MSP Sports Capital withdraw from Everton talks

Shame. Eternal shame on Kenwright and Moshiri.

This club is so far gone now it's unbelievable.

It was a good way for the club to dampen down the protests. We had people on here saying "Don't protest it will upset the investors" etc. What a joke.

Unsurprisingly the one halfway respectable investors we've been linked with run afoul of the shady loan sharks we're indebted to. Kenwright will be delighted to see the next stage of his plan to liquidate Everton succeed as planned.

However, I can't speak for anybody else but I'm very sick and tired of having to rely on journalists and sports reporters to get any sort of news about anything connected to the club. The club itself should be addressing the fans directly about significant issues.

Everton being wound up would be the end of our club, permanently. We are stuck until there is no Kenwright.

Everton's hopes of improving their financial situation have received a huge hit after MSP Sports Capital withdrew from talks about taking a minority stake in the club.

The New York-based investment group signed an exclusivity agreement with the Premier League side in May and the plan was to invest up to £150million in convertible debt that would become a stake of approximately 25 per cent in the 145-year-old club.

In a complicated deal, £100million of that investment was meant for Everton Stadium Development Company, the subsidiary club owner Farhad Moshiri set up in 2017 to oversee the construction of Everton's new ground at Bramley-Moore Dock, with the rest going to the club.

But that exclusivity period is now over and the deal is dead, with the stumbling block being opposition from one of Everton's existing lenders, Rights and Media Funding Limited.

Everton, currently bottom of the Premier League after losing their first two games of the season without scoring a goal, have a loan facility with the Cheshire-based firm that the club has extended to £200million this year. That debt is secured via four charges on club assets and they have negative pledge clauses which mean the holder can demand repayment of its debt before the borrower takes on any further borrowing.

With Rights and Media Funding Limited reluctant to give up its protection against possible default, MSP's plan became unworkable. The lender's main concern, however, was that MSP was not putting enough money into the club in return for its equity and Everton simply need more cash.

That may well be true but the club will now not be getting any from MSP. But the US group is proceeding with the £100million loan to the stadium company, although this is now just a straightforward loan and not convertible debt.

This should enable Moshiri to repay the £40million he borrowed from English businessman Andy Bell in May which was always intended to act as a bridging loan for the larger MSP investment. Bell, the founder of share-dealing platform AJ Bell, lent the money to the stadium company via his family investment firm Blythe Capital.

What is not clear, however, is if the MSP loan will now unlock the rest of the funding required to complete the stadium.

The original plan was that the remaining £260million would come via a five-year construction loan sourced by global banks JP Morgan and MUFG, but that was premised on MSP taking an equity stake in the business.

The club's supporters, however, will have more pressing concerns. In the previous two seasons, they overcame closely-fought relegation battles and they have endured a difficult start to the 23-24 campaign — having lost their opening two matches. The club have also only added four new players this summer and the only one who cost a fee, 19-year-old striker Youssef Chermiti, is not fit enough, according to manager Sean Dyche.

With MSP out of the picture in terms of additional investment, Moshiri is trying to find alternatives, including resuming talks with Miami-based investment firm 777 Partners. Whether those talks go any further than the ones that took place earlier this year remains to be seen.

Everton's problems, though, go beyond a failure to find fresh investment and a slow start to the season. They have lost more than £400million between 2018 and 2022 and are currently being investigated by an independent panel for possible breaches of the league's spending rules. A ruling is expected later this year.

Moshiri, a 68-year-old British-Iranian, bought the club in 2016, having previously owned a minority stake in Arsenal with his business partner Alisher Usmanov. Moshiri, who is based in Monaco, has poured at least £750million into Everton, with very little to show for his generosity apart from a half-built stadium by the banks of the Mersey.

His free-spending approach to football just about made sense for as long as he had access to Usmanov's financial support but that was dramatically cut off last year when the Uzbek-born oligarch was added to the UK's list of sanctioned individuals in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. That forced Everton to cancel several lucrative sponsorships with Usmanov-owned companies and opened another hole in the stadium-financing plan as Usmanov was going to provide a naming-rights partner.

Everton, a founder member of the Football League, have competed in English football's top flight for a record 120 seasons. And, despite a 28-year trophy drought, they remain one of England's most successful teams in terms of silverware.

Set up by sports agent Jeff Moorad and investor Jahm Najafi, MSP describes itself as a private equity firm that invests in teams, leagues and sports-related businesses. It has stakes in Spanish football team Alcorcon, German side Augsburg and Portugal's Estoril, as well as shares in F1's McLaren and the NBA's Phoenix Suns.

Everton, MSP and Moshiri were all asked for comment but declined to do so.

Now I ask myself What would Everton do? I know, we will get a sponsorship with Wilko.

Then leave "Everton" to go bankrupt and just change Marine's name to Everton 2.0 then tell all the fans the plan (except for Kenwright and his sycophants) so everyone starts showing up to games at Everton 2.0 for whom the cash comes rolling in and in 5 years we are in the Premier League.

This seems way easier than digging ourselves out of the hole we are currently in.

I suspect Bill is on the point of 'withdrawing from public life'. No doubt he will be said to be 'heartbroken' as he views the chaos he has wrought on the club from his retirement home 'somewhere abroad'.

Billy Liar is still Chairman which is all he wants. A massive narcissist who seriously thinks he has done a magnificent job.

He has to go, but we all know he isn't going anywhere.

Kenwright will be locked up on the top floor of the Liver Building with 20-inch fingernails and long hair, pissing into mason jars, thinking about his glory days on Sunset Boulevard as he drifts off into the last realms of lunacy.

A man who is supposed to love this club, he ran it into the ground, and will be despised by all Everton fans, and will be remembered for not having the dignity to walk away.

We could be in greater trouble than any of us realised. We might get more than a points reduction in October, we might get thrown out of the league system altogether, depending upon what the charge is.

I think the transfer window just slammed shut on us, at least relating to incomings. I expect, relatively paltry fees will be bought in by the sale of Onana and Branthwaite in the light of this news.

Moshiri is stuck with Everton and Everton are stuck with Moshiri, until such time as he can find a buyer. That will take another 6 months of due diligence and fraught negotiations, whilst the team will hover around the bottom of the table.

With Rights and Media Funding Limited reluctant to give up its protection against possible default, MSP's plan became unworkable. The lender's main concern, however, was that MSP was not putting enough money into the club in return for its equity and Everton simply need more cash.

Just need a points deduction in October to top it off and, if that happens, we probably fold as a club or best case scenario we go through a few leagues.

Either way, this looks very very grim.

He can't even close a deal in his own field of expertise! He must be the most inept club owner ever and competition for that prize is off the scale.

Little wonder the club is dying before our very eyes.

Fucked from all directions.

If MSP were getting too much for too little, then it's good that it didn't happen.

This must surely be the end of the line, or is that a bit dramatic?

Now just go and take Moshri to hell and rot for eternity, you selfish bastards!

Bring back Warrington and Mills… Never know – could be another Man Utd 6 at Everton!

I don't think they are much worse than the players we are in for.

My main concern is why our brilliant owner and our genius of a chairman didn't realise that MSP were taking the piss a bit earlier?

Led by donkeys.

It all went so silent and I started doubting that MSP would pull the trigger. And here we are.

We must survive this season.

We're in big trouble. If we go down, we will not come back up with the liabilities we are carrying.

Start praying.

Moshiri must be the world's worst accountant, ably assisted by the world's most useless chairman.

I always found it interesting that Dante's ninth level was Treachery. Seems kind of lame compared to some other deadly sins.

Now I think the ninth slot is appropriate.

