Everton’s new director of football Marcel Brands’ first job will be to help appoint a manager to deliver the club’s long-term goals.

Former Toffees boss Sam Allardyce was sacked after just six months on Wednesday and was followed out the door a few hours later by Brands’ predecessor Steve Walsh.

The pair paid the price for poor performance on the field and disappointing business off it after last summer’s biggest transfer spend in the club’s history – almost £200million – backfired.

Allardyce’s assistant manager Sammy Lee, first-team coach Craig Shakespeare and goalkeeping coach Martyn Margetson were also all released from their contracts.

Brands has arrived from PSV Eindhoven with a track record of recruiting good players relatively cheaply but his biggest and most important signing will be that of the new manager.

He will undertake the process with newly-appointed chief executive Denise Barrett-Baxendale as Everton’s summer restructuring quickly gathers pace.

“I’m very much looking forward to working closely with Marcel, whose experience in the areas of player recruitment and development pathways for young players has forged an outstanding reputation in European football,” said Barrett-Baxendale.

“I know that Marcel will bring an unsurpassed level of quality and prowess to his work at Everton.

“Chief among my priorities is to structure and resource our club to enable us to fully achieve our ambitions.

“We will work alongside Marcel on the recruitment of a new manager, which is now our biggest focus.”

Everton’s major shareholder Farhad Moshiri has moved swiftly to correct his mistake of appointing Allardyce, who was never a good fit at the club and was instantly disliked by supporters.

He is now putting his faith in Brands to oversee significant change as the club seeks to appoint their fourth permanent manager in two years.

“Marcel’s record of achievement has cemented his reputation across Europe and I am extremely pleased that he will be bringing his drive, energy and expertise to Everton,” said Moshiri.

“It was clear to me in our conversations that he shares in the vision we have for the club and he has much to contribute in making us better and more equipped to challenge the top teams in the Premier League.”

Brands oversaw PSV’s three Eredivisie titles in the last four seasons, having previously transformed the fortunes of RKC Waalwijk and AZ Alkmaar.

“It is a privilege to be joining Everton as director of football and I am incredibly excited to take on this challenge,” said the Dutchman.

“The fantastic passion of the fans for their club, the magnificent history of the club over the years and the ambition – and purpose we have as people tasked with driving the club forward – all mean that we need to be competing for honours against the Premier League elite.

“It is no straightforward challenge but this must be our motivation each and every day.

“Now we will look to build something really strong and lasting here at Everton.”