US takeover could be weeks away

Asian and Arab owners in general seem to heavily invest in order to create a brand that is sellable throughout the world i.e adding value to the club. City, Leicester, PSG.

American owners look at clubs like shares. What dividends can they get out of it? How do they cut costs and increase profit? They don't add value or develop the brand, they utilize what's there.

I have a lot of trepidation about these guys.

Sure they have been problems in the past and that we have lacked investment at crucial points of time, but better that than this.

This could be a disaster, we all remember the Hicks and Gillette fiasco across the park. However, it could be the best thing to happen to us for many years. A chance to finally compete with the top tier and, whisper it quietly, a chance to maybe, just maybe, add to our league title tally. We will never know unless we give it a go. It could be the road to hell, or it could be the road to prosperity and glory. One thing we know for sure though is that if we stay with "better the devil you know" regime then ultimately we stay on the road to nowhere.

However as much as I would like to see Bill continue it's obvious that given his age and the possibility that he is suffering from a serious illness there is going to have to be a change sooner rather than later.

We have just got to hope and pray that when Bill does go the club is put in good and proper hands. Guess it's a bit like Russian Roulette really.

We've had years of underinvestment and BS from the current lot so I can't believe some of you want more of that.

They are really keen on developing Goodison as well by the way..

Not sure if this will add to the misery on here or not ?

Also Shinawatra actually did bring City forward. Invested heavily in the squad and ultimately sold the club well. Under Tan ownership Cardiff have reached the Premier League. Agreed he shouldn't have changed the colour of the ki, it was a crazy move. But he did that with the aim of improving marketability. And I think they play in blue again.

No US owner has improved the standing of their respective club within the British leagues. Sunderland still fighting relegation, Liverpool no title, Villa (a big club) will be relegated. United are just a Manchester club in name. They're financial hq is in London, they're CEO is not interested in the city whatever.
City have just hired Guardiola, and have invested heavily in Eastlands the area. Leicester have gone from league one to title challengers. PSG were mediocre now a powerhouse.

That level of improvement has thus far not been displayed by any US consortium. Actually the football teams have gone backwards.

I also feel Stephen makes a very good point. Could we now have a sustainable model for a club without the constraints of foreign ownership? It is a good question.

We cannot get any worse off the field than we are now.

Reminds me of how I felt when I had a new job with a 500 mile move, not sure if familiar is a bit more comfortable.

I just really fear we are swapping current stability and sustainable but slow progression for (as previously mentioned) 'venture capitalists' who look at our club as nought but dollar signs. It's so much more than that!

I would rather kenwright than corporates coming in and ripping the soul from our club, a club they don't actually care for. That frightens me. Especially as they don't appear to have the mountains of wealth required to take us forward.

And from the options available, who are interested in us I'd like to know more about the Chinese parties. But obviously I have no insight into the deals. So I'll have to trust people who are smarter and more insightful than myself.

And ultimately Mark, my friend, we debate because we care. COYB

The opportunities for us in the USA by sensibly building our fan and commercials bases there are huge. It doesn't mean we lose our soul in the process, that's up to us to protect. Most of our American fans seem to support the club in full knowledge of what they are getting, the joy and the pain, so no reason why American owners shouldn't do the same - though it would be nice to boost the joy please.

I don't see BK selling to this consortium unless the Yanks have offered a clear plan on solving the ground situation. I've heard good and bad things about Moores tenure as the Padres owner. The main attraction for me is that he moved the Padres into a high-end stadium. If he achieves that at Everton and we have a modest increase in player spending I think we'll be in good hands.

Please hang on, Bill.

Let's just see what happens. I for one am looking forward to having a new board with ambition.

No more Scouse Pies - KFC and Big Mac's instead and everyone in the ground early to sing the Star Spangled Banner with hands on hearts and a ticker tape reception after every goal. At least I'm hoping we don't have music when there is a lull in play.