The three stages of life statement still holds true;

1. Birth
2. For fuck's sake, Everton
3. Death

If you were looking to invest in something and knew that the seller wanted to get rid of that something pretty damn quick, wouldn't you try and screw the nut as tight as possible? Unfortunately for Moshiri, his other debtors thought – hang on a minute, they haven't got the same amounts of money that the current owner has, no thanks.

I can see Bill getting his white charger ready, riding into Goodison after buying Everton FC for a quid, meanwhile, Moshiri and his cohorts will complete the stadium and will take all of the cash from food outlets etc from around the new ground. Everton will be paying premium rent for its use, for the next 50 years and the stadium will continue to be a drain on its limited resources.

He has too much money invested and the club is effectively insolvent. But, yeah, be the outlier accusing histrionics…..

Anyone else who has money tied up in Everton Football Club, or the stadium company, must be becoming a little anxious.

Surely there's a way through this? Act now please!!

Exactly, Anthony Hughes. What a shambles.

I still see another twist but 777 Partners are still lingering. Perhaps, but is there any other dark horse with cleaner money willing to back Everton?

Very dark days for Everton FC, in all aspects. Hopefully a solution is close to being found.

In view of Chelsea, Man City and Man Utd being financially compliant, and in reference to the scale of charges publicly disclosed against Man City, then, if Everton get done in October, on par City should get hammered. Will October bring any deduction of points to Everton alone and not Man City?

But the stadium construction is under a different company, so hopefully this doesn't impact “directly” the operations of
Everton Football Club, or does it?

The scale of mismanagement of Everton over the last 30 years and going forward means the business credibility is now at its lowest ever, and as many have said, matters could be far worse than any of us could imagine.

Viva Santo Domingo, but divine intervention is needed now.

Did Kenwright by any chance find these people?

Philip Green, Vibrac and Riverdance: the mystery of Everton’s ‘shadow investor’ — The Guardian, 29 December 2016

Try to read and digest rather than just being melodramatic.
Yes, it's not what we (thought) we wanted but it may just have saved us from selling ourselves short.

Take a breath, think, and then if you must, throw your skirts up and scream, for fuck's sake.

If you're looking in, have a look at Everton as a business opportunity and plough your wealth into our club in order to rid it of the incompetent people running it at the moment.

I think we are holed beneath the waterline.

What would Everton do? Sink.

The deals (Kenwright did) with Media & Sports Rights Funding (successor to JG Finance who had links to Kenwright Philip Green) look like they will block anything but an investment that is used to clear their debt or at least change ownership.

Being forced to take on extra debt to ease a stadium cash flow crunch, but not fully fund it, adds interest and debt to our already stressed P&L and Balance Sheet.

This makes it even harder to find more lenders or investors or a buyer (unless Moshiri accepts pennies in the £). It increases the risk of business failure. It increases the risk of failing to fund completion of the stadium. It will likely necessitate more player sales to fund future stadium cash calls unless we can access new external funding. Any such funding will not be at the respectable end of the lender/investor market. Crooks like 777 and worse.

The implications for transfer business and retaining PL status are obvious. We still have 2 loan slots and I think one buy and two loans might be the maximum we can now do but the desperate need to retain PL status (with a potential points deduction hanging over us) might make us stretch/risk a bit.

In the Moshiri/Kenwright era things can always, and perhaps we can say, only get worse.

Chasing after lost causes again, year after year. Are we going to the wall, because that's what it looks like! We can't even compete with Nottingham Forest!

Why is the Adams deal taking an eternity (again)? Kenwright, that's why! Gnonto isn't coming, and why should he? If we get Adams, great; otherwise, we will have to go with what we've got!

Not wishing to be a doom and gloom merchant but after nearly 70 years being a blue, I've never felt so down, and that's from the heart.

I'm sure it's well known throughout the club by now and players will be looking to the lifeboats.

As Kenwright sits on his £30M of ill-gotten gains, I hope he reflects on what he has done to people and the club he professes to love.

As for Moshiri, he is just a buffoon with money gained through being a front for money laundering.

I am just hoping to see a white knight somewhere and hopefully not 777 Partners to come in and rescue things. With Dumb and Dumber in charge, that looks highly unlikely.

I was writing in between your post. I couldn't agree more with your comments and sentiments! Where do we go from here, other than downwards?

Would Jim Radcliffe touch us? I don't think so!

A win on Saturday won't alter things at the sharp end.
Kenwright and Co, just go. For once, Bill, do something positive: Go now, you've taken us to the depths and beyond, please go!

Moshiri (in his finest Bond Villain accent): "Vot are you sinking about?"

And it may turn out to be a lucky escape in the end as selling when the Club is at a low ebb is never good business.

Yes, we still have an inadequate Board, but how do we know these MSP people are even trustworthy, never mind good at running a football club? Out of the frying pan etc…

Some of the doom-filled reaction on this thread would be hard to understand to somebody looking at things in the cold light of day. But, of course, we now seem to have one of the whingiest fanbases around just itching to complain about anything and everything.

Grim times, but it can still turn around.

"We now seem to have one of the whingiest fanbases around just itching to complain about anything and everything."

Here we all are as fans of a football club worrying about trifling things like the fact we are bottom of the league, having weakened the team after narrowly avoiding relegation twice.

We moan that we have a half-built stadium and seemingly don't have the cash to finish it. We whinge off about silly things like financial irregularities and potential fines or points deductions.

Reports that the failure of the MSP deal may necessitate the sale of more players just for cashflow are something only a negative Nancy would give a thought to. The minor detail that we haven't signed a striker in about 5 years.

You're right, Karl. These trivial matters are no cause for concern. Everyone go come quietly, there is nothing to see here. Everything is under control.

As for MSP – all is not lost – we could still survive if we start with a win this week and a touch at our trial in October. I think we could manage up to a 7-point deficit and still stay up.

The club has been run into the ground by people completely out of their depth in what is required in the running of a football club of Everton's standing. I do very much fear that we are heading to the Championship in freefall.
This news could not have come at a worse time with 6 -7 days remaining to sign players – it was hard enough to encourage players to come on board – with this, it will be near fucking impossible.

Just terrible news…

If you have any evidence whatsoever that there is a silver lining to be found in our current predicament, or that the club is in safe hands and not on the brink of bankruptcy, then like many others, I would be grateful to hear it.

Paul the Esk has been informing us for months, if not years, that our business plan (if that's the right term) has more holes in it than a Swiss Cheese. Any business that has cash-flow problems will eventually fold, a multi-million pound business in the unstable environment of football, will fold hard and quickly. Which reminds me – I hope that Paul is well on the road to recovery from his recent health issues.

Most fans will accept bad results, even the dreaded R-word, but they won't accept the club being run into the ground because a couple of buffoons took control of it for a few years and neither of them could admit that they were both well out of their depth, and have no plan to right the sinking ship.

Too many people reading the headline but not the content.

1. So MSP will be injecting £100m into the stadium. Good news, I guess.

2. MSP wanted to further invest in the club but have been prevented by an existing major creditor. So they haven't backed out.

3. If the other creditor blocked it, the structure or terms must be risky. Might not be a bad thing it's fallen through. Probably means there was no real new money coming in.

4. 777 (or anyone else) will have to overcome the same hurdle and stump up some real new money – otherwise, they will be prevented too.

5. Those blaming Thelwell for incompetence need to think about the financial constraints he must be operating under.

6. At this late stage, it might mean deals conditional on the (smoke and mirrors) investment are now off. So, with a week or so to go, we might be in real bargain basement deal territory – or maybe no deals at all.

7. Those who rate Cannon very highly might get their wish for him to get his chance. He may be our new striker.

[Shakes head.]

So R&MF Ltd is just a shell company it seems. It's last filed accounts show £303m in assets (presumably includes the £200m owed by us). But their creditor balance is exactly the same at £303m?

So they are owed £303m and themselves owe £303m but there's no info on who owes the £303m and more importantly who the company owes the £303m to – the real people owed by Everton.

