Accountability and the Role of Both Moshiri and We, the Fans – Everton’s Last Defence

Then there's the evidence of high-profile protests at Man Utd and Newcastle Utd achieving nothing. Their owners sold up (brought in investment) when ready and not a minute earlier. Same at Liverpool, it was the banks that changed matters; fan protest achieved zip all.

Protest to vent your spleen but don't expect it to do anything more.

The fans are so disenchanted with not one bit of good news coming out of the club, nor the Premier League, nor the media, that it has all become a bit much. There is no longer any enjoyment at watching 22 prima donnas that earn more per game than many earn in a year and in a lifetime for some accompanied by seriously overpaid officials and corrupt media and Premier League executives.

It's a bit like Putin's reign. You can't change it so you close your eyes and pretend everything will be okay.

The problem of course is that Moshiri is not a fan and is only concerned at recovering as much money as possible either for himself or any rich benefactor who has provided him with funds. Hence he will stick with 777 Partners and won't care about whether or not we will progress or sink with them as owners.

My question is how do we go about formulating an action plan? If they get approval this week, then it is highly unlikely that Moshiri will turn away from the deal or indeed be allowed by others to turn away. If it falls through, then how quickly will anyone else show their hand? We need a leader… You? — who clearly has the knowledge to drive an uprising and we need clout with the press and politically — Andy Burnham and Steve Rotherham?

The situation is highly dangerous and something needs to be done if it is not already too late. We need help before things get a lot worse — are there people out there who can lead the fan group?

I understand your exasperation and agree that the fans are the true custodians of the club. I think they are doing almost everything they can — the 37,000 that turn up for every home game through thick and thin.

The board who oversaw our demise have been driven out by them and the owner got the message, resulting in his decision to sell.

Like you, many of our number do not want 777 Partners as our new owners but is there an alternative? Why are the Premier League taking so long to approve the sale? What is going on?

As the saying goes, we don't know what we don't know!

I have become so cynical about the whole business that, if the Premier League do approve the deal, it won't be because it is best for Everton Football Club.

We all know we are fighting for our survival. My view is we can only do it “one round at a time” — beginning with our next game against Bournemouth.

Fortunately for us watching from afar, the magnificent away support will be up for it again for that one.

I appreciate your concerns, I too am fearful of 777 Partnerss as our new owners. Always have been, their business model is precarious, I see no sustainable model here, only future pain. As fans, we are very much in the dark.

Is the 777 takeover about to succeed or collapse? What are the alternatives, if any? How will Moshiri act if 777 fail, will he pump money into the club, what happens with the 777 loan debt?

I'm not sure how many answers we can get through the Shareholders Association and FAB, but I agree we should try.
How do we mobilise them? What do you think the plan of action should look like?

The protests against the last board led ultimately to their removal. But to what purpose? It would now seem the real target ought to have been the owner.

Given his financial predicament, he seems unlikely now to respond positively to pressure from anyone to adopt a course other than the one which best meets his personal interests.

So I doubt marching on the streets, waving banners, representations by fan groups, interventions by politicians and media criticism will make a difference to the ultimate outcome, whatever that turns out to be.

Sorry to sound defeatist.

It's not defeatest – it's real and frank.

Over time, in the course of life and our passions, including Everton FC, we (and me included) are guilty of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

The biblical scale of lack of care over the last 30 years has brought Everton FC to its knees.

A miracle is needed.

I think there are way too many more important things in life to be thinking about than some corrupt, closed-shop plaything for millionaires.

I can only assume that the only reason 777 Partners are still around is that they are the only viable conduit to funnel whatever can be recovered from this train wreck back to Moshiri.

To be blunt, custodians or not, this is out of our hands. If redemption is to come at all, it will be a last-minute white knight of the sort Tony Abrahams alludes to with a take-it-or-leave-it offer, just before we slide into administration. Personally, I can't see it, but you never know.

