Summary of Everton’s current position: Not out of the woods

I think we are in for more pain and disappointment before things improve. And that improvement will only come if, and when, Moshiri sells up and buggers off. Knowing our luck he'll probably sell us to the Venkys.

The stadium when completed is too late alone as we have lost so much ground. The old Everton image that the club clings on to has to be dumped.

Since the Premier League was born and football became global, nothing about Everton has changed, mainly because of one man alone (and some of the fanbase) who are happy to live in the past.

Grand Old Team, what fucking bollocks!

Apologies for the language but seeing football fans of other clubs celebrating reminds me we have not done that for decades.

Wet Friday evenings in Plymouth? Us fools would be there no matter what. On the back of last night, ask City supporters after the journey they've been through!

You capture everything. A total lack of ownership, responsibility and accountability. We were left on our own. Manager, players, supporters.

This board has failed. Failed in performance, failed in communicating. Failed in having a vision and failed in having a strategy. They don't necessarily have to be there, but just communicate.

Most importantly, they failed and destroyed any relationship they had with the most important aspect of my club… Our club. It's not their club, just a phrase.

The supporters. Those who put in the hours, miles, time, exhaustive effort and money to follow our team all over the country. Those who wake up in the long hours to watch on TV and streams.

They chose to criticise us, accuse us without evidence and disengage. There is no surprise at football supporters of any club being taken for granted, especially in the modern game. But to have your supposed own turn on you is akin to shitting on your own doorstep. Shithouses. Excuse the French.

There is no going back for them. Whatever relationship there was is irreparable. You only have to see the outcome of a recent survey.

Go. Just go. We've done it without you. We will succeed and compete without you.

On investment and stadium funding, it remains optimistic, but it will become obvious that anyone prepared to invest will want a controlling stake.

I too think that Moshiri will take a lesser percentage.

I watched the news today and apparently last night was only the second game that Manchester City's owner had attended since procuring them.

You can be a distant owner. As long as you put competent people in control of your business and investment.

I'm a as guilty as the next man for living in the past. For believing we have a god given right to sit at the top table – we don't. For carrying decades old grievances. For continuing the “what if” mantra. For being sentimental and hopelessly deluded.

We need to cut the crap, root out the disease of mediocrity and start anew. Only new owners with deep pockets can do this. We don't need a £100M loan and some relatively well off local businessman to help us keep our noses above the water. We need some trillionaire motherfucker to come in and kick the shit out of all and sundry.

No more half-measures. No more wishful thinking. No more corrupt incompetence. Let's create history rather than constantly going on about it.

I can take a few years of mid table mediocrity, as long as a viable plan is in place.

We do have some, and I stress some, talented players. The imbalance is there to see, but I believe Dyche can get a tune out of this squad, if, and again, a big if, he is given at least some leeway to get in a few players.
Time will tell.

I agree bits and pieces loans and investment aren't going to hack what we really need to put this club back on a sound footballing footing.

Problem is where are these trillionaires coming from, given the massive uncertainty, Treasury and financial investigations going on at the moment?

I know I'm probably old-fashioned and probably a bit naive but I can't say I would be over the moon about Everton becoming the state-owned club of some oil rich state with a dodgy human rights record. It would leave a nasty taste in my mouth.

MSP's period of exclusivity ( enerally 30-60 days) may end in a week or two… Everton need things to move fast. It's looking possible that we will have new investors and the hapless, amateur, chairman and CEO will soon be out.

I agree we will have to sell to buy in the main, Onana will go to the highest bidder and Pickford too if Man Utd decide they want him.

How we spend that approx £100M on improving the squad is going be crucial. I've got more confidence this time round that Sean Dyche and Thelwell will produce a better balanced squad. This will plant us in the safe mid-table zone, and hopefully a cup run, which although sounds unambitious, is definitely the first step for the club.

Next season with, essentially, new professional people in the boardroom and new investors, has to be about one thing – stability. All the time building the foundations for a better future, on and off the pitch.

Not necessarily a disaster but I think many Everton fans have failed to appreciate just how good Pickford is. It's very likely Dyche will find an effective goalkeeper (like he did at low cost with Heaton and Pope) but we will almost certainly be weaker in the goalkeeper position next season if Pickford does leave.

Never underestimate Kenwright and his Machiavellian ways.

Though a bit sickening, it's not necessarily a bad model for us.

Really, only a small handful of clubs can really afford to play in the ridiculously overheated transfer market (fees and wages). So those outside of that elite will somehow need to get hold of quality players a different way. The RB Leipzig (etc) model works along those lines already – and there are quite a few organisations in the process of building up these club portfolios.