Any half-sane investor doing due diligence on Everton would run a mile after 5 minutes. Surprised MSP stayed that long.

Given the burden of the new stadium, the glaring weakness of the financial and playing situations and the obvious uncertainty about the hearing on 25 October, the prospect of all the parties agreeing a valuation at this juncture always seemed a tall order.

For me, the important point tonight is that the £100m loan buys some time. I imagine once the 25 October outcome is known, there will be further developments… but not until then.

Noun: informal, a period of continuous deterioration that leads ultimately to catastrophic failure or destruction.

I appreciate that part of his $3.1B wealth is going to be EFC as an asset, and a part of his wealth is going to be stocks and share options. But why does such a wealthy individual need a relatively small investment from MSP? I mean, that's a little over 6% of his wealth.

Billionaires become Billionaires because they don't like to spend their own money, much better to use other people's money.

If Moshiri has lost interest, which it seems he has, there's no earthly reason for him to put any more money into the project.

Insolvency may be the end of the club, it has happened to others. Better start thinking of new alternative hobbies.

You're probably right about not wanting to invest any more into the project, but surely the value of the club with a finished stadium is worth more than the sum of the investments.

Moshiri has been borrowing millions to keep the stadium build on track. MSP were never going to buy this train wreck, and lots of Everton supporters were taken in by it. Just like the directors being sacked, all a smokescreen.

They are running our club into the ground. Don't believe a word this club says unless it's signed sealed and delivered. Oh, Thin Lizzy and Stevie Wonder in the same sentence.😀

But in the meantime, what a mess!

Lots of Evertonians, in fact nearly all of them, have been taken in by the ground move. It was always going to end in disaster but most have been blinded by the promise of it being our saviour.

Our recent managers have shown generating money would never improve us. It has all been a disastrous folly.

The next three games are so vitally important (as if they all are) but Wolves after their drubbing will want to rebound just like Villa did after the Barcodes game.

Another banana skin but we should be used to it now.

The Doncaster game will see some changes as these fixtures usually do and a chance to see some of the new names maybe.

This is followed by the Blades which could also be considered a six-pointer even at this early stage.

Surely the Wolves game has to see Dyche shuffle the pack.

Q) How do you go Bankrupt?

A) Gradually… Then Suddenly.

The organisation does not have a single employee and largely operated behind a veil of secrecy, with no website, phone number or Financial Conduct Authority registration.

Additionally, over half of the company's loan book, £190 million, is attributed to Everton and the firm has itself borrowed from numerous offshore lenders.

From a financial perspective, it is highly unusual for any organisation to lend half of its total loan book to a single borrower because of the potential risk.

The whole nature of banking is that, when you do lend money, you have a portfolio of borrowers so that, if one is in financial distress, the others allow the financial institution to carry on.

Alice should be called to look into this Wonderland built by Bill Kenwright — who is definitely a Mad Hatter.

I knew then that this was all bullshit. The best thing we can all do is look away, cos this doesn't end well.

We aren't even toast, more like a very small stale muffin. All dried up and crumbling. And oh look, we have run out of jam.

Very sad for all us True Blues.

I am 71 and the thought of EFC being relegated in my lifetime used to be unthinkable and now it seems absolutely certain! Unless a complete new total buyer is found, then we are already being flushed down the toilet of failure!

Ladies and gents, I think you will find we are now technically insolvent. Is Colin Chong an experienced enough director to see the risks here? Who exactly is John Spellman and what are his credentials?

I said a year or so ago that we face a real possibility of disintegrating. I've become persuaded more recently that this is more like a probability. The best thing that could happen right now is for Usmanov's involvement to be demonstrated, and for the club to have an Abramovich style auction. Otherwise I don't see a way out of this.

I believe that you are correct. MSP (or the decidedly dodgy 777 Partners) apparently have never had the resources to acquire more than the 25% that Moshiri sought to gain enough investment to remain in control of the club.

The only advantage I could see in their investment would have been their alleged requirement for two seats on the board which would have gotten rid of Kenwright and at least given us some hope that the club would begin to be run competently.

Surely Moshiri's only hope now is to sell out as quickly as possible at a greatly reduced price before the club quite possibly collapses into administration if the shadowy offshore lenders call in their debt.

Moshiri, surely the stupidest owner in football, must be deeply regretting that he pulled out of the deal to sell the club to the Kaminski consortium in July 2022.

Meanwhile, the despicable enemy within our club carries on as Chairman.

Bill Kenwright went round with a begging bowl, leeching off such vile creatures as Philip Green, and selling off all the club's assets, just to keep control of Everton.

He cheated, lied and fiddled until he finally found an international money laundering group who would just give him millions of pounds and allow him to carry on in charge ('carry on' being the operative word), resulting in the worst financial and footballing mess in the club's history.

There's a statue in honour of Walker outside Blackburn's ground – if fans like Brian Williams and Karl Masters have their way, there will be a gold-plated obelisk in honour of Chairman Bill outside the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.

Low based on Moshiri's investment, low relative to our debt, yes, but low based on reality? I think not.

The stadium is separate now and encumbered by its own debt so “Everton” is presumably the value of the squad and revenue. We lose money every year so there is no net revenue.

The squad are worth north of £400 million? Certainly doesn't look like it when we can't give them away. £400 million is a generous pricing for the misfit squad most of whom have 2 years or less left on their contracts.

I wouldn't put it past him to have gotten a loan finders fee and a cut of the juice money that Everton are paying on the loan.

It should have been obvious from a 10-minute read of the contract.

There does not appear to be any real football club running pedigree, far from it in the case of 777. If you look at any of the clubs they have invested in, what are you finding? Success on the pitch? No. Success off it? Hard to tell, but nothing stands out.

So, then, why are they in it? To make money. That's what all American ‘investment' is about. Maybe a little bit of kudos, but MSP had 15 people putting up £10M each. Hoping I'd guess to make a quick buck selling out to a bigger investor when the stadium is finished. Have you heard a business plan from them that's going to shake things up?

The idea that these people are some sort of business wizards and white knights is just fantasy. And if they can't make their money as above, they either pull out or asset strip. Neither is any good to us as fans who want to see a winning team.

MSP are being blocked by an existing creditor. They are still investing in the stadium – to make money, not because they crave a winning Everton. They'd be gone in 5 years at most taking a tidy profit if they could. A winning Everton helps them make more money, but that's not their priority.

So, no gold-plated obelisks (haha, nice image! ) for Kenwright and Co, but just letting anybody in on the cheap isn't the answer either.

It didn't appear to be a risky investment, it just means that R&MF have first call on repayment of any debt and they don't want to give up that right.

That's also what puzzles me, unless, of course they did realise they couldn't invest in the way they wanted, very early in the proceedings and that's why Moshiri asked Bill to stay on as Chairman. It's all very murky and very political. It's so convenient that the period of exclusivity ran from just prior to the end of last season and ten days prior to the window closing.

No interested parties in buying the club, may have resulted in the fans being far more liable to ask questions during the summer and perhaps have shown, more publicly, their dissatisfaction with so many aspects of the club.

The fans are once again torn between 'bad vibes' affecting the team's results and wanting to see change at the top of the club. Somebody best pull a great big rabbit out of the hat, because, the whole club is headed for a winter of discontent.

As for MSP or anybody else investing in or taking over Everton, we won't know how they would run it or what type of people they may be, but the devils we know have set such a low bar, I don't really think it matters who comes in – if anyone does.

That would be a good reason for blocking MSP but could backfire if it caused Everton to go into receivership and the assets were much smaller than the debt and stock...

But everyone knows that City's owners and their lawyers will have the FA tied up in Gordian knots for years and they won't face any real sanctions.

Everton's board on the other hand will just bend over and take it in the arse.

