Everton boss Koeman insists he's happy with Steve Walsh relationshipKoeman has no problems with director of football while McCarthy is staying putRonald Koeman has insisted his working relationship with Steve Walsh is a happy one.
The Everton manager's angry comments following the Blues FA Cup exit to Leicester City last weekend were perceived as being partially aimed at his director of football and the club’s board, but he denied that there are any strains.
Koeman's demand for progress with the club's transfer activity has since been met, with Morgan Schneiderlin's £20m transfer sealed yesterday.
And asked whether he was comfortable working alongside Walsh, Koeman said: “Yes but I know the business, it’s not that you put a bid in for a player and then you get the player.
“Sometimes it is difficult and sometimes it is about money, and I mentioned I am not the man who will decide about transfers, on the technical side.
“I will do my job with Steve Walsh and we will do the best for Everton, we will try to find the right player for Everton and the strongest squad we will have. And finally it is money and it is not my decision.
“I am really happy with the way it is working with Steve, because we have daily contact we speak about the team and we speak about players and he is reorganising the scouting and I am on a very good line with him.”
Speaking in his pre-match Press Conference for the Manchester City game, Koeman declared that were still Everton players who know they have no future at the club.
But when asked about James McCarthy, who was strongly linked with a Goodison exit last summer, he stressed that the Republic of Ireland international would be staying put this month.
Despite bringing in Morgan Schneiderlin, Koeman has allowed another midfielder Tom Cleverley to join Watford on loan with a view to a permanent move while Idrissa Gueye has gone to the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal.
The Blues boss said: “There’s no chance James will leave in January – I don’t know about interest for him.
“After the summer yes, but not now because the player has shown what I like – he has shown his quality and now it is important for this player to get some long time fitness and not be disrupted by injuries.”
Koeman was relieved to have finally been reunited with Schneiderlin who he managed at Southampton but while he had been tracking the Frenchman’s progress at Manchester United he insisted that such behaviour is normal with all of his old players and does not mean that he is going to sign them all.
Asked whether he was frustrated over the amount of time it took to sign Schneiderlin, Koeman said: “Sometimes yes, because the interest was already there four weeks ago and maybe already in October when I had contact with him.
Jose Fonte
“Last season I also had contact. I have contact with most of the Southampton players – I am still in contact with Jose Fonte but that doesn’t mean I will sign Fonte.
“You keep the relationships, not with everybody, but what I like for them is that they are successful and playing every weekend, and ok if they come then I will find a solution, but it is not possible for everybody.
“Always the relationship helps of course, because he had other offers from different clubs but he wanted to come to Everton because he likes the club, knows about the project and knows the manager.”
Koeman acknowledges that the FA Cup exit to Leicester at the first hurdle was a blow to the development of Everton’s project but hopes that the Blues signings, both in the current transfer window and the next one, will help shape the team more to one both he and the fans can identify with.
He said: “The disappointment against Leicester was about the result.
“We dominated and lost it in 10 minutes but I knew what we needed to change and that made me more sure about what we needed to change and what decisions we need to take.
“Of course if you come in a new situation as a manager, you start the season and we did with some good signings, little by little during that season you see what you don’t like and what you need to change.
“That is not done in two weeks, it takes more time and finally after the summer it will really be my team, and a team the fans will like. We will be ready then to take the next step.”
Koeman hasn’t been shy when it comes to highlighting the shortcomings of some of his players this season but he remains unconcerned about the spotlight being shone more brightly in his own direction once the squad takes shape with more of his own personnel.
He said: “Part of my job is that ultimately the responsibility is always with the manager and that’s normal – I don’t care.
“What I like is to bring the best team for the fans, and if we have that then we need to perform and we need success, but that is what I like and what I have had all my life in football.
“As a player and a coach most of the time I have been working in clubs trying to win titles, and that is no different now.”
Liv Echo
