Kevin Thelwell: Building something to believe in at Everton

Training Ground Guru Podcast

Our guest on Episode #58 of the TGG Podcast, in association with Hudl, is Everton Director of Football Kevin Thelwell.

Kevin tells Simon Austin about his role at the club, their four strategic pillars, his relationship with manager Sean Dyche and much more.

SHOW NOTES=>

01:50: Team going in the right direction.

02:44: Sporting Director role explained.

03:30: Why did Everton choose you?

04:20: Are your KPIs different to those of Marcel Brands? Huge spending to balancing the books.

07:37: Ambitions now. "Everyone wants to get Everton back to where we believe it belongs". Previously an inverse relationship between spending and improving team performance.

10:00: How did you put together the strategy? Staff working groups.

12:09: Four strategic pillars: who we are; how we play; how we support; staff development.

13:34: Learnings from previous role as Head of Sport at New York Red Bulls. "The clearer you are, the better you are and the easier it is."

14:27: Style of play. "They want to see this dogs of war piece but they also want to see this school of science bit they had in the 60s and 70s."

21:30: Is Sean Dyche the right person to develop this style? "If you look at Sean at Burnley, Sean at Everton, he has already evolved. The data tells us that, the naked eye tells us that." xG difference as the most important metric in identifying longer-term form of the team.

25:48: Style of play running through the teams, from seniors to Academy.

27:06: Was balance right between winning trophies at Academy level and developing players? Importance of loans. Example of Jarrad Branthwaite.

34:49: Recruitment - collaboration between Director of Football and manager.

38:25: Influence of the Data Insights department. Charlie Reeves. Dyche engaged. Review of team's progress using data every six to eight weeks.

42:38: Wider club challenges. Potential of 12-point deduction/ uncertainty over ownership.