Koeman's Legacy Will Damage Us For a Long Time

Steve Hogan 24/11/2017 38comments  |  Jump to last

It's always a little difficult to write without some emotion after witnessing first-hand the debacle at Goodison last night.

It was simply a shameful episode in Everton's history. Never have I witnessed so many players 'throwing the towel in' on a collective basis.

A much better, but limited, Atalanta team simply couldn't believe their luck that an English Premier league team with a large number of seasoned pros capitulated so readily.

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Sadly, much as I admire David Unsworth for his honesty and enthusiasm with the task he has to perform, I can never fathom why he threw an 18 year old right back into the fray so late in the game to replace the 'uninjured' Jonjo Kenny.

Consequently, Feeney was roasted by the left sided Atalanta player who probably thought it was Christmas and New Year rolled into one with the amount of space he was given.

I've always believed that the fortunes of any team, whatever division, are shaped by the manager. The buck really does stop with him. I believe history will show that Koeman was an absolute disaster for Everton, and that, conservatively, he's probably put the club back at least two years.

Moshiri's proclamation today, that 'an appointment' is close' is sadly, not too reassuring. Whoever comes in has to quickly assess a squad so badly underperforming, that even now, the futures of Williams and Klassen, have already been decided by the fan base.

One is overweight and simply too slow for the weekly rigours of the Premier League and displays an appalling attitude, and Klassen was simply a massive mistake on behalf of either Walsh or Koeman. I'm not sure we'll ever get to know who takes the blame for that one, but he is hopelessly out of touch in the Premier League, having long gone past the 'settling in' period. It's not the player's fault, though.

The new manager must come in and quickly decide on his best starting eleven, and try to undo the damage caused by Koeman whose team selection, tactics, and choice of players in the summer have left the squad totally unbalanced.

January will be crucial in terms of adding some real quality to the team, as well as the squad, but I fear Koeman's quite disastrous spell as our manager will be felt for a number of years to come.

We will see in the summer as we try and dispose of at least 6-8 players who have flopped disastrously but will probably linger, happy to stay on the lucrative salaries they earn, as it will make it difficult for other clubs to match or improve their employment terms.

Also, my guess is the club will take a massive hit on transfer fees when they try and offload. Anyone think Ajax will pay anything like the £25m we gave them for their captain?

Thanks, Ronald. Enjoy your 'pay-off' in sunny Portugal.

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Reader Comments (38)

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Dennis Stevens
1 Posted 25/11/2017 at 18:05:52
Really? Yet another who "can never fathom why he threw an 18 year old right back into the fray so late in the game to replace the 'uninjured' Jonjo Kenny"?

Surely this is quite straight-forward. Unsworth obviously wished to save Kenny for the far more important League match away to Southampton on Sunday. Unsworth may also have wanted to give Feeney a chance to show whether he can yet step up to this level, seeing as he's probably desperate for additional defensive cover due to the dreadful performances we've seen from many of our experienced defenders. Unsworth cannot buy or recall players so he has to make use of the current squad & the youngsters.

Andy Walker
2 Posted 25/11/2017 at 19:28:37
I think it’s naive to blame the state of out club on one man and only one man. In fact I’d go further, it’s dangerously delusional. Koeman needs to take some of the blame but a whole lot of others within the club will also be responsible to some degree.

Way to simplistic and easy to blame one man. I hope the Board don’t take this view as we will really be up shit creek if they do.

Steve Hogan
3 Posted 25/11/2017 at 19:40:02
Andy (2)

Do you really think Koeman should only take 'some of the blame'?

Who then selected the team each week, laid down the 'pedestrian' type tactics, continually played player's out of position, spectacularly fell out with Barkley in the public domain, and pursued Sigurdsson for months at the expense of other key areas in the team?

We know the antics of bullshit Billy, he's been around for years, but this manager has had the biggest summer budget of any Everton manager in our history.

I think your letting him off lightly saying he's only to take 'some of the blame'.

David Barks
4 Posted 25/11/2017 at 20:04:56
Steve,

Do you think Koeman wanted to sell Lukaku and not replace him? Was that his master plan? Do you not think Walsh is also to blame for the failed summer window? If not, then can you please explain to me what Walsh’s role at the club is? Because if everything from transfers, both outgoing and incoming, to coaching was Koeman, then Walsh must have terrible arthritis from playing all that solitaire on his computer all day.