Yeah, a guy from Riverdance and an actors' agent set up a company that's sole function seems to be to lend money to Everton. Unconventional to say the least.

Presumably being a sidekick to Michael Flatley wasn't lucrative enough for this guy to have billions laying around that he's willing to risk.

The question I have is in the name: Rights and Media Funding. What Rights are we talking about here? Future tv rights? Future media rights? On the face of it, they have nothing to do with either as they were seemingly created to lend money to a football club.

Unless of course this isn't an unsecured loan and it's collateral is future TV and media rights from Everton based on Premier League TV money. That might explain why the loan is payable in full if we are relegated and why they don't want new shareholders who naturally might want a cut of that revenue.

Also, as a result of all this, that merely 'rich man' mentioned above, has managed to trouser – I was going to say walk away with but he didn't have the decency to even do that right – an alleged sum of somewhere around the thick end of £40+ million

As somebody said:

Q) How do you go Bankrupt?

A) Gradually – Then Suddenly.

I hope we're still in the 'gradual' phase and it's not too late, but I wouldn't be too surprised to hear 'Mr Suddenly' knocking at our door in the near future – and we may only be the first domino.

I also fear we are just big enough to make an example of, but small enough not to do any real damage to the whole big boys nose in the pigs trough edifice.

Still – one game at a time, eh… what else can we do?

It used to be called JG Funding – both associated with loan dealing, middle men with a link in a chain to hide the real investors, tax loopholes, Vibrac, Green's and Earl's fingers, the British Virgin Islands...

Remember all that controversy in 2015? We are someone's cash cow. Thanks, Bill...

He then found he had to juggle finances to keep going. But again he was arm's length with no strategic plan. He now finds that juggling the finances without a strategic plan leads to a limiting of options and a conflict of interests.

Is this why Blue Bill spoke of us having some good times, as they will be all we have to look back on in the not-too-near future?

Shame on all those concerned with creating this crisis.

9 years ago, we were sitting in a really strong position and clubs like Brentford and Brighton were an afterthought; now in 2023, we'd need the strongest pair of binoculars just to see their fuckin' dust.

How much a shambles this club had become since Moshiri walked through the door with the worst made plan (mind you did he even have any plans at all?).

The club has disappeared completely off the radar with this scattergun approach since 2016 and the only way most of us can see it heading now is down.

We are really going to have to get behind the team and manager. We won't be able to afford to pay Dyche off and no other manager would be stupid enough to take us on knowing we can't replace any of this squad.

What an absolute shambles we have been and are. There will be books written about us in years to come.

However, we definitely have a better future with visible improvements in terms of reducing wage bill, players incoming / linked players and a world class stadium coming up which will definitely improve our commercial side of things.

I think the biggest lift the club will get is Kenwright resigning or being removed. Hoping that somebody buys out this idiot Moshiri and installs a good board having very good business acumen. Once we have this, other improvements will follow automatically with proper systems in place.

MSP will not make the investment of £150M with the option to convert the loan into 25% equity in the club. They will however provide a loan of £100M for completion of the stadium. Unfortunately, the additional investment of £50M will take happen – that additional funding included money for investment in recruitment this summer for a squad that has been seriously weakened since it survived on the last day of the season.

More importantly, our existing lenders, Rights and Media Funding Limited, will insist on the negative pledge clauses on their £200M loan facility. In effect, we have to clear their loan before we take on further borrowings. That will affect 777 and any other investors unless someone is willing to buy the club outright, repay their loan facility and clear the club's debts.

Moshiri himself is unwilling to consider this as he will only have a chance of return on his investment if he sells the club after the stadium is completed. He is also not willing to invest any more of his own money in the club.

By that stage, the club might already have suffered relegation. As the auditors of our last accounts made clear, there is a real question about whether Everton can continue as a going concern if that is the case.

Now if that is not a crisis, then I don't what is. Both yourself and Karl need to get your heads out the sand and look at the situation as it really is.

So our main lender Rights and Media Funding Limited wants guarantees they will get their £200M back and can call it back at any time. MSP still give us £100M for the stadium but will not be invloved in having a stake in the club. Debt is just pilling up from a very badly managed club over the years.

I don't even think the Sheikhs will want to look at our books for a takeover.

Let's beat Wolves so we can talk about football again.

Managing Everton? Worst job in football.

(ps: Colin (129). I like that.)

These two fuckers are up to their necks in something rotten. I honestly believe this is going to get worse and these two know it but are playing for time.

Get this cancer out of the club now!

Personally, I hope it's true he's trying to leave, he's a PE teacher who modern players might have backed the methods in the middle of a relegation fight but aren't going to over a season.

We need someone who'll promote youth and he is literally the worst manager we could get for that. Literally.

I'm sorry that you should choose this moment in the club's history to join our ranks on here but I know you've enjoyed better times on ToffeeWeb! :-)

If the result of the last great escape is another year of Bill and zero investment in the team, we're just delaying the inevitable and reducing the chances of doing the same.

If he walked. I think he realises that would leave the club and team so deep in shit being unable to recruit a replacement and a mentally scrambled squad. I just don't think he would. I do believe he has a decent bond with his squad for the most part.

And I don't quite understand your "engineering an exit with a payoff" (which we can't afford anyway without selling someone) comment. Where are you getting that from?

Swirling the drain. Wonga FC.

I think we still have a lot to worry about!

Managers are out there. Players are out there (affordable ones), but our issue is the boardroom. Always has been and still is. Whatever the result on Saturday “Sack the Board” chants need to start up immediately.

Anyone who thinks we can tread water all the way to new stadium is deluded. Qatar own Man Utd (soon), Saudi own Necastle Utd, Abu Dhabi own Man City, the US billionaires have Chelsea and Liverpool……..with China and Russia Oligarchy and the west pariahs, where exactly is this magic future investor coming from?

Even Moshiri's great exit plan is as floored as any strategy he's ever had on the pitch… The only future we have is being headlocked into perpetual rent and interest all for a shiny stadium. It's just not going to be worth it. For me, I'd literally take starting again as St Domingo if we had to. Do a Rangers if we have to.

The stadium has become a pacifier to most of us. Makes us blind to simple truth and calm beyond anything we should be.

I have been following Everton since last 2 decades. I have been majorly disappointed since Moshiri has taken over despite his willingness to spend. Everton have largely failed due to inept boardroom capabilities and a proper operating structure.

I am in full agreement that Kenwright has been majorly responsible for the decline of this great football club. All these years, Kenwright has lacked business nous and is absolutely intransigent. His ego is not allowing him to leave us even if it is for the better of Everton.

Lmao, blind belief is such a strange thing to logic. If he wants out, he'd be gone. Only reason he isn't is that he knows he won't get many more shots and there's roughly £5M waiting from us if we sack him first.

He did pretty miraculous work keeping us up last season despite having no proper striker and staying up at the expense of Leeds, Leicester and Southampton who arguably all had better squads.

If anything, I think he has probably enhanced his reputation and he certainly would not be short of offers from the Championship where he has a superb record.

I think Dyche is an experienced pro who recognises that football fortunes can change pretty quickly. He may be pissed off at the off-field chaos and will be unhappy I'm sure if we don't bring at least another 2 or 3 players but, even then, I think he would back himself to survive once he gets the likes of McNeil, Harrison and Calvert-Lewin back. The season's only 2 games old.

Either things get better and people get onside with Dyche for turning it around, or they don't and, some time round November or December, Moshiri is forced to sack another manager and pay another load of compensation that we can't afford.

I don't get why you think Dyche did miraculous work to keep us up.

If it wasn't for Doucouré actually hitting the target for once, then Dyche would have taken us down.

On second thoughts...

I genuinely fear for the future of our club. The Premier League fit and proper person test isn't worth the paper it's written on.