It is presumably a way to build up a stable of players, develop them in weaker leagues and move them up the structure when they are ready. It shouldn't all be about foreign imports – it may also involve moving our youth and academy prospects to Serie B or Denmark etc for a better developmental experience than, say, 6 months at Fleetwood.

I've previously joked that we should have bought Dundee Utd instead of Bolasie etc – installed Big Dunc as manager and sent our academy etc prospects to Scotland, in the way that RB Salzburg use Liefering in Austria. It may come to something like this.

With you on that.

That needs to buy us a decent goalie and a functioning centre-forward, and AN Other. Thank god with money so tight we put that deal with Alli together. He gets a lot of criticism, Moshiri, but pulling a deal like that out of the ether when we were really up against it financially, he's really shown his quality there.

Just bad luck that it seems it was that brilliant deal which brought the Premier League down on us.

The commercial side of Everton has also suffered horribly under Kenwright & Co, and that needs fixing. So if you can increase your top line and lower the wage bill, that critical multiple falls and gives you more wriggle room.

Everton have to start doing what others have been doing and need to reset expectations, rather than thinking they can keep up with the Joneses. Multi-million transfers and ludicrous wages are done. And the reality is, we might not be in the Premier League while it's going on.

Crucially, we escaped the trap-door this season which in my view was key to getting the stadium financing finished and removing that obstacle. If we'd have gone down, we would very likely have gone into a death spiral.

So once the club starts being run like a proper business, by qualified people and maximising its returns (and potential), and is not some play thing for a bloated egotist surrounded by yes-men, the better off we'll all be. Just get on with it, for fuck's sake.

And that stadium!

In terms of recruitment, they have (like quite a few others) looked at the insanity of the transfer market and decided to go a different way. I suspect the fan ownership model in German football helps this – and guards against the unsustainable practices we and others have adopted in the Premier League.

They have the clout and resources to attract genuine world class potential – but maybe the real difference is their determination to give that potential minutes on the pitch (rather than just stockpile as Chelsea do). It's the reason a player like Bellingham went there in the first place; Sancho and Haaland before him.

Personally, I saw the PSG acquisition of Neymar as a big strategic move to overheat the market and price competitors out of fees and wages. Too many clubs were catching up due to the TV deals etc. PSG raised the bar with the Neymar deal - not on quality (Neymar was already fading), but on the economics of the deal. That was humbling even for the likes of Man Utd, Liverpool, Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Can we "do a Dortmund"? Possibly, but I think all of the investors linked to us have been part of these big global sports conglomerates, so we're unlikely to remain an autonomous club. More like part of a supply chain of clubs – and hopefully at the top of that chain.

If pursuing the existing model isn't working, you have to look for a different approach, and it's patently obvious to anyone with more than a single brain cell to rub together that the current model can only lead to relegation and oblivion.

As for transfers out to raise funds, we sell Pickford at our peril. Leicester got rid of Schmiechel and replaced him with inferior keepers – that went well. They had players who could put the ball in the net but it wasn't enough. Beware dodgy keepers.

I note rumours coming out of Leeds that we are supposedly considering Robles.

They've sustained it better than most. The question is, will they ever be able to keep their best players long enough to consistently challenge Bayern?

Therefore I think we will need to sell Onana, but I can't see Pickford going in the same window.

The big losses will drop off on the P&S calculation, the big earner contracts finish next season and income will increase in the new stadium.

Pragmatism in the short term of wheeling and dealing transfers, being gritty and hard to beat with a vocal fan base. Optimism in the longer term, and a club that a new owner can take forward.

Dyche I think over a season can keep us safe.

Well in, Moshiri.

IMHO, the hold-up on ownership stakes and changes at board level is that Moshiri is trying to get through the coming season without being relegated, so that he can use the brand new and completed stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock to not only get back his investments but profits on top.

If indeed we are forced to sell, I hope Onana can fetch us £60M and Pickford £80M, as long as Moshiri's entourage are not interfering with Thelwell's work (Gordon's sale was a good example that Moshiri didn't handcuff Thelwell).

With our dire financial shape, I would imagine not more than 20% of any sales proceeds would be given to Thelwell & Dyche to replenish the squad. (Even if Thelwell can get £25 to £30 Million from Fulham for Gray in addition to the sale of Onana & Pickford, Thelwell & Dyche would still have to work with pennies).