Meanwhile, the squad is lushing it up at a fancy 5-star resort having fisticuffs in a uber-expensive restaurant. Last days of Rome?

"It requires the creditors of Everton Football Club to realise that their position deteriorates over time, and that Moshiri's proposed solution to them (777 Partners) is not the solution that works in their best interests."

But didn't the major creditors of the club, Rights and Media Funding, approve the purchase by 777 Partners and reject what was allegedly a better solution from MSP Capital?

Reports indicate that 777 Partners are keen on buying Everton as it will increase the asset value of their portfolio, something which they can then use to leverage increased investment. How much do you think the delay by the Premier League has impacted 777's credit rating in this regard and contributed to their, and ultimately our, financial problems?

No, thought not… all a bit too Fantasy Island, left field-ish thinking. Why should we be treated any different than anybody else?

Not withstanding our part in our downfall – which is considerable – the Premier League have painted themselves into a bit of a corner with the whole dog's breakfast of rule changes and interpretation, then re-rule changing the rules again in June or whenever.

No doubt they'll stick with the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law, nevermind that The Law is still "more honoured in the breach than the observance" and a 'Sorry, lads, those were the rules at the time' shrug

But hey, all is not lost! There's a 90+% finished new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock and a place in the Premier League... which is 'ours' until it isn't – no matter if the name on the badge says Everton FC or St Domingo Phoenix 2024.

These things have monetary 'worth' and people want to buy things that have 'a worth'... especially if the price is right.

White Knight — Come on down!

As always, more questions than answers, not least from The Premier League.

I refuse to believe that Moshiri actually thinks that he has found the perfect buyer for him (not the club). It doesn't make sense – no matter how you want to cut it. 6 months in without approval and 777 Partners look worse every day.

The elephant in the room is obvious: Why are they even in contention? Where is the money going to come from and how are they going to fund the club both in the short term and long term?

All reasonable questions, they are likely the very same ones the Premier League cannot get a satisfactory answer for.

Now, I am going out on a limb here, but, after Moshiri's past involvement in all things Usmanov, their undoubted links together at Arsenal, plus links professionally with said Russian-owned companies, and personal friendship – one would have to be forgiven to believe for one second that Moshiri and Usmanov no longer have anything to do with each other. Indeed, the bulk of Moshiri's wealth derived from companies his friend has or had and his positions on various boards of similar ilk.

So it's not that much of a stretch to believe that their friendship may not have ended with sanctions, nor Usmanov's obvious interest in the club.

Here's the unsaid 2 + 2 = 5 bit… we have 777 Partners with a not-so-clean profile, even alleged links to at least one Russian businessman (not Usmanov) but running on empty with cash, not paying bills etc, who frankly should not be getting a look-in... unless...

Follow the money: and exactly who will be funding 777 Partners? Are they just a front? If so, it's a company of a company, whose company is owned in Bermuda, or has a registered office in BVI?

It's like no one wants to ask the obvious question as to why Moshiri is even talking with these people!

It's not a conspiracy theory to not know the facts: it's conjecture, it's trying to understand a deal which, on the face of it, makes no sense to the buyer or seller. So, where is the catch?

In deals such as these, there is a bottom line, a question for both buyer and seller: What's in it for me?

The second question if the first is not answered is: Why do it?

The last question after all of that is, Who are you doing it for?

Rich people play by their own rules, they employ armies of people to get around sanctions and laws. They do it successfully... it only takes money.

Moshiri has lost a lot with Everton. His mate is likely involved somewhere in the chain, neither are likely to let it go into administration and risk losing it all. That just doesn't make any sense at all – especially if he still has access to many more millions.

Too many things about this just don't add up. We need another version of the Panama papers!

When Bill Kenwright embarked on his legendary 24/7 search for the right owner, one could have guessed that his version of a right owner was one who had access to loads of mullah for himself and of the same ethos: "I don't have to listen to anyone, it's my club."

One thing is clear: the Premier League may well upset the plans of 777 Partners and Moshiri, allowing other parties into play. One can only hope whoever it is clears the decks.