Kenwright has had countless chances to sell up, over the years. Whatever you think of his running of the club, I'm relatively certain he's always had its best interests at heart. I can't believe he would be going through with this sale without cast-iron (and perhaps contractual) assurances about the new owners' intentions.

If this does go though, I believe all we can do is get behind our new owners and show them that is Evertonians can be friend or foe, but God damn, we'd love to be friends.

Riiiight. Whilst everywhere who doesn't is obviously canny as fuck.

I'd rather see this takeover happen than not though, I don't want to see us keep trundling along as little old Everton hoping tomorrow is another day.Our current business model is purely short-termism and one mistake could throw it into chaos. At least a change in ownership MIGHT bring some success whereas the current owners won't.

What's the worst that can happen, going 23 years without a trophy...

I think we have to trust them. long term we are going nowhere under Bill. What if, God forbid, he become too infirm to run the club or worse? Who is going to have his shareholding and be the figurehead for the club? Jenny? Don't think so somehow. We are one misfortune away from meltdown. Robert Earl has no interest apart from a financial investment. Jon Woods is a club man, but in all the years has hardly shown a desire to lead from the front.

Someone with a bit of business acumen would be welcome. I know FSG have messed up with this ticketing issue, but really I think they have been pretty solid owners of Liverpool up to now. Really hoping for something similar.

Now a chance of investment and the Yanks are getting slated before they have even bought the club.

If this deal falls through, everyone will be saying typicalal Everton bullshit, more of Elstone, Bill and his croanies.

You don't want this current board, you don't want Yanks, everyone is thinking our best players will be sold.

The only thing I see changes is ticket prices, would I prefer to pay a little extra for a seat, or sit on an old wodden seat, crane my neck round a huge concrete Pillar in the man stand, stand up lower Gwladys everytime we attack, due to poor construction of seating, then the answer would be yes I would pay a little extra.

If you buy a buisness, you strive to make that buisness succeed, selling your best assets is a no no, pretty sure the Yanks will know that.

So before we come to doom and gloom, have a good luck what our current board have achieved in their time here.

I am not saying the Yanks are the answer, but to write them off at least see what they have to offer.

I hope this not first come first served because Bill is ill, as that would make a mockery of everything he's been saying for the last ten year's and really would undo any good he's done for the club!

The worry for me is the fact are not super rich billionaires's doing it to boost ther ego and profile in the west, they are businessmen trying to make a profit! The only place they can make that profit is player sales and the tv money!

In the past 15 years Bill Kenwright has done a great job in making the club stable and competitive after a period in the late eighties and nineties when we lacked direction and might well have been relegated. I will be very happy if any new owners can take the club forward but the track record of American owners in English football is unpromising to say the least.

We have waited years for any serious interest. That has to tell you something.

What do you think these US INVESTORS will do? They think in terms of 1 to 2 years not twenty like Mr Kenwright etc. The first thing will be to either leverage their buyout against the club or build a new stadium once again borrowing against the clubs income. Tickets prices will rise probably by about 15-20% to bring us inline with teams in the top 6 and players will have to be sold to meet leverage repayments.
Will not happen ? Then you do not know US banks and how they act.

Mark (53) I don't think Mr Kenwright is very well at all and most of the board are his friends so I am sure that is the only reason he would sell.

Kenwright has had his time. Though he is a Blue, he is only in place because he has been propped up by hard-nosed businessmen who have been using Everton as a cash cow.

I'm trusting Kenwright to carry out thorough due diligence on who he is selling the club to. And I hope any new owner respects the club that we are. But it's been time for a changing of the guard for several years now. Kenwright's time is up.

After all the years, Bill saying, no-one wants to buy the club... and now with all rumours of ill health, a Randy Lerner appears. It stink in my opinion. Talk to the fans.

(Kenwright leaves)

Evertonians: THIS IS A DISASTER!!