But like a lot of you, I am confident that Thelwell & Dyche can still use the given pennies to shape us into a lower mid-table team that is not threatened by relegation.

Fingers crossed and UTFT!

Introduce progressive measures throughout the business and start targeting and baselining realistic goals and you soon start working your way towards a winning mentality rather than having ingrained a loser's one for over 25 years.

Once these charges (or single charge, if we are to believe what has been written) do crystallise, then Moshiri's lawyers will take at least 6-12 months to respond. There will then be months of legal back and forth before any decision is reached.

Man City have been fighting numerous charges for the past 6 years without any points deduction or major impact on their progress. I suspect the next season will be played with this bubbling away in the background but with nothing “real” happening.

We are clearly cash-strapped and any transfer monies (Onana, Pickford, Gray, Maupay and possibly Calvert-Lewin) will go predominantly towards completion of the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.

We can only hope that Dyche and Thelwall can find enough overseas loans to go with the two domestic ones we are allowed, plus a few freebies, that he can cobble together a team capable of keeping us in the Premier League.

I think it will be a long hard summer followed by another bottom-half battle. Let's hope and pray that we can improve incrementally over the next few seasons.

Irrespective of what happens, we will still be Everton. UTFT

I think Onana and Pickford will be sold and we will spend the proceeds on getting bodies in.

Joe @3, aren't the Saudis out of the running for Man Utd now? I am not saying I want that kind of money behind us but I agree, it might be the only thing that can save us.

For someone with silly money, we would still be of interest surely? If only for the stadium and potential fanbase.

So if we have to sell Pickford and Onana to raise another £100M this season, who do we sell the season after that?

Let's just hope the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock does not turn into a gingerbread house.

Be a slow process, get rid of the board and bring professionals in, to run the club, might have to pick up a few freebies or loans, but in time, with the right people in place, we can start the slow progress upwards.

Anyone who thinks this will be resolved within a year, wake up and smell the coffee, it is going to take time.

That financial mismanagement by the board and Financial officers of the club is the reason why we are not seeing any money to invest in the playing squad.

Relegation to the Championship would have been a disaster for who? The fans? We'd still go the games, we'd still watch a team we loved, week in week out.

Obviously the money would be a problem, we'd see all the saleable players sold. The far stricter EFL would possibly (likely IMO) apply a points deduction for not being able to adhere to the debt limits placed upon the club. The team may struggle to stay in the Championship, we'd be a laughing stock and it would hurt. But we'd still turn up to the matches. There would still be an Everton.

The club and it's owners would lose money and the club as a business could potentially go bust. Kenwright and Moshiri and all the institutions owed money would lose out. But there would still be a club. We'd still go the games.

I don't care who loses the money, it's not our debt, it's their debt, their names are on the documents at Companies House.

My point is, whatever happens to the club as a business, it would still continue. Everton would always exist because ultimately it belongs to us, the fans. Moshiri et al own the business associated with the club. If that goes bust then Everton would continue, whatever anyone says or does. Look at Chester and Wimbledon. Even Bury appears that it will survive, because the local council and the fans will ultimately make it happen because they are the true Bury FC.

Premier League survival just means more of this. Continuing as Debt FC until one day the house of cards falls, or we are sold to the next billionaire.

I'm sick of worrying about my club being a badly run business. I want to go back to football and supporting the team and not caring, just for one example, that we are only in the Top 30 instead of the Top 20 of Deloitte list.

I don't know how the club gets out of the hole it dug for itself, but I don't want to care either. I'm not a business administrator, an amateur accountant or a multi-millionaire.

I am an Evertonian.

Inquiries about Pickford are bound to come, if he wants to leave, I think you have to let him, he's worth at least £50M propably more. We are a feeder club, like it or not, we have been for 30 years.

He'll be a very big loss though, he's been the difference that's kept us up for the last 2 seasons.

Unless things change on the money front, Dyche is going to have his work cut out again but I feel he's just the man to do it.

We have a conundrum with an untrustworthy board, who are not being transparent, and therefore the fans do not have a clue about any transfer policy. If there is one?

Do we buy three or four good players at cost, or go to the bargain basement, and loan markets?

It would not surprise me if Everton stooped to the low level of loaning Mason Greenwood, repeating the errors of the past with erroneous signings and loans that don't work out.

Please prove me wrong.

Like any business though, I still think the club change fortunes and get on the right path quickly. Having Dyche for example will ensure no expensive silly signings are coming through the door.

