Tony, let me get this straight. you open with a sentance which suggests that you are disappointed this foreign bloke chose Pompy over Everton ? not bothering to state that Pompey cost probably less than half what it would have cost to buy Everton and then go on to say you are glad the bloke didnt buy Everton.

Kenwright either did the right thing not selling or he didn't - which is it?

Ever considered Kenwright (actually being an Everton fan) is looking for the right sort of buyer rather than the 1st one to pay the money, rape the club and sell up after a few years?

I actually wonder what Kenwright is doing to sell our football club because he says no-one is interested in football clubs in times like these with the credit crunch and... so but yet Pompey are on verge of being bought out???

I mean who?s the better proposition, us who have a better ground, on verge of a new one and becoming regular qualifiers for Europe, or Pompey who have a shithole of a ground and have struggled this season and past seasons too and are in worse debt than us I believe but are in talks to be bought out?!

It's a no-brainer for me, these millionaires and billionaires who want to buy into clubs should really be looking at the likes of us, a club in real progression, not clubs like Pompey! It makes me wonder wether Kenwright really wants to sell us on?!

Would Portsmouth really be that much cheaper than us? Taking into account our debts, I doubt there?d be much difference.

The fact is Kenwright won?t sell until he knows the decision of the Kirkby inquiry, which could potentially double the clubs value and his returns. "Lookiing for investment 24/7" my arse.

I like a good Kirkby debate as much as the next Evertonian but is now really the time? The fact is we don?t know what the reasons are for these bloodsuckers wanting to own football clubs and we don?t know why Kenwright doesn?t want to sell. We?re all just speculating. I think though, now is the time to keep your focus on Saturday.

Not looking to open the "K" debate again Alan, just reacting to a post based on today?s news. Interesting news at that considering Kenwright?s comments in the past week.

What I don't understand is that Everton would be for sale to the right buyer. Now surely Portsmouth & Sunderland are not as attractive as Everton, a club that is on the up? Kenrwight did employ someone to look for investment/takeover. So why on earth have these two clubs got the backers within months and its taking us years?

What is the right person for Bill?? A scouse billionaire that lives on Goodison Road and has been going the game for all of his life? I'm not saying sell to the first buyer but I am concerned that we will eventually burn out to the likes of lesser clubs like Portsmouth, Sunderland, City etc.

My stance is quite utopian on this issue.

Whilst I really want investment into the club, I only want it if it will benefit Everton in the long-term. For me, the investment is in the main needed to build a new stadium and not to be heavily spent on improving the squad.

Football is a very difficult business to make a profit in. However this is what we know the majority of investors want eventually. Randy Lerner seems to be a very steady eddy at the head of Aston Villa. However, he has even stated that by 2013 he wants to sell Villa for a profit.

I want Everton to be able to compete but if that money in any way upsets or destabilises the team spirit and camaraderie that embodies this current squad, or pressurises Moyes into making signings he doesn’t want, then I want us to steer clear of it at all costs.

I am no great fan of Kenwright. I do think if another investor came along who really had Everton’s interests at heart, he’d find it difficult to sell up. He enjoys his current status- and who wouldn’t?

However until I hear of us being linked with an owner who cares about Everton, then I wouldn’t change the status quo.

Realistically we could get by without a takeover with regards to the stadium issue. Not wanting to start the whole issue again, we can build a shared stadium.It’s funny that as early as 20 years ago this idea wouldn’t have been dismissed if both clubs were wanting to find new stadiums. The only thing preventing this option being taken up is the soured relations that sadly exists between the two Merseyside clubs. It would be great if we could show the class and quality that the two clubs in Manchester sorely lack!

Why are Everton never sold to an investor? The answer is simple - it's the exclusivity agreement signed with Tesco by which the majority shareholders BK and Earl have agreed not to sell their shareholdings whilst the agreement is still in place.

Tesco knew that the cost of such an application would be substantial in terms of design, planning advisers, legal fees, feasibility studies, etc. They would never have entered such a venture without this guarantee from BK and Earl, as otherwise they would risk losing millions if there was a possibility of the club being sold to a new owner who could pull the plug on the whole deal. Whilst DK is still a possibility the club will never be sold.

Arabs buy City, Pompey, another underachieving team next season... a few more the next, and then off they go to Dubai for a PL in the middle east! Foreign investment like that, no thanks.

Tesco, I am told, take a billion pounds a day. They reported a profit of £3billion last year.

I don’t know how this affects us, but I’m fairly sure that a a few thousand here or there on the costs of a possible development in Kirkby isn’t a long way up their worry list.

David, I think you're quite correct in your assumption that in all probability there would be a clause in the exclusitivity agreement that prevents the sale of the major shareholders shares until the Kirkby deal is done. Hence why, before the enquiry it was being pushed hard that we were / are up for sale. With the inquiry all things including any new investor has been on the back burner.

