Donachie exits Everton following Benitez review
Donachie had worked for Everton in two spells spanning more than 17 years
Written by Training Ground Guru — November 11, 2021
EVERTON have parted company with Director of Medical Danny Donachie following a review by manager Rafa Benitez.
Donachie, the son of former Everton assistant manager Willie Donachie, has worked for the club in two separate spells spanning more than 17 years. He was Head of Manual Therapy and then Head of Medical for the Toffees from 2001 to 2015 before leaving for a short spell at Aston Villa.
He returned to Goodison in July 2018 under Marco Silva, initially as Head of Therapy and then Director of Medical.
Writing on Twitter today, Donachie said: “Too many life long friends to mention. You know who you are. I have been inspired by all of you time after time. My spirit will never be the same.
“What an incredible privilege to have been a custodian of this great club for so long. Separated by distance but never heart.”
Benitez has made no secret of his desire to improve the club’s injury record in recent weeks. Speaking three weeks ago, the Spaniard admitted he was "disappointed" by an injury setback for Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who could be out until at least next month.
“One thing I want to be very clear is that I am trying to improve every single department," Benitez said. "When we arrived here, we analysed every single department. We analyse the situation, we try to find solutions.”
He brought in Jamie Harley as Head of Sport Science shortly after arriving at the club in the summer as successor to Carlo Ancelotti. Last month he added fitness coach Cristian Fernandez, who had also worked with him at Newcastle, to the staff.
“To bring Cristian in was to try to solve the (injury) problem,” Benitez said. “A player who has been injured three, four times since last year, it is very difficult that he will be injured now.”
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