777 Partners' £600m deal for Everton not imminent

Funny The Mail report this while also saying we will be sued for £300 million. How do 777 Partners feel about that?

Not to mention why would they buy the club just a few days before it potentially gets relegated?

I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not but we need people who know what they are doing and Kenwright and Co do not. So hopefully this happens.

What could possibly go wrong?

The nightmare is relegation… insolvency… points deduction… more relegation … forced sale of half-finished stadium to local rivals.

The immediate ambition is to stay in the Premier League, find some stability, evolve the board, complete the stadium. Then try and build steadily towards something better.

The status quo in ownership and board is not acceptable.

777 Partners are seemingly nowhere near wealthy enough to propel us to the top seven places (and that was Moshiri's 3-year project 7 years ago, remember?) any time for seasons to come, entirely because of Moshiri and the board he appointed.

If anyone of us can argue a different opinion based on more than the ephemeral hope every fan of every club holds dear, please let me know.

We need to be sustainable, don't we? Maybe an organisation that specialises in football club management might be our best shot?

Obviously far more questions than answers.

It looks like they get a club that is in turmoil with an owner and board who can't go near the club... with a deal that is called off in the event we get relegated.

There wouldn't be a better time to buy Everton.

If we stay up, there might be rival bidders. If we go down, we're instantly worth less. 777 Partners seem to see an opportunity.

Maybe you're right. I just feel like this is a repeat of the Fortress Sports Fund takeover that seemed to go on forever even when Kenwright said “the cheque is in the mail” but never happened.

Don,

They may not be rich enough but are they smart enough to turn us around then sell us on to someone who can take us to the next level? Right now, a relative pauper, Steve Parrish is running rings around us at a dilapidated Selhurst Park.

If they sorted out our finances and got us to mid-table, that sadly would be a huge improvement.

Moshiri won't sell until the stadium is completed. That is when he will have a better chance of achieving a return on his investment – under-valued Premier League club, new stadium, manageable level of debt.

Provided we are not relegated!

If I had the money, Everton would defo be on my list to buy. Because the Premier League and that stadium and where it's situated are cash cows if used properly.

What number will it become soon?

I think just having some sort of plan would do.

This club managed by people with football brains (not this board) could become relevant again. Look at what Brighton, Brentford and Fulham are currently doing?

Surely there is talent across Europe who would love to be given a chance of breathing life into Everton.

Saying the stadium is or could be sold to Liverpool FC is hysterical nonsense, it's only 52,888 capacity.

When you look at the current auction going on at Man Utd for £5-6 billion, you can't say it is beyond logic to suggest the failed bidders wouldn't turn their sights to us and the fantastic new stadium for 1/5th of the price and think "Fuck, yes, we can do something here!"

Just like they did at the unfashionable Man City not that long ago, it makes you wince to think that could have been Everton but maybe the chance may come again.

If we remain in the Premier League, with that stadium rising on the Mersey, we are a very attractive proposition for potential investors.

Where is this talk of Liverpool taking the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock coming from? They built a big stand and I walked past their loft conversion on Sunday. They have poured millions investing in converting that shoebox of a stadium. Extended shoenbox now.

The change we all want is looking likely. We will be in the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock. Proud, but with a tear in our eye as we leave the Grand Old Lady for the last time.

No one is investing without the new stadium on the table. Change is coming by the sounds of it. Be positive.

Be careful what you wish for there, Colin!

I know what you mean though.

The man who kept on giving will lose millions but you can't take it with you, Farhad, especially if it gets frozen – whilst the man who played thousands and made millions has paid a massive price with his Everton legacy now having been torn into absolute shreds.

Any such sale would have to consist of a complete overhaul of the running of the club and complete replacement of the management with appropriate expertise.

Just possible one or two other investors may step in when they know we are confirmed as a Premier League club next season. The situation will become clearer in a couple of weeks.

It's probably more complex than that obviously but honestly, if this means Kenwright's fresco quote being taken off the wall in Finch Farm and his brass nameplate taken off the office door forever, then I'd be very happy.

Everton is becoming a soulless club (fans aside), where those on the board have detached themselves from the reality and passion of those who do care, ie, the fans.

By all means Moshiri, you and the other board members are free to flee our sinking club, but don't leave the club by selling out to others who don't care. You should have consulted the fans, but the owner and the board are just driven by greed. Shame on the lot of you!

I remember him coming into the club and saying we had a short window to break into the Top 6. The trouble was, he left Kenwright as Chairman. That was his big mistake. He poured enough money into the club for us to challenge for European places but I don't think he had a clue about football, so it was wasted, pissed into the wind!

Remembering this is the Mail who's reporting that 777 Partners are taking over EFC maybe next week, depending on certain conditions. I would have thought that the price paid for EFC would depend on whether we stay up or not.