If Pickford goes, I can't see a club offering more than £35-£40 million @ 29 years old with no Champions League experience. Thankfully he's got lots of England caps.

Every season 2 or 3 players rise to the occasion, so even if Onana goes, Branthwaite might be steady and play 45-50 games, Patterson the same, also Garner. And then end of next season clubs come sniffing around for these players. Nothing wrong with it if Dyche and Thelwell do their homework and bring in good players and take charge of recruitment.

If Brighton is the model then it's time to get comfortable with selling players that are very good, and taking a punt on players with high ceilings and can affect the goal difference directly but with minimal Premier League experience.

Onana, Garner, Patterson, Coleman, DCL and more says it can be done.

I seriously think Dyche is the right man and knows how to bring in the right players. Then the money men will be all over Everton again when they see the playing side looks a lot better.

Maybe I'm mad but I see a much better future under Dyche currently since moving on from the Lampard and Benitez days.

Is there an agreement between Moshiri and Kenwright that requires that Kenwright must maintain his position as Chairman at his discretion? Is it legally binding? Can it be a legal requirement of any future sale or investment? And can a Board be formulated by any investors so that the Chairman is in a minority?

If the Chairman and Board refuse to call any future AGM, can the majority shareholder call an extraordinary AGM specifically to replace the Board? And how might this be affected by the majority shareholder's other business relationships?

We can all say without proof that there must be but what are the ramifications if it can be shown or proven and must it be disclosed as part of any due diligence or is that only in the case of a complete (majority) sell out?

Run the club better.

If we are to be a "feeder" club in our current situation, then do it right. Our objective should be not to duplicate Newcastle but to try to learn from the success of Brentford or Brighton or Ajax or PSV.

The intelligent management model is right there to copy. The key is to put the right people in position to execute the model. Dyche and Thelwell may well be two of those, but the urgency is to install a Board above them that will share the same vision and level of competence.

That's how we get out of this situation IMO... not sit around hoping for the Sultan of Brunei to pop up at the Liver Building with his checkbook in hand.

In the short term, as Paul indicates, we have run out of (Usmanov's) money. We've just re-signed Davies so I guess that means Onana is off – hopefully for more than we paid for him.

I'd sell Calvert-Lewin ahead of Pickford given the former's lamentable injury record but I doubt there will be any takers, so I fear Jordan will also be sold.

As others have said, we'll just have to trust Dyche and Thelwell to spend the pennies wisely. I don't think we will get the money people suggest for the above two. £60m for Onana? I doubt it. People can smell our desperation.

On the upside, things will begin to turn around a little a year hence if we don't get relegated. The appalling deadweight of the invisible 3 midfielders will disappear and our cumulative 4-year losses should be low enough to give us some headroom.

We can only hope Dyche can husband the meagre resources on offer to achieve this. He is probably as well qualified as anybody to do that.

As for us being like Dortmund, the main reason it works for them is they are nearly always in the Champions League, so have a story to tell good up-and-coming starlets. Hence my own proposed strategy; a reverse takeover of Kilmarnock and win the Scottish Premiership

1) Billions + Moshiri's interference + Kenwright + Denise as CEO = Failure, relegation, existential threat.

2) Millions + Professionals + Competence = Success by incremental improvement.

Although Option 2 with billions is preferable!

Fortunately the "Moshiri/Kenwright Everlasting Chairman Agreement" is merely a figment of overactive ToffeeWebber imaginations.

Meanwhile back in the real world it appears we may get some indication of the actual direction of travel towards the beginning of next week.

In a way I admire the hope expressed by some that Dyche/Thelwell can transform the club into even mid-table mediocrity next season without any budget at all until, maybe, even more of our now very few good players can be sold.

And I'm sorry, but someone above contends with hope that, "Every season 2 or 3 players rise to the occasion."

No offence, but I'd like a pint or two of whatever he drinks pre-match!

It's been intuitively obvious to me for several years now that Barrett- Baxendale is totally out of her depth running an enterprise the size of Everton. Why she was ever considered as remotely suitable for the position, given her previous experience and competence levels, is a very much mystery to me. Her gobbledegook about 120 point action plans just sums up her lack of realism and ability.

For me, the main architect of our present predicament is Moshiri, long reputed to be the lackey and bag man of Usmanov. Before his arrival on the scene there had been a fair degee of managerial stability under David Moyes. Since then we have witnessed, with the arguable exception of Ancelotti, a catalogue of errors in terms of managerial appointments which, combined with the lack of positive contributions from previous Directors of Football, has brought us to the edge of the relegation precipice for two successive seasons. No properly run club would have sanctioned the level of spending we have experienced upto three years ago on a predominantly over the hill and ludicrously over priced set of players of questionable talent.

