CRUMBLY TOFFEES

Walsh under fire as Everton woe deepens

RONALD KOEMAN is not the only one under pressure after Everton’s bad start to the season.

Questions are also being asked about the club’s director of football Steve Walsh, who is in charge of recruitment.

Everton splashed out almost

£150million in the summer transfer window but they are nearer the bottom three than the top four.

And Goodison fans have been bemused by a transfer strategy that saw the signing of three players for the No.10 role – Gylfi Sigurdsson, Wayne Rooney and Davy Klaassen, the latter very much being a Koeman buy.

Some already believed the club had the perfect player for the role in Ross Barkley,

23, even though he is injured and unsettled at Goodison.

Another sizeable bone of contention was the fact there was no high-profile replacement for Romelu Lukaku, sold to Manchester United for an initial £75m.

In all, the Merseyside club recouped £94.25m in sales but Evertonians are questioning the overall transfer policy.

As former Liverpool ace and Sky TV pundit Jamie Redknapp said last week: “Whoever is responsible for Everton’s recruitment has betrayed the traditions of the club by failing to buy a striker.

“Their muddled recruitment has left them with no balance.”

It is also believed that Everton boss Koeman and Walsh, who made a name for himself during a very successful period with Leicester, do not have a close relationship.

There is a feeling that at least some of the recruits Walsh (below) brought in were for the future rather than now.

All this comes at a time of growing uncertainty at Goodison Park.

Former Watford boss Walter Mazzarri has been linked with Koeman’s job but that has not gone down well with Everton supporters.

And billionaire Alisher Usmanov has been touted as a potential investor in the club.

That has been received more warmly on the blue half of Liverpool, because of the Russian’s vast wealth.

It has been suggested that Usmanov could sell his 30 per cent stake in Arsenal after failing to gain control there.

If that does happen then he could join Farhad Moshiri at Goodison.

The Iranian sold his shares in the Gunners before taking a 49.9 per cent stake in the Toffees.

In Koeman’s favour is the fact that Moshiri – key to his appointment – is still backing him publicly. But the manager’s fate will be determined by results.