Marcel Brands' allies 'QUIT Everton' days after his resignation
Marcel Brands’ Everton allies ‘QUIT the club as head of recruitment Gretar Steinsson and scouting manager Dan Purdy follow Dutchman out of Goodison Park exit’ days after he resigned as director of football
- More higher-ups at Everton have reportedly left their roles on Friday morning
- Head of recruitment Gretar Steinsson and scouting manager Dan Purdy quit
- The duo stepped away from their roles in light of Marcel Brands’ departure
- Both were said to have been closely associated with Brands at Goodison Park
There were reportedly more high-profile exits from Everton on Friday after head of recruitment and development, Gretar Steinsson, and scouting manager Dan Purdy both left their roles following Marcel Brands’ departure.
Brands, who was Everton’s director of football since 2018 and signed a three-year contract extension in June, walked away from his £2million-a-season role days after he had been confronted by an angry fan after the Merseyside derby. He spent Sunday in talks negotiating his severance.
This has prompted a further upheaval behind the scenes at Goodison Park, which has seen Brands’ allies in Steinsson and Purdy follow him out of the exit, according to The Athletic.
Everton’s head of recruitment Gretar Steinsson has reportedly left the club on Friday
Former Bolton defender Steinsson was brought to the Premier League club by Brands in 2018, having joined initially as chief European scout.
The Icelandic was then promoted to his role as head of recruitment and development a year later.
Purdy, meanwhile, arrived at the Merseyside club a year later, working up from his role as a performance analyst before going on to become manager of scouting and operations later that year.
The Athletic claim the pair were both closely associated internally with Brands, with the Dutchman’s resignation prompting their departures.
Brands’ exit came after losing a power struggle with Toffees boss Rafa Benitez, with owner Farhad Moshiri backing the Spaniard in his role as manager.
It comes days after Marcel Brands stepped down as the club’s director of football
Brands was tasked with finding Carlo Ancelotti’s replacement earlier this year when the Italian left to re-join Real Madrid and did not recommend Benitez.
Moshiri is adamant Benitez must be given time to put his stamp on the club and publicly stated so last week. He understands it will take time.
But this development is an even greater example of how much faith is being placed in Everton’s manager, who will be consulted by Moshiri when the club begin the process of appointing a new director of football.
A club statement read: ‘Everton Football Club can confirm that Marcel Brands has left his post as Director of Football.
‘Brands joined Everton from PSV Eindhoven in June 2018 and was appointed to the Club’s Board in 2019.
‘The Owner and Directors would like to thank Marcel for the service he has given to the Club over the past three and a half years and wish him well for his future.
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‘A strategic review of the football structure will now take place which will inform the best model for the Club to proceed with in the long-term.
‘In the meantime, the Owner and Board of Directors will continue to provide our manager, Rafa Benitez, with their full support.’
The Dutchman was the target of abuse in the stands at Goodison Park in midweek after the loss to Liverpool.
On leaving the stadium, one fan shouted: ‘Get out of this club? S***, absolutely s***.’ Brands then reached the supporter, who asked him: ‘Did you recruit [the players]?’.
Brands appeared to reply: ‘Is it only the players [who are to blame]?’, to which the fan responded: ‘No, it’s everyone. It’s the board…’ before Brands walked out, with the supporter saying: ‘It’s crap.’
More furious supporters vented their anger at the board against Liverpool, calling for them to be sacked, while many others left early during their worst home Merseyside derby defeat in 39 years.
Benitez will be consulted by Moshiri when the club begin the process of hiring a replacement
The decision to replace Steve Walsh with Brands was seen by many as an ambitious move by a club that had spent an eye-watering amount in the last two years under Moshiri.
However, despite arriving at Goodison Park having overseen three Eredivisie titles in four seasons at PSV, Brands couldn’t engineer the same success in England.
In a statement, Brands added: ‘On Friday, following a personal conversation with the Chairman and my fellow Board members, we agreed that I would step down from my post as Director of Football and as a member of the Everton Football Club Board.
‘This decision has taken some time and some consideration and was one of the most difficult I have faced in my career.
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‘The Board and I agreed that there is a clear difference in the vision and direction for this beautiful club and, with that in mind, the decision was taken.
‘I want to thank everyone in the Club who I have worked closely with over the last three and a half years. There are a lot of talented people at Everton with huge passion and commitment to move the Club forward, both on and off the pitch.
‘I want to wish all of the squad every success, and I am convinced that there is enough quality to improve the current situation quickly.
‘It has been an honour for me to work at this fantastic club and I wish everyone associated with Everton the very best for the future.’
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