No wonder Arsenal wouldn't let Moshiri and Usmanov near their board, unlike Kenwright, who threw open the doors and rolled out the red carpet.

Yes, I think Lampard did a much better job than Dyche, he'd have made sure we were relegated before the end of March!

No idea how anyone thinks a one-goal escape make the PE teacher a messiah.

You would have thought that he would have understood that this additional funding from MSP would have implications for the deal he struck with Rights and Media Funding. So they are saying,"Fine, do a deal with MSP. but you will need to pay off your loan from us first."

I saw a tweet from Paul the Esk who is well versed in Everton's financial situation and his brief synopsis is that MSP will still put up the money to help complete the stadium build, but won't be putting funding into the club or having people on the board.

But critically he thinks this will adversely effect money for transfers and for the day to day running of the club.

I also read a piece by Phillipe Auclair a French journalist who reports about 777 Partners, Moshiri's other financial option, that they are accused in papers in US courts of fraud, kidnapping, extortion and predatory lending.

Maybe later on Mike Gaynes may be able to shed some more light on 777 Partners.

The clever people on here who have demonstrated our financial position with great aplomb. How can it be within the FFP to spend nearly 1 billion and still be within the rules? Is assets? Is it sustainability?

It cannot be a level playing field with so much disparity.

Yes it was small margins but we stayed up. When Dyche took over all the bookies had us as favourites or second favourites for the drop. And rightly so.

Maybe ‘miraculous’ is overstating it but it was certainly against the odds. Dyche kept us up, plain and simple, when most expected us to go down. He deserves at least a little credit, though credit doesn’t last long in this business.

1860 are a traditional club, have won the Bundesliga, were a club before Bayern and for some time superior to their noisy neighbours – producing some of the best talent in germany and numerous national players. Many parallels to Merseyside.

I used to think 10/15 years ago that we need relegation to give us a reality check, to restructure and clear the decks of crap and change the mentality. But I'm sorry to say that the crap has become endemic to EFC at so many levels, it is embarrassing and shameful – and relegation would likely be the end of EFC as a professional club. I don't think we can compare it to Villa's bounce back as I'm fairly sure that their situation was not as bad as ours in terms of debt and mismanagement.

Oh yes, and all those who abuse our players online or in the stadium can just feck off now and never return. Shame on you idiots. Rant over.

And right what you say in your other posts, be honest here we were only a good Pickford save in injury time from perishing.

Could you imagine the ramifications if that had gone in.

On another note, Calvert-Lewin's unlucky injury on Sunday and still no replacement.

What are Thelwell and his team up to? Surely we deserve to know the truth about the club's finances.

I posted on Monday after Calvert-Lewin, I don't trust Dyche or Thelwell to get anyone over the line before the Wolves game, sadly that looks like being true.

We truly haven't got the proverbial pot to piss in, have we.

It is rumoured Rights and Media Funding Limited has a connection to Kenwright. MSP also allegedly wanted two seats on the board presumably at the expense of Kenwright…

Teflon ain't going anywhere soon, is he?

Read this article from last year for a bit of an insight:

Link

The other is the stadium under construction, which as half built real estate has value. In that situation when it’s completed, Moshiri owns an asset, albeit mortgaged to the hilt, that he can use to attempt to recover his losses from EFC. He then becomes Everton’s landlord and from a commercial standpoint is entitled to squeeze the club for the maximum rent achievable. Alternatively he could sell it to whoever offers top dollar to someone else who’ll have no qualms about rinsing Everton, or he could lease it to another party with a viable plan to make a 55,000 capacity stadium on the banks of the Mersey turn a profit.

Perhaps there are covenants in place to prevent that, but at the moment this feels like a very real doomsday scenario. Hopefully someone with better knowledge than me can convince me I’m being unduly pessimistic.

Dealing with Rights and Media Funding Ltd. looks very much like the loans Kenwright made in the past with Phillip Green involved.

It makes it seem that Chairman Bill is desperate to remain Chairman Bill.

The only way this stops is fans not going the game. Our club is dead.

Who is making us dance to their tune? Not R&MF... whomever it is is a genius with money. I am sure I've heard that somewhere before.. the initial loans were taken out before Moshiri came on board... I can't blame him for that one. Read the article.

I imagine the answer is any potential investor with a bit of savvy will await the inevitable relegation and/or liquidation to pick the club up for 2 quid.

After all the fanbase will remain and the potential for a footballing institution like EFC almost without parallel, so why waste millions now?

I don't think being at Everton will do damage to his reputation as there isn't a manager who could get a tune out of this squad with this financial nightmare. Although not playing Keane will help.

What the fuck is going on here? Is this just another bullshit bluff from the club, like all those transfers that "fall through" at the last minute?

It's no surprise that we fans think we're being conned and taken for mugs by the custodians of our club. This latest twist is either bollocks or yet more incompetence.

Probably both.

As I understand it, Moshiri has spent £700m and we are £300m in debt. Even these days, a billion pounds is a lot of money.

I know a few tens of million ended up in Bill's pocket, but where did all the rest go?

The Premier League status is where the significant cash flows are, lose that and we're toast.

The new stadium can surely generate cash for investors. So we wait for the next plan from the exceptional custodians of our club.

If you think going the game every week and cheering this shower on is helping, you're delusional. Sorry but it's true. It hasn't helped one bit and we're worse off now than we were a year ago – we have no money, no board, and no investment.

A terrible team, that is propping up the Premier League, with a manger who thinks Michael fucking Keane can play football. Kenwright is still Chairman of the trainset.

Stop going.
Stop buying shit.
Stop funding them.
Vote with your feet.

It's the only thing that will get these people out of the club once and for all. A massive media campaign can build behind that as empty seats will not go unnoticed, especially for a club that is on the financial precipice due to their incompetence (not the fans).

I will however join in “Sack the Board” chants, go to protests and be part of any movement that tried to rid us of the rot… short of detaching myself from my club.

What do you want fans to do about a situation that they have no control over?

Option 1 - Stop supporting the club?

Option 2 - Don't attend matches, even though most fans have paid upfront?

Option 3 - March up and down Goodison Road, until Moshiri appears and then, out of fear, he gives his project away for peanuts?

Option 4 - Get in a dig about Michael Keane as often as is possible until the crowd hound him out of the club?

Get real – the media has no interest in what happens to Everton or its supporters. In fact, the demise of Everton will probably be seen as good thing, for many outlets, as they pander to the usual suspects as we are no more than a footnote in their coverage.

There will certainly be no nationwide crusade on our behalf from any paper or TV company. We're not rich, we're not fashionable and we're pretty boring in the grand scheme of things.

Moshiri had got here by his arm's length approach allowing others to run things. He has never had a strategic plan on the football side. Although the property development has been well managed, not having a strategic plan encompassing the football side has created a lot of problems and led to the inevitable conflict of interest, highlighted by the R&MF block, if true.

I did think that Moshiri had adopted the Kenwright approach of holding on in the hope of a greater fool and Everton were destined for a continuation of 30 years, but now I have my doubts. I do think Everton will survive in the Premier League, maybe the Villa debacle was needed.

There is latent potential at Everton to keep them in the Premier League, but a collective kick in the arse is needed for it to surface. But Moshiri and the Kenwright approach have taken a battering mercifully early in the season, meaning he has to think of new alternatives.

I don't think that the independent commission will! be as penury as expected, but will consist of Everton having to come up with appropriate solutions under the threat of action if they don't. I would be surprised if discussions are not on going. Moshiri could be faced with unpalatable choices.

This begs the question: Why didn't Moshiri find out about all this during the due diligence period, as he claims to be an accountant, and would have had lawyers checking everything out… or would he? If this whole charade was just a money laundering scheme, why bother?

