I think you're over analysing all this a tad. When Brands was brought in, it's a fairly safe assumption to say he was sold the 'dream', to work for a club with a CEO with money to commit and a 'top quality' manager who could attract and mould the right players. But instead he was saddled with Koeman, and then SIlva.
Arguably then, he didn't see the dream come true until Ancelotti arrived, and since then - and I agree fully with Dave on this - the game has changed and so has Brands role, but only to what he probably expected it to be in the first place.
To look back now and try to apportion blame or performance to Brands before then seems a little churlish - it was hardly his fault that we couldn't attract even remotely the kind of player we are now attracting. He focussed on his strengths in the up-and-coming-potential market, and I'd personally give him about a 7 out of 10 to date in that area.