If every signing is a gamble, then a takeover of the club is a massive gamble, but we're Everton, one of the true survivors of English Football, and we need to do more than just survive.

All things change but I have no regrets having Mr kenwright as our chairman. People have questioned his business sense but we have had a passionate Everton fan. He has maintained prices to allow all to attend games. Community projects are giving so much to children and families.

Mr kenwright has lived the dream. The stand to the boardroom (a theatre play). No one will be more sad than Mr kenwright when he hands the keys over!

Bill's health issues might have accelerated matters, perhaps even nudged the price down, but seeing as he contributes nothing financially to the club there is no pressing need for him to sell the shares at all - even if the worst comes to pass.

None of us know what's going to happen for sure but I guess we have to trust that now Bill is ready to go he is selling to the right people that will take the club forward in the right way. I'm sure that there are some Americans that will know how to run a football club. Just like there are some Americans that know how to player goalkeeper (Friedel & Stallone)

MLS have what they describe as an 'allocation ranking', and Colorado top the list of clubs who are entitled to bid for any home-grown international star.

Howard, 37 next month, is listed as available for transfer in that list, and it seems he will decide to return home at the end of the season, leaving Everton after 10 years at Goodison.

Anyway, Liverpool (the city) has finally realised that it is underselling its Beatles legacy. If I were an American multi-millionaire, I think I'd be interested in putting together a package for tourists to visit the city for a combined football and musical experience. Perhaps the new owners could open an improved Beatles museum in a new Everton stadium?

How could that arise? Football is growing in China and the USA areas that currently pay a lot to watch overseas (PL) football. Now consider if they start paying to watch cheaper local football instead of expensive overseas football then the PL TV revenue will drop. Clubs will try and sell players because they cannot afford their salaries but their prices will fall further and some clubs that are highly leveraged will be in deep trouble. Owners like the Glaziers will probably walk away they have had a good return and Man Utd could fall. Ironically only mainly UK owned well run clubs like Arsenal will survive they could be come a real power house. This has been the main aim of Mr Kenwrights tenure not to put the club at risk by loading it with debt

Do not think that situation cannot happen. It was always thought that banks would never need bailing out Tesco would ever lose its domination of the UK supermarkets but both situations have happened.

On a more important note, will we now get corn dogs at half-time?

Or a bunch of chicken farmers from somewhere else?

Nice that the Man Utd ownership is somehow "distinguished" by some on here from "typical " ownership by Americans. What about Arsenal? Didn't Liverpool almost win the title but for an Englishman's screw-up? Don't they have a stadium being renovated?

I know it is an English league but didn't the right to be so "isolationist" pass on when the first club was sold to foreign ownership? I guess that not one English owned club ever was relegated or worse, went into Administration.
Now get on your horses and ride you Englishmen and tell your countrymen that the Americans are coming! The Americans are coming! Best if you go and hide the women and the silver!

Whether these Americans are the answer who knows,but one thing is for certain, this shower currently running the gaff aren't.

We've been lucky in some respect to have an owner who was a blue (love him or loathe him it's not important) and now the change that so many have wanted for years arrives, and everyone is pissed off about it?

You can't have it both ways - it was always going to be about money. Investors invest for returns, end of story. This should not be news to anyone.

I'd say we have to suck it and see - what else are we going to do? Buy the club ourselves? No. Hope Bill lives forever and invests loads of money? No. So we sell. I don't see any reason anyone would want to buy a football club and then asset-strip. Why would they do that with so much money in the game? I would suggest that they'll introduce the same model as they did with the Padres - which includes a new stadium.

All told, land acquisition and construction for Petco Park where the Padres play cost $456.8 million: $225 million financed with municipal bonds repaid by hotel taxes; $57.8 million from redevelopment funds generated within the project area; $21 million from the Port of San Diego and $153 million from the Padres (not including their substantial investment in private development projects in East Village).