The rot starts at the top and works it’s way all the way down. Why would you think that everything is 100% down to one man? Hell, if they was even remotely possible, that the owners gave one single person complete control to destroy the club, then by rule they shoulder the blame for making that decision!!!

Andy Walker
5 Posted 25/11/2017 at 20:12:41
Steve, I don't think Koeman is solely to blame, which this article asserts. That’s all.
Mike Allen
6 Posted 25/11/2017 at 20:15:27
Koeman and Walsh were responsible for the state of the playing staff. Unsworth can take some credit for taking on and trying to sort out this mess.

Whatever has gone on with these two they have certainly put the club in an unstable mess.
Steve Hogan
7 Posted 25/11/2017 at 20:18:58
Andy, sure 'others' may have played their part, but because we don't know how much of a role Walsh played, it's pure speculation, but the buck stops with the team manager surely?
Steve Ferns
8 Posted 25/11/2017 at 20:28:16
Koeman in early September on the lack of Striker:

“But OK, we try. We brought some good young players. If we get development of young players, the team will be stronger. We need ­productivity. We lost 25 goals – that’s a lot.

“We need to find that between a number of players and that is ­difficult.” Koeman was thought to be strongly in the ­running to sign Olivier Giroud from ­Arsenal, but that deal stalled because of doubts over the position of Alexis Sanchez.

The Dutchman revealed he was convinced he’d get his No.1 choice at centre-­forward and, when those hopes were destroyed, his back-up plan was also dashed because of the crazy fees being demanded in the final days of the window.

“I thought we had got our option one,” he said. “I don’t mention names, because it is not my job to do names, but I was really ­disappointed about that option one, because ­everybody thought we had him.

“You need to understand you have option two and three, and the right price for the right player is also where we have to look.

"Then it is always a problem if you go for your option three or option four or option five.

“At that time the players were not available to make this team stronger.

"The amount of money over the last transfer window that everybody is asking for players is also a reason not to do the business."

“Sometimes, if you are interested in a player and you know what they ask for that player, it is ridiculous.”

Now Koeman has been left with young England prospect ­Dominic Calvert-Lewin (top left) and Spanish Under-21 ­sensation Sandro ­Ramirez (bottom left) to take the burden up front. He believes with the help of older stars, such as Wayne Rooney, they can thrive, starting with ­today’s visit of Spurs.

“We will give more opportunities to the strikers we have in the team,” he added. “But we have to ­understand ­Ramirez is 22 and Dominic is 20 – it’s Premier League, not junior football, and they need time to adapt and improve.

“It is important for them to have older players they can learn from. You cannot ­expect Ramirez to ­already be that striker. He needs time.”

How much clearer does Koeman need to make it that he turned his nose up at the guys lower down the list and went with what he had? And Yet people still want to blame others. It is all Koeman's fault.

David Barks
9 Posted 25/11/2017 at 20:42:51
Steve,

Funny, I thought the exact opposite as you after reading his quotes. To me he was saying the club failed to land the top targets, and then there was concern about wasting money on inferior options. Koeman didn't control the money.

That sounded a lot more like a manager saying people failed to get him the players he expected and now we are going to have to make due with young players that will struggle at first and need time.

Steve Ferns
10 Posted 25/11/2017 at 20:49:16
The biggest thing, and to paraphrase all the criticism I have put of Koeman on other threads, is that Koeman changed everything.

Last season he finished the season playing mostly with this side:

Robles
Holgate Jagielka Williams Baines
Gueye Davies Schneiderlin
Barkley Lukaku Mirallas

It was 433. It had pace in pressing from Davies and Gueye. Barkley and Mirallas drifting inside off the wings but also giving width. There was a decent tempo and a more direct stlye of passing.

What then happened is he signed a team to play like this:

Pickford
Martina Keane Williams Baines
Gueye Schneiderlin
Klaassen Sigurdsson Sandro
Rooney

The tempo dropped, the pressing stopped, the fitness levels dropped, the passing became shorter and the style more possession based. The players stuck less to their position and everyone got very, very confused.

He tried to change too much and he tried to change it too quickly, when he had no time to do it, with early Europa League games and Sigurdsson came in very late.