Tangled webs?

Will 777 Partners bring this financial stability and long-term growth? The litany of late payments, ongoing court cases, dramatic credit downgrades, exit of a major source of finance, A-CAP, managed administration of another major source of finance in 777 Re, firing of their chief financial officer halfway through a billion-pound takeover…

All of it makes me think, with 777 Partners, we are just going from one hell to another further down the line. Possibly a worse, catastrophic debt-ridden one that we cannot escape from.

What can the fans do though, the owner's forever absent, and as has been said, just wants the most money on offer? Moshiri will not bother listening to any dissent and will carry on regardless.

Either way, I'm relieved the decision looks like it will be made this week. Above all, it has to be clear and unambiguous, as time is surely up.

We are on the edge of a cliff, the ravenous tiger is about to maul and consume us. What do you want to do? Stay and risk be eaten alive or jump into the deep blue sea and hope you don't drown?

I'd choose to jump.

Firstly, we don't have any other option, so we will surely go down if they are not accepted. Secondly, let's not forget that they have kept us above the surface for the last months. So maybe, just maybe, it's not as bad as everyone thinks.

I'm hoping they get approved and keep the club at least alive and help the stadium get finished. After that, we should hopefully be in a little bit better position financially and they will try to sell us with profit to some better buyer. If this happens, they will have been pretty good owners… right?

In a perfect world, your suggestions regarding pressure on the owner would be ideal, a great idea, and no doubt end in a successful outcome. Unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world.

Although we supporters are, in our own minds, the true custodians of the club, in reality, we are not.

Everyone, individual supporters, FAB, politicians, Andy Burnham et al, businessmen, Carney et al should be praised and applauded for everything they have done and continue to do; however, they all achieved nothing, zero, nada with our appeal. The commission even thanked FAB in their report but then ignored it

While Moshiri owns 90-odd percent of the shares, but has no affiliation with Everton other than financial, we are snookered.

To not accept there's a ton of monkey business going on is, in my opinion, completely naive… but we are just the audience watching the show roll on.

Moshiri, unfortunately, is Putinesque. He is a law unto himself, surrounded by sycophants, listening to only himself.
Had he binned Bill on Day 1, and put in a proper business-like board to run the club properly, we would now be looking at where to put his statue up in the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock!

That, like supporters changing the agenda, I'm afraid, is not going to happen.

It's likely that Moshiri was just the front man all along, but obviously the Premier Leage are not stupid and 777 Partners are going to find it mighty difficult to convince them that their extra money source is not Usmanov.

Lack of communication

I'll put myself forward for the FAB this summer

I genuinely don't know a fanbase that would put up with this suffering. Sold out week after week, when you look at other clubs' stadiums with glaringly obvious empty seats. Unbelievable support, but I would not expect anything different from the most passionate supporters in the country.

Cradle to grave. The owners and board are custodians. We are the constant.

Can we achieve much? Maybe not, but we keep going and keep believing.

Bournemouth away and Burnley home — already sold out. Then onto a Monday night fixture at Stamford Bridge with the Merseyside-based supporters and others from around the country not getting back until the early hours.

It never ceases to amaze me.

I wrote a fan article last year referring to Moshiri as being a "Goffer" with him only appearing as a puppet for the real wheeler-dealer financing the club being a Russian Oligarch.

The new set of crooks desperately trying to take control seemingly resort to possibly even dodgier practices than the original crooks who have left us in this desperate situation.

Deceased and sacked persons included.

Moshiri selling us out to the only hand he has is a disgrace, hence 6 months trying to ascertain if they actually have any legitimate source of finance. Another dodgy set of charlatans will I fear ultimately lead us into administration.

65 years idolizing our famous colours, I fear now may ultimately result in a sad, sad ending to a life-long passion.

I live in hope and greatly admire the legions of fans who stand behind the love of their lives and also for the many who suffer untold hardships but still find the time and effort to stand behind the motto "Nil Satis Nisi Optimum".