But that's not our concern. Our hope is that 777 Partners, or whoever, buys our club and starts the job of rebuilding it into something beginning to resemble the great club we were. After the ruins left by the present Chairman and board, that's going to be some job!

Thinking last season and the season before were a bit of a helter-skelter ride… this season?

Well so much depends on our last two games (yet again!) but moreso I think, because of the enquiry into the Board's handling of our finances and (hopefully) this takeover. If we drop, will 777 Partners still be involved? I bloody well hope so because, wherever we end up, we need a new start. Our club doesn't deserve to have this bunch of incompetents involved any longer.

What an awful day when Kenwright took over the reins and promptly guided us downhill.

Getting relegated is not part of the equation yet.

Hertha Berlin: 777 Partners Deal Under Deutsche Fußball Liga Scrutiny?

777 Partners will have their work cut out.

But all the Evertonians since we were St Domingo's have built a tradition that will never be souless and, all being well, we can take our tradition to our new home. The one that an American Blue designed.

Hopefully, it's that last we've seen of this current board, but I suppose it's best not to count our chickens just yet!

Having said that, it's interesting that – although the "newspaper" claims 777 Partners want some sort of "Premier League guarantee" in the deal, most of the clubs in which they've invested have since been promoted from lower leagues.

Vasco in Brazil, a sleeping giant, promoted back to the top flight.
Genoa promoted back to Serie A at the first attempt after relegation.
Red Star two points off promotion to the French second division.
Their latest acquisition, Hertha Berlin, look like going down this season, so it does appear they're not scared of relegation.

If anything, their speciality appears to be investing in struggling clubs where they see an opportunity to increase value in the long run.

My only doubt is that one of the Managing Partners, Josh Wander, insists on doing that American owner thing of wearing a fucking baseball cap with his "smart casual" clothes at the game to show he's a man of the people and not just a money man. Dickhead.

Yes, I know what you mean though, just be great to get rid of the existing lot.

As a side note, I see Denise Barrett-Baxendale's search for a new job doesn't seem to be going very well… pathetic the lot of them!

It is becoming increasingly more obvious that Moshiri was only fronting Usmanov's money.

Surely nobody in power at Everton would have the audacity to do such a thing?

I have always thought that Moshiri was only the front man for his boss, and since Usmanov was sanctioned, it was obvious that he would have instructed Moshiri to push on for a sale, and at least recoup something from this situation.

As Danny said in post 16, this is the least of our worries at present, as we have our Premier League survival to worry about. Dyche usually does his press conferences on a Thursday and we will all be paying great attention to his answer to the first question of that presser. Which will be about the fitness of Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Strange: for the past 7 or 8 weeks, pictures of the players training have been released by the club; this week, nothing. I'm hoping that's not an indication that Calvert-Lewin hasn't trained.

Just report something when it's sold.

If we don't get a massive points deduction for next season or other serious restrictions.

If we don't get successfully sued by Leeds, Leicester, etc.

If new owners are given a clean slate by the Premier League.

There's a lot of baggage to be unpacked before we're going anywhere.

Too me, he is a brilliant owner.

So basically it comes down to Kenwright and Putin. Now I'm not comparing Chairman Bill to Comrade Vladimir, but...

You can't fault Moshiri's generosity, but, his lack of acumen at running a football club is unbelievable. How much money will he have spent sacking managers and their staff?

We cried out for a billionaire and we got the one billionaire who was hopeless.

It's a case of being careful what you wish for, sometimes.

I hope, if this story is true, that the new investors appoint business and football savvy people and don't conduct their communications via Jim White.

Moshiri and the board will want out, they surely understand that their time is up.

The underlying problem for us is that the top of the Premier League is as it stands is out of our reach, because the rules now give 5 or 6 clubs unfair advantage. Until things change we will always banging our heads against the wall.

The Russian fella has, but he is not involved, is he? And won't be now.

The recruitment has been a total disaster. People say "We never replaced Lukaku" – which is correct. But frankly, we can't attract players of that quality... which comes back to Moshiri not really having the type of finances that are needed to get up there now. That's just how insanely rotten the Premier League has become.

If we survive and these relative paupers take over, the honeymoon period of ousting Kenwright & Co will last 6 months before people realise little to no dough means nothing of note changes.

The Hicks and Gilette rumpus will have nothing on this cabal of mediocre sports club collectors being held to account.

Unfortunately, he would not have been sold the club had he had any such plan.

He handed his money to self-serving, incompetent, deceitful fools.

I do know, though, that I'd rather have a football club that can sustain itself and operate with some competitiveness at the level it competes at, without needing the pipe dream of an affluent owner who can bend the rules.

I'd prefer that to happen in the Premier League. Actually, if we're preferring things, I'd like it to be in the Champions League. But I'll support Everton no matter what league they're in.

Just surviving is getting pretty depressing.