As for the attractiveness of EFC to a new investor, there will be people out there who want in at a price but any deal will not have strings attached (nor should it) that they must be Evertonians, passionate about football and committed to the club rather than the balance sheet.

For that mix we have, for better or worse, to leave that in the hands of BK. I suspect that if DK is dropped then suddenly a buyer will have emerged from nowhere and BK will sell. I think if Kirkby gets the nod then it will be a harder sell, I can?t see an investor dismissing all the issues of Kirkby quite so easily as the Everton board.

Time will tell...

Sunderland have been taken over now, Quinn remains at the club. They also have the stadium. Goodison is now a noose round our necks. I just hope that yet again all the good work by the managers & players we have doesn’t go to waste. I don’t want to be owned by Arabs, but 2 teams that only just escaped the drop have far more spending power than us.

Do you lot ever consider what it means to be taken over? You seem to think a sugar daddy comes in and spends lots of their own money to give the fans of the club a nice time. Only Abramovich has done anything like that.

Man Utd are rich because they have a long history of success over the SAF years and sell merchandise, tickets and earn lots of TV money from the Champions League. Their American owners didn?t put money in, they borrowed hundreds of millions to buy United and that is now United?s debt.

Liverpool ditto. Merchandise and ticket sales and TV Money. Huge debts.

Arsenal are relatively rich for the same reasons ? success, sales and TV money.

Randy Lerner has just said that Villa aren?t going to spend big this Summer.

Abramovich achieved success quickly on the back of huge investment and two fantastic managers ? Ranieri and Mourinho who managed to build teams quickly, but is that going to last now they can?t find another "golden manager"?

City have a good manager in Mark Hughes, but just like internet start-ups, it?s incredibly difficult to buy quick success. Impatience can result in an almighty screw-up more than a roaring success. City? Newcastle?

Be careful what you wish for. Big money investors that don?t understand the game will keep switching managers looking for the elusive "special one". Utd, Liverpool and Arsenal took years ? decades ? to build success. It won?t be bought overnight.

In response to Christine’s point, I would be absolutely amazed if there was any clause in Everton’s agreement with Tesco that affected ownership of Everton’s shares.

On the broader point, and overlooking the confused nature of the original article, I’ve moved a long way from my views about our need for takeover / billionaire / investment etc etc. Sure, I would like some investment to be available to the manager to enhance our possibilities for next season, but I’m totally content with Everton building it rather than buying it.

I’m more than content with Kenwright’s stewardship of our club because, contrary to semi-popular myth, it has been successful by most measurements. Who the hell wants some bigged up sheik masquerading as a footy fan and turning the club into a circus. Erm, not me.

Moyes and Kenwright have done good for us. If we keep improving then we’ll get there eventually.

Oh yes, and wasn’t that the most beautiful exhibition of footy for many a long year in Rome tonight? Titter ye not, but seems to me Messrs Moyes & Round have been steadily moving our game towards keep ball & fast interchanges over much of this season. Who needs Xavi and Iniesta (gods admittedly) when we already have Arteta, Pienaar, Fellaini, Neville and Rodwell.

I couldn’t care less.

Given the coice between money and Moyes I know which one I’d choose.

I think the key thing for Bill is that he wants Investment and not to sell the club.....which are very different

The guy who is selling Portsmouth won’t give the club a second thought once its sold. Bill (whether you see him as a good or bad owner) is a lifellong support of the club and wants to say in charge/involved.

There is one issue that must be raised in this whole investment stuff... PROFIT

As a business, to make a safe and sustainable profit from a football club it is best buying a mid to lower-mid table Premier League football club. Wages are significantly lower, transfer fee?s are significantly lower, and every time you get a player of high quality you can sell him for a high profit, and replace him with a cheaper version. You get the continuous Premier League television income, without the unwanted cost of trying to break the big-4 etc.

Fans may get annoyed by the lack of ambition, but you just sack the manager and get a new one to appease them, while continuing the same business model.

That is our main problem, we want someone who is willing to lose money in order to make us a better team, in the hope that maybe in 10 years or so the investment might pay off. This is also what BK will be looking for, which makes the search much more difficult.

Portsmouth will be a mid-table football team for years to come, along with Blackburn and Wigan that is all the owners want them to be.

Now I haven't even read the responses and I'm a bit drunk, but Portsmouth are in a lot bigger shit than us financially and are worth half of us in every single way. Gaydmark took over from Milandric and now some very foreign numpty is gonna take over and foresee them finish 12th-16th etc!!!