Fortunately we have now recruited in Sean Dyche a manager who has not only saved us from relegation in almost impossible circumstances but has the experience and knowledge to find sensibly priced and talented players to rebuild the club. He will, however, need the support of a completely restructured and fully competent internal management and recruitment system to lay firm foundations on which to achieve success.

Phil (35) - I worry about the Moise Kean deal. The recent problems Juventus have encountered in terms of "plusvalenza" makes me wonder what was really going on when Kean signed for us. It came out of nowhere at the time, with some form of buy-back option written into the deal (which later became obligatory) and the whole thing just doesn't pass the sniff test. I wouldn't be surprised if effectively no money changed hands between the two clubs at all, with Juventus getting to the write the sale into their accounts, and Everton basically getting a player on loan for free and then the benefit of an amortised "sale" for their accounts a few years down the line.

They need to get a move in, though.

That leaves Dyche and Thelwell in limbo.No budget.no way of planning for the clubs obvious shortcomings just plenty of uncertainty.This is an ideal recipe for attracting players and investors to the club,I don't think!

Other clubs are already moving in the market,planning and strengthening for next season. Everton? Plenty of names- no substance. Nor can there be without the top management giving the manager and Director of Football something to work with.

Communication and transparency have never been great at this club but now it seems to have reached an all-time low.
Fans can protest at games and outside the ground during the season, but it's not so easy in the close season.

I must say I am at a loss how to get these clowns to respond, letters? emails? copied to local and national media?
Anybody any ideas how to put effective pressure on them?Otherwise, we are going to be in the same old mess come the end of the transfer window

I am not worrying about how the present board are removed. In effect they have already exited. The question is who's next? Local businessmen with some, but not a lot of money may bring competence. They will not bring quick, easy solutions. They will need time. Increased commercial revenues follow, rather than lead, success on the field. Offloading overpaid players happens only when contracts expire.

Meanwhile we can only hope Dyche and Thelwell find ways to be creative in the transfer market so that we have at least two additional goal scoring attackers by the end of August. That will almost certainly entail at least one major sale.

Fair point but the fact he has been offered a new contract suggests selling Onana is probable.

Without wishing to be cruel, the fact no-one else from the Premier League appears to be chasing him now or in the January window also suggests we might be his only viable option.

Personally I find it disappointing that a player of his limitations is still deemed good enough but, as I said, the next 12 months will require us to work with very meagre resources and hopefully survive until things improve from 2024-25.

Kenwright still owns a substantial shareholding in Everton FC. Does this give him rights for board representation? Could Kenwright still be Chairman as Moshiri's proxy?

There is no mention of the sale of Kenwright's shares.I t has been speculated that Moshiri has asked Kenwright to stay on as Chairman in the meantime. Kenwright's statement on the loss of the directors is more observing an execution, as opposed to being executed.

Everton must be the most fan-observed club in the close season and the topics are piling up.

Can't this useless club get anything done properly? The pile of garbage which calls itself the management would still be plotting a course to New York if it were the captain of the Titanic 5 hours after hitting the iceberg.

Kenwright only cares about his own status and his share of the club's valuation. He does not care about Everton FC going forward.

That we have a squad that has only just stayed in the Premier League makes it shameful. If we can see this, why can't Blue Bill? He lives in a fantasy world.

We need realists and pragmatists running the club – leaving the hopeful and wishful to the fans!

Blue Bill holds less than 2% of Everton shares...

Substantial? Seriously?

Rather than wring hands over the lack of a Shite Knight, think of how this makes clear the basic moves necessary and how well Dyche is suited. Thelwell exceeded expectations and no one got screwed. In fact Gomes and others worked out and we almost landed Kudus while we were adrift. Thelwell also will have a much more reliable partner identifying talent in Dyche.

It may be that working through the next transfer windows on limited funds is exactly the price range and talent spectrum where Dyche and Thelwell can excel. Having to decide on whether to deal only one or both Onana and Pickford in a single window is perhaps the test. I think they will come through, stabilize player performances, and create more opportunities in following windows as Thelwell builds his reputation and relationships with other clubs.

Disclaimer: I've been drinking… but damnit, I think I've got the right perspective.

Nothing about interim Board members. Nothing about Chairman (or not) Bill. Nothing about MSP investment — are they still coming? More significantly, nothing from our absent owner. Has he found new money from somewhere or is he going to dip into his own pocket again?

