Marcel Brands joined Everton in May 2018 after the sacking of Steve Walsh.
Marcel Brands joined Everton with great fanfare after impressing at PSV, where his recruitment was near spot-on.
However, Farhad Moshiri gave Brands his marching orders in December 2021 after a number of poor signings, including Jean-Philippe Gbamin and Moise Kean.
It also turns out, Brands had a fractured relationship with Everton legend Duncan Ferguson, which may not have helped his case.
Ferguson has now lifted the lid on a heated exchange he had with the former director, which almost made him laugh in his face.
Duncan Ferguson shares bust-up he had with Marcel Brands
Duncan Ferguson shared, in his audiobook ‘Big Dunc’, the heated exchange he had with former director Marcel Brands after Carlo Ancelotti was appointed manager.
“Brands pulled me into his office, he said ‘right Duncan, it’s a new start, four things you’ve got to do. First, you’re not to go on the touchline. You sit down in your seat and don’t move.
‘Second, I don’t want you clapping the fans, so don’t you go to the fans, it’s not your job to go to the fans and clap. You don’t do that, you stay where you are.
Ferguson explained how Brands kept going.
‘Stop talking down about the players we sign. Stop telling people we’re not very good. That’s just your opinion, we are good. I want you to tell Carlo that we’ve signed a lot of good players. Don’t be negative.’
Ferguson admitted he almost laughed at Brands’ final point.
‘By the way, since I’m at it, go and clear your desk up. Your desk’s a mess.’
The big Scotsman then had his say.
“Right, you’ve had your say, now I’m going to tell you straight so you know. If anyone asks me for an opinion on a player, I’ll tell them straight. End of.
“I was not covering Brands back if the players were not up to it. He was earning £1m-a-year for whatever he was doing and then having a go at the state of my desk.”
Marcel Brands admitted he had clashes with Farhad Moshiri
Ferguson wasn’t the only person Brands had clashes with, in fact, the Dutchman admitted he had a few disagreements with Moshiri.
The former Everton chief told Forbes in 2022 about one instance where they couldn’t agree on the wage structure at the club.
“I was fighting to make a player contract of 50,000 a week 45,000 a week because that fit better in the wage structure and matched the quality of the player,” Brands explained.
“And then the owner called, saying that he had been sitting with another player and that he could come for 175,000 a week. Then you say: ‘What’s that going to do in the dressing room? He earns three times as much as the others.’
“That kind of thing makes it difficult. You also see the difference with clubs where the structure is good. Liverpool (for example) has really grown. They have become really stable under Jurgen Klopp. You don’t see any crazy transfers anymore.”
Brands now works back at Dutch giants PSV, where he has helped oversee one Eredivisie title in three seasons.
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