Someone like the Glazers. Man Utd have propped-up his other investments over the years, so I have been informed by their supporters.

But you should've also mentioned that Moshiri should never have got involved in selecting certain players to buy… he knows even less about football than Kenwright.

The pair of them (almost certainly together with the ‘sanctioned one') are behind this mess of a club. Whoever takes over must surely be an improvement.

As I understand it, the Glazers have not done that, and have done nothing but borrow money to buy Man Utd, then leave the debt from that loan on the shoulders of Man Utd (not the Glazers), and have taken dividends from the club year on year.

As I understand it, they can sell the club, walk away without having to repay that initial loan (as that's now down to the club, whoever buys it), and a tidy sum pocketed.

Jonjo Kenny must feel right at home in the shambles at Hertha Berlin

But then it's promising something we are all supposed to want – the sale of the club, and the departure of Moshiri (and hopefully Kenwright and the rest of the Board). Not hundreds of millions in damages paid to our fellow strugglers.

That might be a sounder rationale for fact-checking than merely ticking The Esk Box and seeing this in line with current wishful thinking, as some are suggesting.

Is Moshiri really under huge pressure to sell the whole shooting match for a drastically knocked-down price that goes nowhere near to approaching the vast investment he has made in the club and its new ground?

There is precedent for it, I suppose. A generation ago now, Kenwright spent ages beating down Peter Johnson from a high ask of £140M to buying the club off him for a paltry £20M. That valued the club at around £30M by my calculations.

The Esk has told us that anyone paying over £250M at the current time is being taken to the cleaners. I think even £600M is grossly undervaluing the club, potential relegation notwithstanding. Why would Moshiri not hang on until the stadium is completed?

Well, it seems the financing of the stadium is the reason. Maybe Moshiri cannot continue to fund the construction? Although he has always maintained that he can.

But if the tap really has been turned off, then I can see that he cannot risk stopping work on the new stadium, and that potential investors have a strong hand to push for a larger stake in the club – potentially up to all of his 94% stake, if they can convince him this is the only way the stadium can be funded to completion.

That would still leave me wondering how he could walk away from such an investment. Unless, as seems to be the case from his lackadaisical oversight, it's been just cheap money to throw around and see if something comes of it in terms of the team. The hundreds of millions in annual losses on top of the investment shortfall (I'm sure Paul the Esk will tell me if that's double-accounting)... makes you wonder if we have all been party to a massive money-laundering scheme.

To coin a Dyche phrase, let's save the "noise" for the summer as it's going to be defeaning.

Sorry, I don't remember seeing that one. And looking back through the message log, I can't see one from you that fits that description.

I've found it's all too easy to write a comment and then switch pages, perhaps to check something, then get distracted (can I identify as ADHD impaired this week?) and find that it's just disappeared. Very annoying it is!

"It's a lifestyle lived by someone. It basically means anything can come out of your mouth at any given time no matter who's around or what the situation is."

I cannot see any purchase going ahead until the season is concluded.

Then, if safe, if someone does go on to buy us, surely it'll be a positive sign that their due diligence checks would have shown we have not breached any Premier League rules?

Whoever does buy hopefully also has a bag full of common sense, a long-term business plan, and leaves the footballing side of things to those with the expertise.

Moshiri seemingly kept poking his nose into the footballing side and we turned into a chaotic shambles. Being a billionaire accountant, you'd have thought he could have at least got the money side right. Mmm…?

My next question which might sound daft is are they buying to make money out of it as nobody seems to be speaking about anything altruistic, or for that matter anything at all.

And I suppose that Goodison and the land it stands on is part of the deal.

I'd take it.

Eddie, #15, I would prefer R Atckiffe, too. There are too many Jeremiahs on here.

That is a good point. The value of the money may not be as appears. It all depends on the value the money had at source...

Moshiri is not a manager of a business, he is someone who moves money offshore and puts investment packages together. Even his approach to a potential investor seems based on that.

If Everton survive the relegation battle, I don't expect the Independent Commission to be as hard as expected.I t is down to how hard can they actually be with a recognised Premier League brand, a multimillion-pound stadium in the offing and other Premier League cubs that are not far behind Everton financially.

There is not a whimper of evidence that Moshiri is anything other than he is a billionaire who keeps giving.

It may be nice to have owners who spend within our means. It's about time we as fans realise we are just another Premier League team.

We need to start putting all our energy into winning a cup and not worry about finishing below 10th. I would love us to win a domestic trophy.

If our "means" amounts to being perennial lower-tier bumfluff, forget cups, embrace the inevitable fall through the divisions.

South Florida is filled with snakes. The wealth in that area is ridiculous, and much of it comes from seriously dodgy sources. I'm incredibly biased. I live in "Old Florida" in the upper northeast of the state that has more in common, by far, with deep south Georgia than cosmopolitan Miami. So anything coming out of South Florida I'm suspicious of.