It is all very worrying. I have to ask if this, and other off-field matters (our huge debt situation, the P&S proceedings, Carlo taking us to court, and other problems too numerous to mention) mean that we are on the way to being truly broke which in turn is going to end up with fewer supporters going to turn up when the new season starts leading to a further drop in revenue, deepening our perilous situation?

Big question: Are we wasting our time supporting Everton as it is a lost cause? The supporters are not in the least valued by Kenwright anyway as they are more trouble than they are worth (according to him anyway).

Straightforward questions I am seriously asking myself.

I was remiss previously in not thanking Paul the Esk for his excellent diagnosis of our current situation written on 11 June. As things have moved on a bit since then my post included the exits from the Board.

Unfortunately nothing else has changed - for the better anyway.

I will support Everton regardless of what league we are in, even God forbid non-league. It's our club remember — not Moshiri's or Kenwright's or MSP's.

I can't imagine what not supporting Everton would be like. Not an option as far as I am concerned. As Paul says, it's our club – end of.

UTFT!

In the accounts dated year ending 30/6/22 we state Assets Under Construction are 168m. Assets under construction are the stadium. Moshiri has recently stated the stadium will cost 760m so there is a further 592m to still be booked. 130m of this is rumoured to be coming from MSP, although this has still not been confirmed. No one has a clue where the remaining 462m will be found. Where is the funding?

Once the stadium is completed, we will have to start depreciating the 760m cost. In the accounting statements we say Properties are depreciated over 10 to 40 years but Plant and Equipment over 5 years. If we take 20 years as a rough average depreciation period then we will be booking approx. 40m a year to depreciation and reducing our profit. As our gate receipts at Goodison last year were under 16m, we will be struggling to cover this additional 40m cost from increased attendance, corporate hospitality and naming rights
On top of this we will have to service the massive debts we will have incurred and are going to incur. Currently we have the following debts
In Other Loans we show a debt to Rights & Media of 150m
We also show that we took out a loan from the Government CIBILS for Covid impact of 26m
We also have loans out from Moshiri’s foreign company ‘Blue Sky Capital’ of 380m
A total of 556m that all have to be repaid at some point. They are incurring interest charges that also need paying.
On top of that there will be the 592m we have remaining on the new stadium – that’s well over 1.1 billion in debt and nothing to repay it back with when we are losing money every year
To make matters even worse. Once we move into our new stadium we are committed to demolishing Goodison and renovating the area around Goodison. Plans have been made but I’ve seen nothing on just how much all of this will cost nor the funding
With another 592m still to be paid on the stadium, servicing the debt, and the additional costs of running two sites is it any wonder that we really have nothing for new players, as any sales we do are going to pay the builders, and that the board and the auditors started mentioning concerns on whether we would remain a Going Concern if relegated
We are deep in the shit and it won’t be fixed in one years time – maybe not even 10 years time

somebody 'ahem'. negotiate the stadium deal to be undertaken at a fixed cost and managed to buy materials etc in advance at a then market cost. so it won't be going up at all. the price agreed was a gamble but it looks like paying off now as the costs are capped.

don't know how its happened or how murky it is- but that is what it is.

source is not a big football fan but a businessman here and in Dubai who was 'amazed' by the deal - that it a) got put through and that it b) had looked like a masterstroke with hindsight.

it is believed that Moshiri will make 350-400m when its done and that's why he is hanging on.

We can blame many things like Covid and the Ukraine war but deep down it's people wanting too much too quickly and biting off more that they can chew.

Human nature maybe, but Everton have been plunged into financial chaos by bad management.

It seems getting a new stadium of such magnitude was a pipe dream not thought out properly at the expense of the team which is what we are all interested in.

Yes the situation regarding the shape of Goodison needed to be addressed but if the RS didn't need to replace Anfield and Manure didn't need to replace Old Trafford then why do Everton need to move.

All water under the bridge now but I agree the lasting effect will be catastrophic for many seasons to come as the squad is kept full of underachievers due to the funding issues etc.

If it's anything to do with Moshiri I'd take it with a pinch of salt

Personally I think Moshiri's still involved because he's on a hiding to nothing following the waste of money in the transfer market

At 760m I can't see the stadium making much, or any, profit quite honestly

Anyone else heard the rumour a body building arab prince is seriously interested? Apparently in Liverpool now taking over an entire floor of the Holiday Inn under the name Protein Sheikh.

Is that the police outside?