Steve Ferns
11 Posted 25/11/2017 at 20:52:55
David, Koeman said he failed to land option one, who we all knew is Giroud. Ad fair enough he was in the building and was all but signed and Mrs Giroud pulled the plug. We didn't get option 2 or 3, because they wouldn't come. So no one's fault. But he decided not to go with options 4, 5, or 6.

Who were options 4, 5 or 6? We don't know. But surely we should have got someone in, just so we weren't in this mess. This shows that Koeman refused to sign them, not Walsh.

David Barks
12 Posted 25/11/2017 at 20:59:18
Steve,

Actually Koeman has always said he doesn’t do the transfers.

"I have always kept well away from transfer negotiations and money.
As a coach I will point out the player I want and as soon as the money side comes up with the player, I will leave the room.”

“I don’t think I should be there with agents or players to discuss that.”

"Of course the club informs me about the salaries of the players and they also ask me if a player should get a new contract or not. But that is it.”

"Football coaches should be doing their work on the training ground and the touch line.”

Steve Ferns
13 Posted 25/11/2017 at 21:12:21
Yes, David. He will leave the room. But he's already in there. He's involved right up to the money part.

All the transfers were done under his direction and no one was signed for the first team without his authorisation. The buck stops with Koeman and he is responsible for this sorry mess.

He only wanted a DoF so he could distance himself from the hard work of the process and accountability of being responsible for the transfers. If Walsh gives him 6 targets and he only wants a couple, then that's on him.

David Barks
14 Posted 25/11/2017 at 21:19:18
But that’s not what he said Steve. You’re implying that, but he said repeatedly that he sees his job as a coach and transfers are left to others. He would give his opinion, but he did not run that side of the business.

He points out players he wants, as he said, but it’s uo to others to make the money work. I think that when you look at the fact that had Barkley not refused the transfer at the last minute and Niasse’s trandfer not falling through due to agents fees, we would have ended up with a negative net spend this summer, it’s clear that those at the top are still controlling the purse. They simply didn’t want to spend the money required on those options lower down the list.

David Barks
15 Posted 25/11/2017 at 21:27:14
And I think you can see that those overseeing this ridiculously drawn out search for a new manager are following the same script as or summer transfers. Koeman is gone, but the script is the same. And it was the same before Koeman. Guess what the constant is there? A hint, the initials are BK.
Steve Hogan
16 Posted 25/11/2017 at 21:53:51
David (#15),

I think what Steve is saying is that Koeman was nobody's fool, if he didn't want a particular player, do you think he would have rolled over and caved in? I think not.

Tell me, how do you account for the dreadful playing style over the first nine week's of the season, constantly not having a clue about his best starting line-up, his obsession with trying to cram as many No 10s into the team as he could.

Honestly in the end, he did not have a baldy clue,the fans knew it, and the player's certainly knew it.

Why bring other's into the equation? I think you'll find your in the minority of Everton fans who believe that the majority of the blame doesn't lie with the manager.

Chad Schofield
17 Posted 25/11/2017 at 21:59:21
I agree with the article, my fear is that we're unlikely to attract much in Jan.

The prospect of relegation is there, but it's slight... However the chances of getting into Europe are even tighter. The knock on will be unless we have some kind of managerial super coup, and Man City style splurge, we will be several years back.

Steve Ferns
18 Posted 25/11/2017 at 22:04:42
Yep. If it was up to walsh we’d have got another striker. It wasn’t it was up to Koeman. But, whether he’d be good enough is a different question.

We might not land a marque signing in January. But there’s strikers out there, abroad on the continent, in South America. Let’s see if Walsh can deliver what he was brought in to do.

Tom Dodds
20 Posted 25/11/2017 at 22:53:36
So, so right, Steve. Just simply Shafted by an arrogant Dutch de Boer mercenary no-one really to blame all-in-all, but it does sum up in so many ways (including the fat shyster supreme Kenwright) that since 2001 we have been picking out constant rattlesnakes in lucky dips from then on in.

We truly need a saviour,and sad to say most of the fans know it wont come from the ranks of the mega-disscustingly overly paid players is a fuckin' given.

Whatever happened to the heroes indeed.

Tom Dodds
21 Posted 25/11/2017 at 23:01:00
Addendum to previous post (Re Kenwright):

I feel akin to Phill Oakes waiting for the impeachment of Nixon.

