Speaking with clarity and frankness, Marcel Brands held Everton’s assembled shareholders in thrall on Tuesday evening. During a typically fascinating general meeting at Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall, the club’s director of football gave a no-nonsense assessment of his work so far and the crucial work still ahead of him.



Brands has been the subject of unprecedented criticism in recent weeks over his performance since joining in summer 2018. The failure to sign a senior centre-back to replace Kurt Zouma after his loan from Chelsea ended last summer has been suggested as a serious failing.



But this was the type of clear-eyed straight talking that partly explains why he was so highly-rated when Farhad Moshiri lured him from PSV Eindhoven and why elite clubs such as Barcelona hold him in such esteem.



Commenting, for example, on Everton’s interest in Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha, Brands was up front about why they never progressed...