What does this tell us? Well it shows that they understand how to get a project off the ground for a start. It also shows they know how to deal with local councils, planning permission, raising funds, inviting investment and everything that's required to create a sustainable sports team and business therein - something our current incumbents appear to know absolutely bugger all about.

I'm of the opinion that this should be viewed with positivity - not something us Evertonians are exactly known for these days, but I personally am looking forward to change.

As an American and knowing loosely of these "blokes" I have to say I'm scared.

These are very, very shrewd businessmen. They may indeed plow some much needed dough into the Club, but their past dealings with the Padres have me restless.

They took the Padres to heights unseen, raised the value, and then stripped them bare. They will not hesitate to make a very large buck by selling the best players and then selling the club in a much worse position.

I hope I'm wrong. I fear this deal immensely.

It seems some are now worried what they wished for.

I personally hope the Club IS sold - but not to these fellers...

In a perfect world an uber rich benefactor who is ENGLISH and cares about football and it's history on the whole would buy us.

Or dare I say an outfit like New England Sports Ventures - excellent SPORTS businessmen who invest LONG TERM in their teams.

These guys frighten the bejeezuz out of me.

We may rue the day... Someone pour me a drink because my nerves are shot to pieces.

These dudes are more than capable of stripping Everton Football Club to the bare bones and pocketing millions.

Life in the Championship (or lower) is a distinct possibility! Again, I hope I'm wrong but the way they handled the Padres... that team never really recovered. Frightening stuff. I'm in knots officially.

God I hope I'm judging these guys 100% wrong!

http://ourcitysd.com/business-economics/petco-park's-broken-promise/#sthash.ERfkJL26.dpbs

It won't be a rich benefactor, surely (why us?). And I guess they won't be in it as a vanity project. So they will be in it as a business venture. Question then is, will they be looking for a quick return on their investment (and bugger EFC)? Or in it for a recurrent and long-term return (based on business acumen and football success - mutually-reinforcing). The latter I hope.

There will be a "Plan B" seeking other ways of maximising return too, and then a "Plan C" and so on.

The biggest unknown is how long will these guys will be prepared to wait for a return? The shorter the time, the shorter the life of Plan A, assuming that that was one promising far greater investment into a new or renovated ground and improving the squad.

..........And if anyone's interested, the demands of the fans will be somewhere 'round about Plan X!

Don't they only need to buy out the majority shareholders - as they then have a voting majority?

I just don't trust these guys... They are incredibly shrewd and will always look at the bottom line and what they can EXTRACT from their investment.

What link do they have to SOCCER??!!! Never mind Everton!

They'll not have a lot of respect for the institution in my opinion, and they will, mark my words, do what's in the best interest of their wallets.

I'm going to ball up in the fetal position in a dark room now.

These guys are already very wealthy and asset stripping to make another £50m or so wouldn't make much difference to their lifestyle. If however they take the club to CL regularly and market the brand like only the Americans can do then the value of the club will really grow.

Bill is a good man and loves the club as much as any of us on TW. He will make sure that these guys are right for the club before he sells and if they are not then the sale won't proceed.

When a sale does happen we will all feel vulnerable for a while- like someone posted earlier a bit like landing a new job with a nice pay rise then getting cold feet in case it doesn't work out. It has to happen sometime and these guys are loaded between them. People are sniping at their background but no-one gets to be that rich without ruffling some feathers along the way. Good businessmen have a ruthless streak and these two certainly appear to have one.

Bill will do what is right for the club- it means far more to him than the money.

Our new owners have to find us a new stadium or redevelop. They would have to back the manager, back his vision of the football club and how it should be run, could be tricky times for Martinez.

I wish the new owners all the best for the future but I don't expect massive change, stability and continuity and perhaps a plan?

Thanks John @50.

There are a HOST of ethical outfits that enter into acquisitions looking to the long-term, growing the brand, and becoming "part of the family."

Our friends across [your] the park have ownership that adheres to this principle.