Stan Schofield
22 Posted 25/11/2017 at 23:41:22
We've been mid-to-high in the table (with the occasional skirmish near the bottom) for well over a decade, we're trying to improve on that (or I think that's what Moshiri wants), we hired Koeman to help, but it didn't work out as hoped. So we'll try again. That's how it goes.

Unless there's a really massive influx of finances (from the likes of Usmanov or similar mega billionaire, as opposed to the normal everyday billionaire like Moshiri), we're likely to remain mid-to-high in the table (with the occasional skirmish near the bottom) for the foreseeable future.

In other words, it's likely to continue as business as usual, which is disappointing but not disastrous.

James Byrne
23 Posted 26/11/2017 at 02:11:35
All of these issues we are seeing now started when David Moyes left the club. We were never going to win the league or maybe silverware with Moyes but he had nearly all departments on the pitch well organized, fit and with some depth. With exception to a strikers role. It's a shame Moyes never had the big money when he was with us.

Martinez caused damage beyond belief and Koeman has come into a club that was already a mess on and off the pitch.

Jay Harris
24 Posted 26/11/2017 at 05:09:31
Anyone who thinks this is all down to Koeman and no-one else has got a massive pair of blinkers on.

To my mind it starts at the top and if Boys Pen Bill and Moshiri can't agree and have a Mexican stand off what chance have the underlings got.

Ask yourself why it took so long to get Sigurdsson and why we were haggling over a few million and whose DNA was all over that one.

Ask yourself what club would have taken Rooney on £150k a week in his condition.

Ask yourself why Koeman was telling everyone that we needed defensive cover, a left winger and a quality CF right up until the deadline and then spat his dummy out and went to play golf when he realised all the promises amounted to jack shit.

Now I'm not condoning Koeman for him taking his bat and ball home but Moshiri, Kenwright and Walsh got a free pass on a disastrous transfer program that has come back to haunt us and even though Koeman's been gone 6 weeks nobody can fix it.

Bob Parrington
25 Posted 26/11/2017 at 07:05:57
Jay. You're right. "The Buck stops here!" As long as the board is providing the management team with the right funding and measurement sticks, it's the CEO and his team of "professionals" that should make things happen.

If things are not going well, the first person to go in front of the board is the CEO so perhaps Elstone should go, as well!

Nigel Gregson
26 Posted 26/11/2017 at 09:16:47
Right, I'm done with all these – "It's not Koeman, it's the whole club's fault" nonsense.

Fact 1: Koeman got to spend the most cash among all our managers in the Premier League era.

Fact 2: Despite this, we have a massively imbalanced squad that can very realistically be relegated.

Fact 3: Past managers also went through management constraints, but delivered results on much tighter budgets.

This is incompetence and unprofessionalism of the highest order. He really has no excuses and the original article's assertion is very correct. If we actually get relegated due to this idiot, we'll be set back up-to 5 years.

Phil Walling
28 Posted 26/11/2017 at 10:36:13
The playing staff at EFC are now in two groups. The first is the experienced guys new and older who are over the top or ,at the very least, incapable of being motivated by whosoever is manager at the moment.

The second is a pack of promising youngsters who find themselves 'in bad company' and in no time flat will be following 95% of their peers to Brum, Blackburn or Brentford!

The combination of Moshiri and Kenwright is toxic and will do for Everton for sure.

Phil Walling
29 Posted 26/11/2017 at 10:39:15
Nigel. Who chose 'this idiot'? He for sure didn't appoint himself!
Ajay Gopal
30 Posted 26/11/2017 at 11:41:24
For me, Koeman's worst legacy is his treatment of a few players - Niasse, Barkley, Deulofeu, and the massive amounts of money that he wasted on players like Schneiderlin, Bolasie (I know, injured, and hopefully will come good), Williams, Lookman, Sigurdsson, Klaassen, Keane, Stekelenburg and Martina on 3 years deals.

The jury is out on Pickford and Sandro, and I hope that the rest of them also come good eventually, but he overpaid for these players.

Kevin Tully
31 Posted 26/11/2017 at 12:08:42
Quite simply, there is one man at Everton football Club who must wake up every morning, look in the mirror, and say to himself "You lucky, lucky man."

Robert Elstone is the CEO of Everton Football Club. What exactly does he do? He is meant to be the man who steers the ship. As far as I can see, he is a glorified PR officer.