Kenwright was happy to bring them on board as he was being rewarded beyond his wildest dreams, and remaining in charge while Moshiri played around in Monaco, forgetting all about this far off sports club thing.

So, here's the scenario: Billy Liar has been banging on for years about getting new owners, but while many less attractive clubs have been bought up and flourished, why was EFC never even considered?

Well, just maybe, all these grubby loan deals were known to potential buyers, and Kenwright couldn't pass on complete control to anyone as there are so many skeletons he doesn't want uncovered.

That man has been the most disastrous person to leech on to our club since another greedy bastard called Houlding – we managed to get out of Anfield and into our new home then, I'm not sure it's going to be quite so easy this time.

"What would Everton do, Bill?"

It does seem that all was rosy until the Ukraine War surfaced and Usmanov was banished from these isles. Could only happen to Everton, couldn't it?

Your wish may just come true. I just heard from a trusted source that Sheik Al Buyet Fhornowt has been in touch and is very keen!

Then you have a new stadium being built with all the finance that swallows up. The departure of Usmanov and his money has really put the cat among pigeons.

As supporters, we can support the team on the field and hope it all turns out okay in the end, all this negativity doesn't help anyone.

Oh, and bit of luck with injuries, we sure haven't had any over the last two or three seasons.

Only for Kenwright, falling out with Paul Gregg, we would be playing at the Kings Dock, with buyers queuing up to buy the club, with maybe Guardiola as our coach.

I admire your optimism, but how exactly do you think we will beat Wolves?

The players we have available cannot and will not score a goal. Nobody is coming in in time for Saturday (or at all) and Dyche is seemingly reluctant to throw the talented but untried Chermiti in to see if he can make a difference.

Nor will he use Gray, which he clearly should be doing in this scenario, even short term before he leaves. Of course Gray is match fit, he played for Jamaica all summer!

Thus, it'll be Maupay up front on his own, wingless wonders of Garner on one side and maybe Young on the other (probably with Mykolenko at left-back) and the non-creative, non-scoring pair of Doucouré and Gueye in the middle... no width, no chances, no goals in that at all.

Perhaps he'll surprise us and play Dobbin on one wing, but I doubt he'd do that from the start, too cautious.

They may be 19th and winless, but Wolves have better players than us and will win on Saturday.

Thanks Bill and your useless millionaire.

So, even when we can potentially get player recruitment right, we can find a way to mess it up. There is absolutely nothing to be remotely optimistic about at the moment. It is utterly depressing.

The two men still own nearly 96% of Everton shares. What path of logic says that they are going to make money if we go bust?

As Mick (175) points out, why didn't Moshiri find out about these loans when he was buying the club? They were quite large debts with large interest rates being paid. It's getting stranger and stranger and more devious the way Chairman Bill ran the club!

It's called commercial turnover. Since 2016 Moshiri & Kenwright have spent money which reflects a turnover twice as high as ours has ever been.

They did a Ridsdale and tried to buy their way into the Champions League, problem was they spent far too much money on mediocre journeyman players.

With a turnover of £180m even Leeds Utd commercial turnover is higher.

Take Man Utd, they've recently signed a sponsorship deal which will give them £90m a year for a decade... that's ONE sponsorship deal which equates to 50% of our total annual commercial turnover for the next 10 years.

Take Newcastle, until this season their turnover has been below that of ours which is why they've needed to sell the likes of Saint-Maximin to offset incoming transfers.

It has nothing to do with owners having very deep pockets, it's about how the club performs as a business.

For 2023-24, Chelsea's net spend is £140m from a turnover of more than £480m.

I'd suggest that Bournemouth... who have been fined for overspending during their initial introduction to the Premier League... are in a far more precarious position having a 2023-24 net spend of £110m and a commercial turnover less than £100m.

Seeing as the major creditor is a strange lending vehicle, to say the least, who's to say that the bulk of that money doesn't somehow end up in the owners bank account, or in one of the many companies that he has an interest in? The current major shareholder may not make a profit, if the club went belly up, but I bet he wouldn't lose as much as we might think.

Dave @185

I thought that when Moshiri took control, he cleared the debts/loans, so the current loans must have been activated by him, during his tenure, so he must have known full well the terms and conditions attached?

I haven't got a clue about how these companies operate really and it's more than possible that the bulk of these interest payments end up where you said they do.

I'd like to know how much those interest payments were, they didn't help Everton FC's finances and they most certainly didn't hurt Kenwright's bank accounts either!

As long as I am able, I won't stop. I will stand outside stadiums if I have to as I have done in the past and will do in the future.

Any game of football is winnable and we can beat Wolves on Saturday. I hope those who are predicting otherwise are there to see it.

Born to be blue, no matter what they do.

According to the Guardian, recently interest was £50K per week, from memory. According to some of my business contacts, the interest charges are much, much higher than that. You wouldn’t want to know!

And they could go up again!

My concern is the ownership structure for the stadium, Dave. It looks like they’ve offered the investment to the separate structure currently owning tBMD. It looks increasingly like Moshiri’s hopes of a return on his disastrous adventure is crystallised on the Stadium, having destroyed the value of the club. But we’ll see.

And the interim Board is looking a bit more permanent currently with the missing MSP directors. Kenwright et al.

I have been supporting the blues for over 65 years and like you both I was an eternal optimist and followed them home and away. Queued up at the ground all night for tickets for European and cup adventures and took the good with the bad and believe me we had some lean frustrating years.

However, since Kenwright took over, I have become increasingly frustrated and demoralized by how a 2-bit scally from Wavertree has been allowed to rape our club and bring it into disrepute and make himself a multi-millionaire in the process.

I hate Putin with a passion but Kenwright has the same narcissistic, egotistical and dictatorial traits and that has created this picture of doom and gloom amongst so many of the faithfull.

Until this despicable man and his money laundering sidekick are run out of the club I and many others remain pessimistic about our future.

Moshiri is not to blame. He pumped almost £1B into the club, and stayed away from Merseyside, leaving the club in the hands of Kenwright and his acolytes.

The man to blame is the arrogant, greedy egomaniac who has pocketed ~£30m by bringing in Moshiri & Usmanov, and continues to hold on to control, like Hitler in the bunker while everything is collapsing around him, dismissing his loyal followers and blaming everyone else for his failings.

Sadly (thankfully) I will be retiring from the position of Chair of (what was once) the greatest football team in the country. I am retiring due to illness and fatigue (the fans are sick and tired of me) and I leave with a heavy heart (wallet).

Together we have enjoyed success and failure (failure and failure). From my (imagined) days in the Boys Pen through to today I was and remain a true blue (twat). COYB (Cheerio to all Of Your Bullshit)

At least our media department would be constant and well as being spot on and above all else... professional!

There is another chapter to be revealed so take care of yourselves and ride it out.

Seems we had to pay off Benitez and team £10.5M to leave. Wonder what the cost was in 2022-23 to pay off Lampard and team?

Accounts basically say if we go down we are brown bread 'unless there is further shareholder support'. Essentially Dyche saved us from the abyss a few months ago, so I say his £3M bonus is justified in that regard.

We had a £150M 5-year loan secured against the club's assets which charges a 'market rate' (was £100M in June 2021). No idea which 'market' that is given we were paying 11% for those BVI loans we had a few years back.

Also, if our debt interest wasn't fixed (hope it was!) our interest cost will be through the roof this year. We also took out a £30M Covid loan.

Total long-term debt as at June 2022 was £174M. So seems to have gone up more if R&MF are now owed £200M and we took a £40M bridge from Mr Bell. Our total interest cost was about £9M so doesn't look like we were paying through the nose (then).

To appreciate how much we rely on TV money and not so much on gate receipts, our total revenue was £181M and of this £115M was Broadcasting money. Gate receipts made up only £15M or less than 10% of total revenue. Our marketing money was £35M – back of the sofa stuff for the likes of Manu.