This ownership group looking to buy us is NOT one of those types of outfits.

Be scared James. I'm not naive. Be scared sir.

In that case, we might actually see some movement in our lifetime to take the club forward and tackle such longstanding issues as a dilapidated shack of a ground and lack of any real revenue beyond bumper tv deals.

People speak as though Everton haven't been surviving (by the skin of their teeth at times) by borrowing against future earnings for as long as Kenwright has been at the helm. How many high interest loans have had to be taken out over the years just to keep the ship afloat? How many times have we supposedly come close to the banks 'pulling the plug'?

People lamenting the fact that these are hard nosed business men and not teary eyed buddies of Christopher Biggins? Isn't that what we've been crying out for? In order to achieve their nefarious goal of making a handsome profit from their 'project' then they're first going to have to bash our bumbling business practices into some sort of shape, sort out the ground situation, and look to achieve success out on the pitch.

They might not succeed but I sure as shit would rather sit and watch someone new have a right good go, rather than sit through the footballing equivalent of that episode of 'Open All Hours' where Tesco, Asda and Ann Summers all moved in across the road and Arkwright went "Ahhh, you motherfucker. Get some signs made up Granville. Free bag of broken Digestive biscuits when you buy a big dildo".

You can keep on being afraid, but seriously, wind it in a bit eh.

Not these fella's MO.

John Daly -

I fucking love your posts. And I mean that most sincerely - I laugh until my sides hurt. You're brilliant.

I've a bit of a sensationalist approach to many things...

I don't like these guys. I'll wind it in. But you have to please understand that no matter how bad the current landscape may seem, I think it can get one hell of a lot worse under these people.

Cheers.

They have seen the potential with Sky money,CL money and a club with history and huge potential and they will know that they have the ability to realise that potential then either enjoy the ride with a decent annual income ( or even an indecent one) or sell at a whacking profit because of how they have built the club.

We won 't find a saint with the cash to do this so let's give whoever buys us a chance.

It IS just business. But to boil that down....

Group A: upstanding people who enter into all things business with the right mindset, the best of intentions, and conduct themselves ethically on the whole.

Group B: extractors. The "me" crowd. The I-don't-care-what-the-fallout-is types. Do what's best for the portfolio and bottom line no matter what the consequences.

Who you pair with says a lot about who you are, and the way you traverse life.

I'll give you one guess which group I'd stick these guys in, and it ain't Group A.

It's all biscuits and dildos anyway...

Also there seems to be a lot of previously - 'we all love Bill but he can't fund it, not in the long term etc etc' types with pre wedding night nerves now it's looming closer...maybe with good reason... but, see A above.

All you can do is bite the pillow and hope for Vaseline... you never know, you might like it...did I mention A above?

You're completely wrong about the Padres when he was an owner. The only reason he sold them was because he was getting divorced and in California, the wife was entitled to half of the wealth. So he had to sell to pay her out.

As for how they operated the Padres, you can't judge Major League Baseball team building strategy against other sports. He built a competitive team that was winning. He got a stadium built in downtown San Diego, which is beautiful.

The Padres then went through a rebuilding phase that baseball teams go through is smaller markets. It's actually a strategy, which last seasons champions Kansas City did to perfection, as well as the Houston Astros who were one game away from the championship series.

It's a strategy that involves trading in your big money assets (best player) for a bunch of future prospects. The strategy goes that, you know you don't have a winning team. So instead of wasting money for mediocrity, you get a bunch of young prospects that can develop into star players, at a low price. When you get a core of those young players develop into good players, they are locked up under team friendly contracts. That means that when that group comes to maturity, you can then sign one or two star players to complement the young core.

It's a proven strategy in MLB, but that is that league only. There would be zero reason to believe they would do the same with Everton because it's a completely different business model. There is no top draft pick reward for finishing last. They know that.

Anyway, it will happen and how off worse will we be?