For god's sake, who gives a fuck how much money Portsmouth etc get? They are never gonna be nothing, ever!! Now we may be nothing at the moment but at least we have the potential to be something. Bill may not have the money but I'd rather he owned us than any Yank, Arab or Russian! Trust me, Bill will sell to the right person and none of these coming in at the moment are the right person.

It?s time Bill did the honourable thing and got Peter Johnson back. I never understood ths scally animosity to him. From my perspective Johnson got us to a Cup Final, which we won, after 1 year at the club. Kenwright has taken us to a final after a decade and we face certain defeat in it.

I for one won?t be watching the embarrassing debacle this weekend and instead will be hoping someone other than Kenwright will be in charge next year.

It takes this club a long time to make positive change like in the late 80?s when Mark Walters from Rangers became the first African-American to join us or when we finally accepted reality that Goodison is a derelict dirt pile. Now we need to accept that Kenwright is a crock and go back to what we had.

Matthew Johnson I think you hit the nail on the head nd thus there rests the case for the prosecution, Black Bill is looking for some numoty to give him wads of cash for fuck all in return, no one in their right mind especially the mega rich who tend to have matching egos want that they want the trainset, sadly Black Bill will never give that up no matter how many hollow sound bites the gullible fall for.

The guy who now owns Sunderland already onwed 30% of the club before yesterday so hasn’t come from nowhere.

Portsmouth must be going dirt cheap at the moment, no ground, no money and where in danger of having to sell off their prize assets over the usmmer to survive - not a club with a huge asking price!

Everton on the otherhand, making progress on and off the field, whilst being good for the club also increases the asking price somewhat.

We know we need investment to go any further, Davey knows it, Bill knows it, but that doesn’t mean that billionaires want to come and give you cash just cos you know you need it!

I think now we’re in a position to not have to spend a lot of money. Just one or two quality signings each summer plus 1 or 2 loan signings will help build on what we already have. This can be done on the back of the TV money. Moyes likes to keep his squad tight and low on numbers whilst also bringing youth through. This German lad we’ve acquired has come because he knows he’ll get his chance at Goodison. Similarly to Arsenal now, if some of the youth aren’t quite good enough they can still be sold to lower clubs for a profit to raise cash for the manager. It’s not a bad position to be in where the club almost runs itself and does not own massive debt.

A lot of other clubs and managers are looking to Moyes and Everton as a good example of how to progress. We have a team of players who love the shirt. We shouldn’t be wishing for a big money take over to watch a load of overpaid mercenaries who couldn’t give a shit.

Ant Welsh, it makes it a bit difficult to take your other comments seriously when you include:

’It takes this club a long time to make positive change like in the late 80?s when Mark Walters from Rangers became the first African-American to join us’

Mark Walters isn’t African-American (he was born in Birmingham and the only time he has ever been to the US was probably on his holidays) and didn’t join ’us’ - he joined Liverpool.

Unless by ’us’ you mean Liverpool, in which case it puts a rather different slant on your bizarre views? The only connection Mark Walters has with ’us’ is that his middle name is Everton!

I tell you one thing.. at it seems most on here feel the same... the last guy I would want to own us is the guy taking over Portsmouth. I get the same feeling now for City. These guys care nothing for the club or its history. I think Bill may have had one or two of these guys come along, but if so he has been right to make sure the motives are in the right place.

does anyone remember what kenwright done when gregg went? over night he went and found some one to buy him out , mr earl! people get on kenwrights back but what has mr earl brought to the club? mr stalone!

Portsmouth and Manchester City can have their big money foreign owners. As far as I?m aware, 11 mercenaries with no loyalty to anything but the pay check gets you nowhere.

I prefer to do things the Everton Way, with honesty, dignity and hard work.

Aide Dews says...

"It?s a no-brainer for me, these millionaires and billionaires who want to buy into clubs should really be looking at the likes of us"

No they shouldn?t - they SHOULD be looking at ?the likes of? Portsmouth.

Why?

Because UNLIKE Everton, Portsmouth DO want to sell.

Simple.

Oh sure we?ve heard all Bill?s "searching 24/7" drivel.

But we?ve also seen Tesco legal documents that stated that NO member of the Everton Board has ?any intention, whatsoever? of selling their shares.

They can?t BOTH be right.

That there are those who still believe in Bill is proof to me that circus legend PT Barnum was spot on when he said there?s a sucker born every minute.

"Ladies n? genelmenah, may I present, the amaaaaazing Thomas Pepper!!"

Seems some people are disgusted at the thought of Kenwright making a profit. Fair play to the guy, why should he not? There is no doubt that the guy loves Everton and the club has become very solid since he has come and he has struggled to get transfer money but in fairness to the guy he has got it.

I saw Sky News when they announced the Portsmouth takeover and sat dumbstruck wondering how the fuck he could not buy us....