Is there a saviour out there?

There is, and their name is "Fans of EFC".

But let's make this clear: if they aren't given the go-ahead to buy us, then we will be in administration by the end of the month. I'm absolutely certain of that.

From what I have read, those more educated seem to think it would plough even more debt onto the club.

I am not an expert on these things and am waiting for Bournemouth away. I just think something needs to happen soon.

Then we get to the alternatives, as some suggest are out there (The esk, Wyness). What will their business strategy and capital input be? Will that differ much from what 777 intend to do? Nobody knows.

Appreciate the post as always. Your doggedness with this is admirable.

Moshiri bought us officially. He has close ties to Usmanov. Usmanov is sanctioned and now Moshiri wants to sell up only to 777.

777 are also pretty non-transparent and look like a terrible choice as owner. Where is our equivalent of Jim Ratcliff? Where is the public pressure? I don't see any.

It feels like we have already fallen into the abyss with the endless negative things that have happened to us over the last 25 years, yet somehow we are still in the top flight.

How can fans make a difference in the current climate?

Moshiri has too much investment in us to let us go under. The Premier League needs to find a good reason to reject 777 Partners so we can all move on.

Evertonians is true have saved the Club till now.All we can hope for is that the pressure applied which has allowed Everton to survive, will continue to influence decisions by Everton Premier League and the Government which will continue to allow Everton to survive.Moshiri will.avoid all contact that will enhance this pressure.He is under orders to do so.

It is agree hard to fathom that the money Moshiri invested was worth nothing to start with because of it's source, so the perception of what is going on is very different than the norm, and how the parties involved view things.

I just discovered Cervantes - Don Quixote. Moshiri is really close in characterisation. Moshiri even acts and is what I image Don Quixote to be like.

Man Utd fans stormed Old Trafford to “complain” about their ownership and caused a match to be called off with no repercussions and no change in the direction of the club.

To amend a quote from a French general at Waterloo about the British cavalry:

“Our fans are the noblest in Europe and the worst led!”

Wasn't Man Utd's defence that the fans broke in, so it was a policing issue – not our fault, Guv.

Throughout this period, our only contribution of note has been the not always popular slogan, "The People's Club", and during these last few seasons, we the supporters have literally been the famed 12th Man.

Somehow, even with all our well-known problems, we have almost got a new magnificent stadium, in a prime position on a famous river known across the World. It's critical that the stadium is finished and becomes fully operational. Not only will it become our new home but, for the city, it will become a potential international venue supporting and boosting the tourism industry.

So our survival and future prosperity is of major importance to the city. So you would think the City Council and the Merseyside region would be taking an active interest in the potential sale of the Club. Sadly, they are likely to be too concerned about their own budgets and the lack of leadership withIn these organisations means they are unlikely to have any impact.

So my point is we need to seek help, and in fairness Local MPs have helped. But they are limited to what they can do. The one person who is in a position to help, and maybe follow the earlier example of his fellow Tory, is Michael Gove in his roll as Communities Secretary. He is an unusual MP, not without skill and power, and he may just fancy following in his predecessor's footsteps.

Since I feel I should do something, I will write to him and give it a try. Nothing lost?

Sadly, any levelling-up funds would probably head towards Old Trafford, Ratcliffe is a prime Tory.

In a Labour stronghold, and believe me, some of my family border on being communists, Heseltine done much good for the city. It's often overlooked by many.

Tony. You've triggered me as it still feels like an eternity until the end of the month.

Forget United, forget it.

Heysels. How they got away with an extra year when we and everyone else got 5 for something we didn't do still grates me. They should have got double.

It doesn't hide the incompetency in how the club has been managed since then. But it had to be them that denied us the opportunity.

I don't know how to explain it. They are like the proverbial offenders who always seem to come out smelling of roses.

It's a good job my middle brother isn't comment. He is a lot more vocal in his opinion on the subject.