If these American chaps want to buy the club, improve its bottom line, maybe build a stadium and sell on for a big profit then we can only hope they know what they're doing.

What is clear, is that we need capital investment and a deliverable plan regarding the stadium. It remains to be seen whether any new owners can deliver the above.

I'm in.

Let's just hope all these years of waiting we can now take his word and hope with full confidence that he has found the right person and not just cashed in.

MLS is reasonably successful. There has been one or more expansion teams each year for many years now. But MLS is only marginally good soccer. So I started watching the English Premier League. It is much more enjoyable in my opinion. And when I started, Fox Sports was the broadcaster. They had a weak broadcast team made up mostly of Americans. Then NBS Sports took over. What a difference! Almost all of the announcers are English and seem very knowledgeable.

NBC broadcasts the games on the NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) which is available on cable. They also stream games live on the internet. And they pledged to carry every game, either broadcast or streamed.

This must have worked out for them because they right away bought the rights to broadcast the games for several more years for several billion dollars. So on the US east coast, you can now watch the early game at about 7 AM, one of the 10 AM games and the 12:30 PM game on Saturday. Then there is usually an early game and a later game on Sunday and sometimes a Monday afternoon game. So you could watch as many as 8 of the 10 games a week as long as you have NBCSN. And this season they are starting to show one of the 10 AM games on the USA Channel (which is associated with NBC) as well as the game on NBCSN.

So it is possible for me to watch every Everton English Premier League game, either broadcast or streamed, with a good set of English announcers.

This is the potential that I think the American buyers see in Everton. They are looking at the possibility of turning the Everton brand into something like the Manchester United brand. And they do not need to reach that level. Everton as a brand is nowhere in the US right now. If I want to buy an Everton shirt, I have to buy it from your store in England. I can buy Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and that red team shirts from local outlets here in the US. I am guessing that the Everton brand is in a similar state in most other countries as well.

So there is a huge up-side potential for the American buyers. All they need is to be good businessmen and know how to sell a brand such as Everton. Running the club into the ground is not going to make them anywhere near the money that properly promoting the Everton brand will. Also, they cannot sell Everton as a brand with a losing team. They have got to keep Everton in the Premier League and try to get them to compete for the European spots.

If all of that is correct then this buyout may be a real good thing for Everton (I hope. I hope.).

Also I do not think you can compare US ownership of Liverpool and Manchester United to US ownership of Everton. Those two teams already have world recognition. So the US owners of those teams merely need to suck all of the money out of those clubs that is already available. With Everton they would need to create the world recognition first and then suck all of the money out.

Although I don't blame you one ioda for thinking so after my numerous submissions.

Fuck it. I've been voted off the island. Let em buy us and hope for the best.

Still scared... ;0)

And David Barks can I just say THANK YOU! I now understand, with crystal clarity, how people get their undies in a bind when Americans spout off about Everton.

You're sitting there, explaining to me, how baseball teams are run. I laughed my nuts off. An Englishman, explaining to an American life-long Red Sox fan who grew up playing Little League baseball how MLB teams are run...?! Absolutely fucking hilarious.

I now totally get it when the English shout me down and say, "hold on Yank, let ME tell YOU about football!"

And you're analysis was 100% spot on. Gives me hope I'm not too far off the mark when weighing in on all things Blue.

Cheers David! Loved it.

Don't say I didn't warn you...

Not change. Change in and of itself isn't scary. And the unknown, the "if"...? Hell I love the "if".

But I don't like unscruplous bastards taking over my Club.

Maybe this American actually is more prudent and cares more about this beloved Club than others...

Hmmmmm.....

A long time I've been reading on Toffeweb, we need new owners/investment/business acumen/Kenshite Out.

Well its here and its happening, whether its a success or not remains to be seen, but Ive had enough of the past 20 years. Time for someone else to have a go and put us back on the map.