They don't make pleasant reading and by all accounts 'Moshiri' has put in over £600M to date. In inverted comas as we don't really know where the money came from, his investment vehicle seems to be based in the BVI.

On the upside, we have brought forward losses of £468M so we're not in danger of paying HMRC any tax anytime soon… probably not in my lifetime.

If we get relegated, we will be in administration as I cannot see Moshiri (or whoever) pumping in over £100M a year whilst we're in the Championship to get us back up again.

I've been thinking the same thing for quite a while now. There are some very, very clever Evertonians out there, like the people of KEIOC who defeated Tesco's billionaire lawyers in the court room, and although it seems a bit snide, the future of Everton Football Club is at stake here, and there is no snider bastard out there than William Kenwright.

These people now need to be exposed, because they are taking Everton down.

There is now a multi million pound shell game going on where people are trying to find out where the money has gone, where/who it's now really going to and where it has come from. Come October, the FA will need to put enormous resources into finding the needles in Chairman Bill's ingeniously constructed haystack. Even mafia backed laundering outfits are giving us the swerve.

Moshiri must be getting very worried by now having failed his boss, which is why he lives on a yacht in Monaco. It's far more difficult to fall out of a porthole than a window.

We will end up like Coventry either having to pay an exorbitant rent for the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock or wander around different grounds whilst playing out our League One fixtures. Like the Hebrews in the desert, only with no Moses to lead us to the promised land. This is our punishment for making sacrifice to the false God Kenwright.

Our only accounting assets will be Dyche, Michael Keane and a few crocks, which won't have investors queuing round the block.

But fear not, this will enable the fanbase to concentrate more on the good times.

Moshiri actively targeted certain player transfers and managerial appointments. He is even on record as saying he'd assembled a great squad that just needed a better manager (following Ancelotti's appointment which was a Moshiri appointment – Kenwright wanted Moyes).

Moshiri has blown £100s million on mainly crap players and managers, he's now personally responsible for tying our club's hands behind our backs, as we now can't spend any significant amounts.

If Moshiri had spent £100M instead of £500M, we'd be way better off now, because we'd at least have the ability to spend decent amounts this season to get quality players in, but we can't due to Moshiri blowing our P&S budget out the window. Gross incompetence.

I bet you'd catch a few out with that one on social media :-)

He also offered the view that the various stories circulating about who Everton are going to sign before the window closes next Friday are largely rubbish as we have no money to spend. His words, not mine.

Everton making 'good progress' on securing stadium financing

Everton have confirmed they are making "good progress" on securing complete financing for their new stadium on Bramley-Moore Dock.

The club say they have secured a loan to support the development costs for the new stadium.

Majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri "will continue to explore discussions on new investment", the club add.

Yeah right.

Two games including one good and and one dreadful performance, haven't altered my pre-season prediction of 13th.

Off the pitch, I never want to hear from Moshiri and Kenwright again until their cheesy farewell messages. Dyche is a more effective spokesperson for the club than either of them.

As for transfers, I'm not interested in who we're 'linked with' as it's meaningless guesswork and I wouldn't know most of these players if they passed me in the street. I'll judge them on what they do on the pitch.

Unless we get 7th.

A good defensive midfield signing would solve a lot of the team problems-shielding Keane from danger and allowing the other midfielders to play ten yards further up the pitch and better support the attack.

Upon checking the latest ‘filings' of Rights & Media Funding Limited at Companies House there are two new lending charges that have been recently registered in July 2023. One is for Carroch (Bahamas) Limited and one for Galloway (Cyprus) Limited.

It suggests to me that more lending may have been taken out, but maybe one of our resident accountants would have a view? The Guardian article also links the Carroch legal contract work with Simon Groom, a British lawyer based in Monaco.

"Stop going. Stop buying shit. Stop funding them. Vote with your feet."

What time and where would you like to meet on Saturday, Nick? I think that we should get there early – can you make 11 outside the Winslow?

I know it seems early but that will give us plenty of time to talk with the ‘regular' matchgoers to get them to protest with us and then go home rather than the match.

Would you like us to do anything ahead of time? We're lucky that we have someone like you who leads from the front and turns his words into actions. If only we had more like you.

Just name a time and place for Saturday, Nick. I think that this could work this time.

"I don't like uneven numbers. Unless we get 7th."

What's wrong with 1st, Danny?! No ambition!

Sacha Tavolieri @sachatavolieri
🔵🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Infos #EvertonFC :
🇺🇸 Been told the official announcement by 777 Partners of the takeover's now imminent.
⏳ Wait&See. #EFC #mercato

Where does he think we are moving to? Aberdeen?

Surely if there was any doubt Kenwright had his stooges in the media this has to nail it “Everton are a club that gets so many things right off the pitch…”

While I admire your sentiments, it is the club that is at stake now, not the 2 stooges.

As supporters, we need to think of the best way of saving the club in spite of the efforts of these 2 and staying away from the ground and not supporting Dyche or the players will surely lead us to the gates of hell.

I have no doubt that, without Calvert-Lewin and with more helpings of Michael Keane, Wolves will be a tough game, so the supporters can make up the shortage in quality by frightening the life out of Wolves.

I know it's hard, they have put my blood pressure up about 20 points and doubled my drinks bill over the last few years, but we have to raise ourselves again this season.

I would love to hope for a top-half finish but realistically can see us in yet another dogfight.

I salute your loyalty. It's a disgrace that this club continuously throws that loyalty back in your face.

Those at the top have proven there is no depth to which they will stoop to remain in power. They are only interested in lining their pockets while stripping this club of any assets and putting the club into serious debt to loan sharks that make Putin look like a saint.

This club doesn't deserve support like yours. What lies ahead for this club is anyone's guess but let's not blame P&S Rules or the FA or Premier League authorities. The blame is at the door of Kenwright and Moshiri.

Unfortunately, us supporters have to take some blame for allowing them to get away with murdering this club. Especially Kenwright.

Makes me laugh when I read of fans refusing to go to the game – just how does that work exactly?

I used to have a season ticket in the Lower Bullens Road with my dad from 1968 to 1976 when unfortunately he died. Never once during that time did he ever leave early, even when we were losing, which was quite often back then.

My view is that, as a supporter, you can't give up on them, it's impossible… painful at times but impossible. As fans, all we can do is get behind the team, give them what we can in the way of support. I wish I could afford a season ticket, not been able to for a long long time.

It annoys the hell out of me when I read on TW that certain posters refuse to attend. You need to know just how lucky you are and stop taking the piss. You purport to be adults yet you act like petulant kids.

Do you actually think that Kenwright or Moshiri are going to look at attendees on a match day and think "Bloody hell, J Bloggs didn't show up today"?

To all of the posts I've read the last few weeks saying the likes of "I'm not going any more", "I'm done" etc – Grow up.

And in response to my question earlier, how does the club recover from this? I have no bloody idea. Answers on a postcard please.

Gulp... are we moving to Kirkby again? Or are we going bust...?

Ian Ladyman

Moshiri has run out of money to finish the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock and he can either use debt or sell equity (investment) to complete it.

Our external debt position means we are already 'over extended', so the MSP £100M minus Andy Bell's £40M is a long way short and I doubt we can borrow the remaining ~£300M or indeed meet payments if we did.

The MSP deal was Moshiri giving away the least amount of equity he could to get £150M into the club and R&MF have now blocked that route. Moshiri has effectively lost control.

What is left to him? Unless he can conjure something I can't see, he has to sell the whole rather than risk administration. He won't get much but it's better than the alternative. He won't care who to – 777 Partners included.

My expectations for this season are we go down. That way, I cant be disappointed.

