a similar post at NYCFC to align all the club's youth coaches into its preferred system. They also extended coaching support into the youth academies around the city in the form of a mentorship program for coach development.

I would not be surprised if he is also assessing the coaches for the DOF.

Add yet another manager who is allowed to bring in his style and players to suit and this initiative isn't worth a tin of fish.

Has Kevin Thelwell managed to delegate a large chunk of his role? Is Kev Nicholson going to be a full-time EFC employee or some sort of consultant (on inflated fees)? Jobs for the ‘Kevs'???

Good news: there will be no repeat of the club paying out half a billion on a dubious bunch of players in future because a sizeable chunk of that money will be going on dubious middle-management roles.

Or is this recognition that Brands actually had too much on his plate?

I hope the new Kevs are both super successful. If Mr Nicholson gets results at EFC, I will be reading anything he's published because trying to get a consistency of approach across shifts and diffuse teams is a frequent failing in the companies I've worked for (despite several of them loving consultants).

Let's see what initiatives are introduced and put in place and how receptive Billy's boys are to change.

I do have a slight concern that neither Kevin has played high-level pro football but let's hope brains win through.

Forgetting he is a lifelong Evertonian, I like that he has gone into coaching very early in life. Dare I say, what the successful German coaches tend to do (Rangnick, Tuchel, Nagelsmann - all in their 20s when they started out). He is qualified, but most impressive is that he has spread his wings to gain experience in many different leagues and countries, so will not be blinkered. Despite his age, he is not learning. He has learned and educated himself - it's not just about the certification.

What I am hopeful for most are 2 things that I continuously bang on about:

1. Work with the first team head coach and DoF to implement a system throughout the club. All teams from academy to first team play and are coached the same way to make transition up and down smoother. I see that as his job as "coach educator". Coach the coaches as much as the players. Put a stamp on the way the club (not just the first team) will play football.

2. Establish better links with local football. Sponsor teams, send coaches out into the community but in a meaningful football way, not charitable. Get Everton into the community, but in a footballing sense to tap into the talent I know is out there. Leave the kids in their natural environment until they are ready, but be part of it and help them develop.

I know it's too early to judge, but this feels right for those of us who want re-structuring from the bottom up. It feels different and right now, different is what we need, not more of the same. Dare I say, albeit a little late, the sign of the club finally establishing roots with a long term view in mind?

Yet the past 5 years, as you rightly have said, they have spent an absolute fortune, and how many can we say realistically, are or were valuable additions?

They don't necessarily need to actually head any department but are just DoF staff but not a footballing equivalent of "Time & Motion" people.

With regards to the DoF, we have one and this individual needs to work hand-in-glove with him. They both need to be empowered and free from interference from the obvious every time they get excited and go shopping.

Without looking, I can't recall the name of our DoF despite my advocating the role. Probably the best one in the game is 35 miles down the M62 and if we are to believe the rumours, will be available in the summer. Shame we didn't wait in my opinion as he wouldn't need to move house and has form in building clubs from the bottom up.

I like this appointment though. I offer no explanation or reason, it just feels good.

Probably just the first of maybe several of Kevin Thelwell's appointments. It does seem, as in most businesses, that new brooms work in different ways, but with the same overall objective, and like to bring in their own people which also helps to establish a hierarchy so that incumbents reshape their own noses.

Inconsistency of style and manager for the first team has been a real detriment over the last 5 years and was one of Brands failures (if it was within his power, as it should have been).

But for those whose short-term memory isn't working, we saw what happens when players are asked to play a style to which they are not suited with Tippy-Tappy Martinez.

A coach's or manager's job is to get the best out of the talent he has. If our players are super fit and pacey, a high pressing game suits. If they are slower but skilful, a tight passing game may be better. It may be that a particular age group hasn't got the correct physicality to play the same way as the first team.

What can be done at lower levels within the club is harmonise the coaching so that we identify talent and nurture it. We can also mould the squads to emulate the senior teams. But this won't happen overnight.

But longer-term, implement a system.

Look no further than across the park. I take no interest, but guarantee that all teams are coached the same and play a very similar system.

That took 3 or 4 years to realise the benefit. Not 3 or 4 months.