Lots of overseas investments/ownership have been disasters.... Biscuit Men, Chicken Farmers, Money Launderers, Thai Crook, Waldorf and Statler, Glazers, Sports Direct..... the list goes on.

This needs to happen.

Bummer.

A lot of you guys really change your tune when something actually happens .

Everyone's been crying Bill out for years. Well here it is and suddenly people are worried. Well I think John Maxwell #130 was right: stick or twist time.

With the new TV money, the best squad we've had in decades, Bill ill, no stadium solution and the desperate need for our club to be run like a business: I say twist too!

Bring it on and bring on a new era of Everton football club

Some people will not acknowledge that we have been run so badly for the last 15 years that anyone with ambition and a plan will revolutionize the club no matter what nationality they are.

The world is a bigger place than Walton road and to compete at the highest level we have to become a global brand not continue to stagnate under Bill and cronies.

For the record Arsenal Man U and the Rs are American owned and all have invested in ground development and better marketing.

The only questions we should be asking are what are the plans and how will they be paid for.

However, there also appears to be at least a sizable minority in this thread that regards ANY American ownership as undoubtedly a "bad thing." So it's fine for the club to make money off American fans, but any American who expresses interest in buying the club should automatically be assumed to be an evil Scrooge? Not sure how that makes sense. David at #23 asks "How many great US owners can you name?" Fair enough, but I think you can take the "US" out of that question and get about the same answer.

I'm an American – I've followed the Premier League since the mid-90s, and I've considered myself an "Everton fan" for 10 years. I've never presumed to be an Everton "supporter" because I've learned a little of what that identity means to English supporters and to me it implies a level of closeness and connection that I'll never be able to meet (unless for some reason my career takes me to live in the UK). Still, I've spent (wasted?) a lot of Saturday mornings watching Everton play and in 2009 I used a two-week vacation and shelled out a few thousand of my own dollars to watch Everton play at Goodison Park. It was an incredible experience, truly enjoyable and all the Evertonians I encountered were friendly and welcoming.

In light of all that, it's a bit irritating to browse through this thread and see all the negative generalizations and stereotypes of Americans tossed about with abandon. Of course there are plenty of greedy American businessmen running around – there are also greedy British businessmen.... or French, or Cambodian, or any other nationality you could pick off a globe. I once had the privilege to live and work with British Army soldiers for seven months in Afghanistan, and I know that if I came on this site and spouted off a bunch of nasty stereotypes about Scousers, I would deservedly have a fight on my hands. Yet hurtful generalizations about my nation of 300 million people are somehow acceptable.

There's a lot of talk on this site about the need to attract foreign fans/investment, but some of the attitudes displayed on this thread aren't going to help that. I don't know this Moores character beyond his Wikipedia bio – he could be a messiah, or he could be a disaster. But surely we can agree to judge him on his own merits, and not based on preconceptions of "the Yanks"?

That said, nationality and size of wealth are not an indicator for me of how successful new owners are likely to be.

The Glazers ate successful at United. It was Fergie's departure which took them backwards. Yes they leveraged the asset but they also milked a variety of revenue streams. If Sky were to go experience financial difficulties tomorrow, we would be in serious trouble.

A shrewd set of individuals with plans on diversifying and growing our club's revenue base, with a vision to redevelop the stadium, increase our appeal internationally and adopt a strategy of developing young talent are very welcome.

However, we have not heard anything concrete from the buyers yet on their plans, so until we do it is best to reserve judgement. If they espouse some of the points above when we finally get to hear from them, it may be a very good move for us.

And as a result of that they will deliver return on equity for shareholders, including themselves.... come back bumbling Bill!

I personally can't wait. Of course, full of risks but more offshore, short-term refinancing deals on future ticket sales, failed stadium announcements which never amount to more than a picture of a field in the Echo, kit deals that mean you cant actually buy a kit in a shop, CEOs who should be managing a Lidl in Stockport? No thanks.