Would he be tolerated at any other big club? Absolutely not. The whole club needs restructuring before we can move forward. You do not keep a failed regime in place when you have the chance to modernise and inject capital.

Kenwright and his backers are Machiavellian, egotistical goons. None of it is doing this club any favours. The sooner their desks are cleared the better. Everyone can move on from this circus. The fact that Rooney's chavvy tart is headline news regarding Everton sums up our current plight. Fucking sick of it.

Nigel Gregson
32 Posted 26/11/2017 at 12:58:38
Phil - 29 : Indeed and Moshiri got it wrong. I'm not a fan, but to his credit he cut Koeman pretty quickly too.
Sean Patton
33 Posted 26/11/2017 at 15:38:33
The worst manager in Everton history and it's not even close.
Nigel Gregson
34 Posted 26/11/2017 at 15:40:16
And the rot continues. Can't string 3 passes together, defense too scared to tackle or jump. Koeman's 150 million legacy shining brightly as ever. Oh and why is Steve Walsh still in a job ?
John G Davies
35 Posted 26/11/2017 at 15:48:24
Rooney's chavvy tart."

Let yourself down there Kevin.

,"Rooneys chavvy tart"

Let yourself down there Kevin.

,,,1,15:48:17,,213.205.252.164,ok,19648,11/26/2017 15:48:17,JohnDavies,reader,, 874887,35854,toffeeweb,26/11/2017,Mark Morrissey,karen3927@sky.com,"All rather sad seeing Joe Royle leaning over David Unsworth in the dugout offering him some wise old words no doubt but it's truly embarrassing. It undermines Unsworth but worse than that, it's indicative of where are as a club. Can you imagine Kenny Dalglish running down to have words with Klopp or Bobby Charlton climbing over the seats to get to Mourinho?

We are doomed. It is clear when you see Bill not sat alongside Moshiri that all is not well with the club.

Worst season I've ever had the pleasure of supporting Everton. I feel more sorry for those of us who never got to see the Everton of old and witnessed our better days.

I am truly worried to see who Moshiri brings in because it seems there is discord between him and Bill. I may be wrong but the body language from our group in the stands today suggests they are not joined at the hip like they ought to be. Worrying times for sure.

A good effort from a few today but they are living on their nerves.

Mark Berry
36 Posted 26/11/2017 at 15:52:27
Sunderland won yesterday, away, right... just sayin'.
Jerome Shields
37 Posted 26/11/2017 at 16:20:32
Totally agree with your analysis. The next Manager appointment is important for Everton's long-term future and survival.
Peter Gorman
38 Posted 26/11/2017 at 23:18:54
"Football coaches should be doing their work on the training ground and the touch line.”

Ok then, if Koeman limited himself to that I hope he goes and hangs himself for producing a side that can not even do the basics.

This is almost entirely his mess. The rest of the blame is shouldered by the board of dicks who appointed him and the players themselves. Pathetic specimens.

The only person I can not bring myself to blame is Unsy. He has been handed an impossible task. The next manager needs to buy wholesale and we can hope they gel in time enough for us to stave off relegation but there are some players at the club who do not deserve another game.

Dave Ganley
39 Posted 27/11/2017 at 16:34:31
Agree to an extent Steve however the rot started the minute Kenwright hired Martinez. We lost all the fight, fitness, team spirit and ability to win tight games when Martinez came in.

Everton's stock was quite high when Moyes left and we ended up with a manager that just got his club relegated in fine style. Everyone connected with Wigan warned us what would happen and it panned out exactly as they said. Koeman just carried it on. We are now left with an utter shambles,a team full of overpaid pampered players who cave in at the slightest opportunity.

Yes Koeman deserves a share of the blame but the real blame lies with Kenwright and Martinez for starting this mess that we find ourselves in now. Kenwright should never make another decision again for our club. A disgrace.

Nigel Gregson
40 Posted 29/11/2017 at 04:12:34
Dave 5th place and highest PL points doesnt' sound quite as rotten. The rot actually started in the second season of Martinez when we failed to replace several aging players that needed replacing and spent the entire kitty on Lukaku (which btw was a great investment).

That was the season when we needed to spend 150m to get rid of Distin, Howard and plant the seeds to replace Jags, Baines, Barry, Osman, Gibson in the long term.


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