Now, 777 Partners may be a completely legitimate sports "holding and management company". But that's not what I want for Everton.

Quite honestly, I want another version of Rob McElhelleny and Ryan Reynolds. Owners who care about the club, are seen, interact with the fans, care about the city, hire competent people with footballing backgrounds, and are involved for all the proper reasons with a dose of "really big heart" thrown in. English or American or Canadian or whatever, I don't care. Just owners who can back the club and give a real shit, and show they give a shit.

That would fit Everton. Soulless money dudes from South Florida isn't exactly my cup of tea.

But, having no influence whatsoever, I'll watch and see what happens.

To run a big Premier League club, you need oodles and oodles of money, a plan and commitment to that plan. I don't buy the comments above defending Moshiri in any way. He has shown himself to be a fool and absurdly naive in all matters to do with running a football club (though credit where it's due on the new stadium).

Clubs (like the Barcodes) with 'new money' only have to look at the Everton model and literally do the opposite to find some success. We spunked it and it will take many, many years to recover from the complete top-to-bottom mismanagement under Moshiri's tenure. He is not solely responsible but he was in charge.

I for one am angry as hell with him, he has to be the dumbest accountant Billionaire on the planet. He made us a laughing stock and has put us under serious financial pressure and potential, unwanted scrutiny from P&S rules and related lawsuits.

I want the whole board out and if that means we are run by a shrewd but possibly soulless sports management company for the time being, then I'm all in.

I'm taking this alleged stake buy in of Everton with a pinch of salt.

Secure safety, and then in the summer Moshiri, assigns a new board.

I don't see Moshiri selling up until the new stadium is completed – why would he want to sell on at such a loss?

Once the new stadium is built, this should be a lucrative cash cow for a business… but God only knows.

In the last few years, the media generally goes out of its way to spike Everton's position on and off the park.

Let's focus our energy on the Wolves game and hopefully get the points or at least a point.

The biggest couple of weeks in the club's modern history; relegation is not a viable option for Everton FC.

UTFTs!

To misquote himself: "clubs look at how Everton do things and then do the opposite". There have been glaring examples of this in the time I have followed us.

Catterick ostracised the media so much that there is little video memory of the sides of the late '60s. Meanwhile Mr Shankly helped create the cult of the kop that persists until this day. The media despise us and laud them.

We built that bloody awful mainstand using outdated design and technology. Man Utd built cantiver stands with unobserved views.

We sat back and accepted the post-Heysel rulings without complaint. Nowadays, we are told, clubs are lining up to boot us in the cobblers through the courts.

The Everton Way? Cue Perry Como... "For the Good Times"

You could feel the mood change in the early '70s away from Everton to that shower across the park. Shankly was media friendly and everyone looked forward to his post-match comments (except us) on MotD.

He belittled Everton at every turn and the media lapped it up. While over at Goodison, dour Harry either refused to speak to the press or was rude to them.

I've always said, the Liverpool PR machine is something to be admired (and hated). Last night, I went on CNN's website to check out the digital images of the Titanic and had to suffer a Stevie Me Lar advert for 30 seconds before the piece began.

They (former Liverpool players) dominate the punditry world on TV and in print. Their presence is felt more than any other English club, and that includes Man Utd, in every walk of life. They even inhabit my nightmares.

But I digress. It's hard not to believe that all this investment talk is another board-inspired smokescreen to distract us from a possible catastrophic ending to this season.

I got sick of it in the end but I used to count the number of (often tenuous) Liverpool articles on the BBC Web site. Unbelievable.

And as for the Red Echo 😡

They purchased 55-60 businesses, stakes or outright, in just 5 years, with an assessed total value of $6-7 billion. All this without any finance partners?

How much would have to go wrong for the whole thing to collapse?

Just that any cash they pay is their own even if some or most is through a loan or other financial device. As meaningless a statement as possession stats. Doesn't make them dodgy but just shows the bullshit of marketing quotes.

Save for a few seasons, the place has been a curse.

That crew over the park coming there and constantly putting us to the sword, not to mention countless other defeats I've had the misfortune to witness.

Yes obviously we've had some great days and nights there but they are most definitely few and far between.

I'm convinced once we move to the Dock our luck will change. Absolutely convinced of it.

I may be in the minority here but I for one won't give a flying one when the last ball has been kicked at that curse.

Roll on to the new Everton Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, regardless of what league we are in.

Things have gone a little awry under Moshiri & Usmanov mainly due to poor recruitment – but certainly not because of bad intentions. I think some of you need to give your heads a wobble if you think change, absolutely any change, is the answer.

This could be the proverbial 'into the frying pan' situation. American ownership is problematic for me.

Meanwhile, those shitheads on his board will never have to work again of course.

Trebles all round, Bill – but lay the bill on the fans though!