Maybe (just maybe) after years of irrational non-strategy, we are laying foundations. You don't build the roof first.

No wonder we constantly lose our younger talent to other clubs.

It's always a massive step up from U23s to first team. I trust the management team will manage his progression just as they have with Calvert-Lewin and now Anthony Gordon.

Just because a player succeeds in one position at youth level doesn't always translate to senior. It's why you end up with centre-backs who end up being forwards and vice-versa.

Personally, with Dobbin, I suspect initially we will use him as a wide attacking player in a front 3. But I also feel he could develop into a Number 10.

He is probably not going to lead the line like a traditional centre-forward.

In a more traditional set-up, he'd play wide of a more orthodox striker.

Right now, I don't think our style is sophisticated enough to get anything out of him – other than as an impact substitute.

Does make me wonder if Unsworth really has a job for life though.

Mick @22 may be remembering a crazy sequence of pre-season games last summer when Dobbin scored 10 goals, including 3 hat-tricks, and it seemed he was staking a claim to be included in the first-team. But he has not sustained that form for the U23s, with 7 goals in 21 starts... not bad stats but not enough to force Frank's hand, methinks.

He's been named as a first-team sub 9 times and got on the field in 5 of those games for the grand total of around 40 minutes, the most substantial being 28 minutes in the 1-1 draw at Chelsea. But since becoming our manager, Frank has only played him once and that was 4 minutes against Boreham Wood in the FA Cup.

Not interested in how many badges and certificates these coaches have, more important is have they got a football brain, too many coaches past and present at Finch Farm haven’t been up to the job but they do know the right people or to be honest the right person who still controls a lot of how the club operates.

It seems obvious he's been managed out without having anywhere to go. I hope he finds a decent gig and proves himself.

Again, in my opinion, he was never taking the Everton Academy to where I believe it can be. Like certain elements of our board, he comes from an era of under-achievement by the standards we expect. Quote Sir John Moores about our standards and expectations.

Let's all move on. Good luck to a very loyal Evertonian.

This won't sit comfortably with some, but I would wager Duncan could be next.

I read all this nonsense about a club having a certain identity, well let me simplify it there are only 2 identities – a winning one and a losing one.

The key to a winning identity is go and find the right players with the right identity, and sometimes you don't have to spend a fortune to achieve that, as Leicester have proved in winning both the Premier League and the FA Cup in recent seasons.

While it irks me to say it, you only have to look at our neighbours to see how to recruit the right type of players. They got Robertson for peanuts from relegated Hull, also got Matip on a free. Not to mention Jota, a decent player with Wolves but certainly nowhere near the player he is now, added to that financially Salah and Mane were both in Everton's price range when they were bought.

Even if we stay up, there is a long road ahead. I hope Moshiri stops listening to agents and lets his manager in conjunction with his coaches identify who to buy. But make sure the players are of the right mentality and not coming here for a well-paid easy life with little or no expectations of ever winning anything.

Playing Devils Advocate, this might be signaling that the club is about to change hands again, although as usual, this might just be wishful thinking on my part…

We are not aware of the actual responsibilities of roles between DoF, Academy Director, Academy coach educator and others roles but if this allows us to get a 'best in class' Academy that sounds good to me.

Hopefully we start producing and developing players good enough for the first team on a regular basis or that can be sold for a substantial value.

The role could involve improving the players and coaches physical and mental strengths.

It could, given his overseas roles to date, be a prelude to a global academy approach. Talent spotting and strengthening links with other clubs.

It could just be another HR role that ticks a box.

The next 3 to 5 years will hopefully show us some positive results that have come from this appointment.

This new academy appointment heralds a new era. I feel that we will hear more from the DoF, Mr Thelwell soon after the end of this season as - in the final run-in - there can be no distraction from the crucial challenges facing Frank and the first-team coaches in keeping us up.

Without doubt, Everton FC are a club in transition: we can only hope for further changes at board level in the close season, as it is clear that this is well overdue. The problem is that the board (such as they are) are effectively “marking their own homework” by overseeing the proposed restructure…. Mr Moshiri needs to take a “gloves off” approach?

Either a serious shake-up at senior level, or sell up.

I hope there’s going to be one on the Boardroom too! And not just additions.

Many of us hope it is soon – it is certainly overdue.