blueblueday
Player Valuation: £2.5m
This is what we know about the Thelwell dude:
In 1998 he became one of the youngest coaches to successfully complete the FA/UEFA Advanced Licence at 25 years of age. He also holds the FAW/UEFA Advanced Licence and UEFA Pro Licence.
In the summer of 2005, Thelwell was appointed by Billy Davies as Director of Youth at Preston North End and in his first season saw his youth team win the Football League Youth Alliance National Cup.
At the beginning of the 2006–07 season, Davies left Preston to become manager of Derby County and made Thelwell his first appointment as Academy Manager, becoming the youngest academy manager in the country, aged 32.
He combined this academy role with that of acting first-team coach, helping the club win promotion to the Premier League in his first season via the playoffs.
In April 2008 he left Derby County and was appointed academy manager at Wolverhampton Wanderers, replacing Chris Evans.
Thelwell is also the author of several coaching books including "Coaching the European 3-5-2".
He was at the Wolves for 12 years. His chairman's parting words were, “Kevin has excelled in his role and has helped us build exceptional teams throughout Compton, in the academy, recruitment, medical, and analysis departments."
It was 'Thelwell' who oversaw the club’s recruitment drive from January 2013 onwards, leading the rebuild alongside Kenny Jackett after Wolves were relegated to League One. But it wasn’t until Fosun’s takeover in 2016 that Thelwell’s work started to draw national attention. He was instantly named sporting director as the club switched to a more modern footballing model.
He started out by rebuilding an under performing academy and succeeded in achieving category one status in 2012, shortly before he was elevated up the club’s hierarchy to become a board member.
However, with Shi and Nuno Espirito Santo working in tandem, and being advised by the agent Jorge Mendes, for much of the Fosun era, Thelwell’s transfer recommendations were often overlooked.
Thelwell was promoted to the board of directors in 2019, suggesting owners Fosun were more than happy with his work. He took up a lucrative position at New York Red Bulls and was touted for a move to Newcastle United before we came along to snatch him up.
It's clear to me the guy must've known what he was doing as he has enjoyed a very good level of success in his career so far, well up until Everton that is! The bit that interests me however is what I've put in bold. It seems quite a few of his player recommendations were ignored at Wolves. My question is why? Does this mean he was exceptional at some things but so good at others, such as identifying decent players?
Therefore my question would be how much power had he been given at Everton? How many of the current crop of player transfers were down to him? Was he ignored, like at Wolves or did we follow his recommendations which resulted in the likes of Maupay being signed?
We know for instance the pull of a manager has a massive effect on who you can attract. Look at Danjuma for instance. He wanted to come to Everton because of Lampard. Onana was the same. Is Thelwell the demon we paint him to be just as his predecessor was or is it the people he works for causing all the damage? Or is it a mixture of both? I just don't know, It's frustrating for sure.
In 1998 he became one of the youngest coaches to successfully complete the FA/UEFA Advanced Licence at 25 years of age. He also holds the FAW/UEFA Advanced Licence and UEFA Pro Licence.
In the summer of 2005, Thelwell was appointed by Billy Davies as Director of Youth at Preston North End and in his first season saw his youth team win the Football League Youth Alliance National Cup.
At the beginning of the 2006–07 season, Davies left Preston to become manager of Derby County and made Thelwell his first appointment as Academy Manager, becoming the youngest academy manager in the country, aged 32.
He combined this academy role with that of acting first-team coach, helping the club win promotion to the Premier League in his first season via the playoffs.
In April 2008 he left Derby County and was appointed academy manager at Wolverhampton Wanderers, replacing Chris Evans.
Thelwell is also the author of several coaching books including "Coaching the European 3-5-2".
He was at the Wolves for 12 years. His chairman's parting words were, “Kevin has excelled in his role and has helped us build exceptional teams throughout Compton, in the academy, recruitment, medical, and analysis departments."
It was 'Thelwell' who oversaw the club’s recruitment drive from January 2013 onwards, leading the rebuild alongside Kenny Jackett after Wolves were relegated to League One. But it wasn’t until Fosun’s takeover in 2016 that Thelwell’s work started to draw national attention. He was instantly named sporting director as the club switched to a more modern footballing model.
He started out by rebuilding an under performing academy and succeeded in achieving category one status in 2012, shortly before he was elevated up the club’s hierarchy to become a board member.
However, with Shi and Nuno Espirito Santo working in tandem, and being advised by the agent Jorge Mendes, for much of the Fosun era, Thelwell’s transfer recommendations were often overlooked.
Thelwell was promoted to the board of directors in 2019, suggesting owners Fosun were more than happy with his work. He took up a lucrative position at New York Red Bulls and was touted for a move to Newcastle United before we came along to snatch him up.
It's clear to me the guy must've known what he was doing as he has enjoyed a very good level of success in his career so far, well up until Everton that is! The bit that interests me however is what I've put in bold. It seems quite a few of his player recommendations were ignored at Wolves. My question is why? Does this mean he was exceptional at some things but so good at others, such as identifying decent players?
Therefore my question would be how much power had he been given at Everton? How many of the current crop of player transfers were down to him? Was he ignored, like at Wolves or did we follow his recommendations which resulted in the likes of Maupay being signed?
We know for instance the pull of a manager has a massive effect on who you can attract. Look at Danjuma for instance. He wanted to come to Everton because of Lampard. Onana was the same. Is Thelwell the demon we paint him to be just as his predecessor was or is it the people he works for causing all the damage? Or is it a mixture of both? I just don't know, It's frustrating for sure.
