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Everton director of football Steve Walsh facing the sack

Everton’s much lauded director of football is under pressure

Barnsley v Everton: Pre-Season Friendly

Everton’s director of football Steve Walsh could follow Ronald Koeman out of the exit door as the club consider a complete overhaul of their managerial structure.

The Times is reporting that Walsh’s position is “under review” as the fallout from Everton’s disastrous start to the season continues.

Walsh is believed to have had little input in the club’s hunt for a new manager beyond his initial recommendation of Sam Allardyce.

Then there is the question of Everton’s flawed transfer policy that saw in excess of £150m spent over the summer only to see the team get worse and fail to address key weaknesses in the squad.

Walsh joined Everton in July 2016 from Leicester, where he was their much-lauded chief scout.

Walsh is credited with finding players such as N’Golo Kante and Riyad Mahrez, who helped spearhead the Foxes’ title remarkable title victory.

The 52-year-old was supposed to spearhead Everton’s transfer strategy alongside Ronald Koeman, while also bringing in talented young players to bolster the academy.

However, somewhere along the line things have gone badly wrong.

Koeman stated in August that he wanted a striker and left-sided defender brought in before the deadline. None arrived.

That left the club shorn of Romelu Lukaku’s goals and without a replacement, while an ageing Leighton Baines is the only senior left-back in the squad (bar Luke Garbutt, who puzzlingly wasn’t even named in Everton’s Premier League squad).

While Koeman paid the price for poor performances on the pitch, Walsh has to take some responsibility for some critical failures in the transfer market.

With Farhad Moshiri allegedly “close” to appointing a new manager, it’s common sense that Walsh’s position is to be reviewed.

If Everton are to continue with the director of football model, would the new manager be happy to work with Walsh? Or should Everton scrap the position altogether?

All questions that are likely to be answered in the coming days (we hope) as the board seek to appoint the right man to steer the club away from danger.