On the pitch we've been making up the numbers for years, and off the pitch our custodians have not created a culture of demanding to be the best, being no.1, and winning things, they've gone the other way to turn Everton in to the worst run club in the country. Poor results, home & away, relegation fights, financial issues, etc etc etc is just the consequences of a badly run organisation like Everton FC is.

Under the American flag for more than a year, Standard has not yet been able to take a step since the takeover of the club by 777 Partners. And unfortunately, neither do most of the clubs in the group. If Genoa has moved up to Serie A after having fallen into the antechamber, Hertha Berlin has just descended to division two while Vasco da Gama, in Brazil, is far from the planned objectives.

But the problem is above all financial. During the 2021-2022 season, Standard lost 20.2 million euros, Genoa 61.7 million, Vasco da Gama 22 million, Hertha Berlin 79.6 million and Red Star 2.4 million (a large sum for a National club). Seville, of which 777 Partners owns a small share of the capital, has also lost €60m in two years according to Josimar.

The case of Vasco da Gama is particularly challenging. In financial difficulty, the Brazilian club saw clubs that it had not paid on time threatening to take the matter to FIFA. At the same time, the club has also lent 5 million euros to another company in the group … without the agreement of the other shareholders. For its part, Genoa was penalized one point this season because it had not paid its taxes on time.

When asked, a football finance broker is clear. "I don't see how they will one day make their investment profitable," he explains. A former employee of the company agrees: " All these companies are losing money. These guys are playing a game of ball. They claim to be self-financing, to have invested their own money in it. But they can't have as much money as they say. It's just not possible. But they don't need a lot of money. Because what they really do is is to circulate the money."

Because 777 Partners is not content to invest in football but also in other sectors such as the airline Flair Airlines and the investment bank co-founded by Josh Wander, boss of the group. These companies also don't seem to be avoiding court cases, especially for stories of payments not being made on time while SuttonPark, said investment bank, is also cited in cases including " kidnapping, corruption, extortion"..

Wander, by the way, has a troubled past. As a young man, he was notably arrested for drug trafficking. In 2010, he was also sued for "misappropriating confidential company information and trade secrets, and violating the terms of his employment contract".

There is no doubt that this information will not reassure Liège fans about the rest of the project...

The fans are all that Everton, the football club, has left. We have to get behind the manager and the current crop of players regardless of how we rate them. Money isn’t going to rescue Everton - there is none. We are it.

I was listening to a George Harrison song the other night and these words have been ringing in my ears ever since.

You’ve gotta pay your dues if you wanna sing the Blues but you know it don’t come easy.

Worst case scenario is that we can become the 2.0 version of Leeds circa 2000s (went all the way down to League One) and the current Derby County (there will be no more Wayne Rooney the Gaffer who paid his players out of his own pockets because the club was not able to do so).

Not sure exactly how this will play out but it also seems to me to be significant that the stadium and the football club have been separated out.

Are we a real estate play with a side interest in football?

These days in life I focus on the doable, hopefully, and is a factor of life. Success, doesn’t come with out failure.

But the corporate and strategic negligence, of the Everton Board and Directors, over 30 years, has effectively, driven the club to the very brink of existence.

We live, learn, get older and get wiser to life.

This includes Everton. It’s DNA, Family, and is a religion. The Religion will carry on, and survive, this season, and hopefully, this is the start of the new beginning for Everton Football Club.

But will lessons be learnt, and is there a clear line of site if and when the new beginning starts for Everton? Let’s be honest...

Support Everton, and believe, even in the increasing darkest days, but there will be hope on the horizon, one day a salvation for Everton.

Cometh, the Wolves, and Everton to be victorious.

Viva Santo Domingo!

It does seem, on the local feedback from those in the know, or who claim to know someone in the know, that the survival of the club, perhaps, is listing to some form of compromise, of assets of football and stadium, Goodison Park & BMD, and the integrity of the board and CEO.

But the reality is no one knows, imho. Rumours abound every day.

I follow the Everton cause, like we all do, out of religion, duty, and we love the club.

But imho, without doubt, the gross negligence of running so poorly Everton FC over this time since the start of the Kenwright era is, a massive factor, and the massive failure to not consolidate and grow the 1969-70 team to become the best in the UK and Europe.

The Peter Johnson era, in hindsight, followed by Bill Kenwright, sums up the decline of once the best run football club by miles in terms of the UK football Leagues.

Bally, for me as a young lad, being sold, was as bad as it could be. The rest is history.

Heysel, was the most significant factor, it killed English football, for 4 years, and the onset of the EPL, Everton, never restructured their business model and have never recovered.

The days of 27/02/2016, will be remembered for the years of Infamy, caused to, Evertonians, around the World, and Everton FC.

The mirage of hope, but a corporate heist?

The innovation of the BMD site, to become what its been transformed into, gives me great hope, but the recurring Everton ulcer, that it will be another case of getting pipped at the post as is testified by Evertons history in the Leagues, and FACS.

In effect could Everton be tenants, of BMD, or does Everton FC, cease to exist? But hope eternal.

You learn to live with it, and enjoy life, as it puts the best things in life in real perspective, Family, Everton FC, Evertonians, and hopefully good friends, from all around the World?

UTFTs!

Viva Santo Domingo!

I have spent money I didn't have to go anywhere Everton have been playing many times over, mate. I have bought four season tickets and will give up my seat to many different Evertonians this season, so my seat will still be getting used.

There were four empty seats in the Directors Box whilst Everton were fighting relegation last season, because the people at the top are absolute frauds.

Bill Kenwright has played the perfect game but it was obvious (to me) that it was going to end in tears because the lying bastard outstayed his welcome (unless my hunch is true and he's a Liverpudlian at heart).

Just because I refuse to go doesn't mean I have given up on Everton. It's painful not going but, once I made this decision, then my principles have taken over. Wouldn't it be great to have people with principles inside Everton Football Club right now???

Steve B, it worryingly seems to be all about the real estate unfortunately, mate. A carbon copy of selling Bellefield to rent Finch Farm at an extortionate rate springs to mind. Kenwright has got no scruples whatsoever and this is probably what attracted Usmanov in the first place.

Yes, he has dabbled in buying players and switching managers but the former because Kenwright made such a disgraceful mess of recruitment and then with the managers it was sheer fear of being relegated. Protecting his investment.

Why do you think he has not shown his face at Goodison? He is only concerned with the real estate. He never intended to spend as much money on the team but it spiralled with each successive manager. In so deep, he tried to buy his way out of the mess Kenwright and Co made when he came on board.

The biggest unanswered question in my mind is this: He is an accountant. Mr Ingles and Mr Kenwright knew full well the ramifications and requirements of the FFP or P&S rules the club has to adhere to.

Why was the owner, Chairman or DoF allowed to spend money when Mr Ingles must have known we had crossed the line?

On a week-to-week basis, he would have had his financial forecasting model telling him we had crossed the threshold. What was actually done to prevent the situation from occurring and, once it had, what remedial action was taken?

I know the answers already because we are in the mortuary! The failure to act, the failure to protect the shareholders, the failure to ensure the viability of the business that was their only brief. Not only did they fail, they lined their own pockets with Moshiri's money in doing so.

It's criminal, there is no excuse only blame. They have to go. Someone has to tell the truth of Everton FC. Not an obituary.

Standard face Kortrijk this weekend, the only side without a win in the Pro League this season. Failing to beat Kortrijk, alongside the Everton take over and lack of investment in Standard could put real pressure on 777 and those in charge of the club. Source: Getfootball

777 will fit right in at Goodison then?

I doubt he gives a monkey's about the club... probably find Kenwright trying to convince the new owners of his credentials..

I have read 6 or 7 articles about 777, none of them good. Selling to them means no investment in the team and almost certain relegation as the only players we will have left will be the kids and oldies on a free.

Anyone but 777 please.