This board has not invested one penny in this club, we have been fed bullshit after bullshit, it will have to be a combination of the chuckle brothers, and Mr Bean for the new investors to be worse than what we have at the moment.

I remortgaged my house to buy Everton, ok Bill so putting in a share of twenty million, and getting a shareout of £200 million not a bad choice.

As long as we have this board, forget a new ground, forget competing against other clubs,

So your comment Paul, be careful what you wish for should be noted by people not wanting the Yanks, or afraid of change.

It was reported in the papers that EFC was the only club to openly fight to cap away ticket prices at 30 pounds at the last prem club meeting. You want have to worry about Moores doing that. This guy understands that you do not rock the boat of the powers that be in a league.

Yes he did get a stadium built - at taxpayers expense - and I would not be surprised if EFC did get a new stadium somehow. He was also successful at increasing the value of the San Diego Padres. Of course most or all the teams' values increased but still, he did a decent job with that.

As Kenwright stood up to Chelsea, I believe that Moores would sell as many big players as he could while understanding the club cannot get relegated -. unless he's in for a short-term smash and grab. I doubt that's the case. I think we are in for a trip to Aston Villa-land where a formerly big club just tries to stay up and keeps its seat on the money train.

A few folks say "yeah but he only sold the team because he got divorced." That may be true but he did not spend money on players in the years before that. His model was draft young players, try to develop them and build a team - except they were lousy at drafting and developing. For the most part they were lust lousy.

I hope I'm very, very wrong and Moores does not do with this club what he did with the Padres. I believe Kenwright wants to what's best for the club and I hope Bill gets this right.

Aston Villa land says it all for me. Excellent analogy and one that seems entirely too plausible.

People say, "we've had Blue Bill all these years it can't get any worse."

Actually, it can...

Barks, how can you live in San Diego and not see what these people have done to the Padres, and what they are capable of doing to Everton? And I'm the idiot for thinking you're English and complimenting your knowledge of baseball... And being a Red Sox fan explains it all. Yep. Three World Series titles, world-wide brand, practically print money, redeveloped stadium that is the cathedral of baseball... I'll take that over a shit team, with shit owners who stripped the club clean who happen to be in line to buy something we both care about dearly - Everton Football club.

Brilliant.

This is not a good fit.

WHAT???

I hate to have to slag another Cubs fan, but Michael is just flat wrong. Under Moores' ownership, the Padres won four division titles and one National League pennant, and were contenders down to the final inning in two other years. For the 18 years under Moores, the Padres had one of the best overall records in baseball. And oh yes, he got them a gorgeous new ballpark and a 20-year, $1.2 billion TV contract.

Plus, this is a QUALITY human being, one of the most generous philanthropists in America. Moores built a cancer center at one university, an entire baseball program at another and donated $51 million to a third. And he's one of the US' leading crusaders and donors against diseases in the Third World. The man is class enough that I don't think he's going to come in and strip Everton to make a profit. I've worked with two people who worked for him at BMC and Peregrine, and they had nothing but good things to say. (I've also walked past his house at Pebble Beach, which like the Padres was sold in the divorce.)

By the way, he IS a billionaire.

And Michael, I would remind you that the model of drafting young players, developing them and building a team has worked very, very well for our Cubbies.

And he got it just right.

Those bottomless pit sheikhs have already bought other clubs. There aren't too many Billionaires around. Even if they do buy, it doesn't guarantee anything. Look at Cardiff, QPR. Liverpool were on the slide for years before the yanks took over so it can't be blamed entirely on them. Mike Ashey looks like the perfect owner at face value – English billionaire... but would he fit the bill with hindsight?

These guys are very experienced in the sports business. They understand that, to hold and increase the value of the club, it needs to be in the top league, competing.

They are not going to do an Abramovich, or a Mansour. But they are not going to do a Lerner or a Ridsdale either. Let's give them a chance and not create any bad blood already.

Anyway, worst case scenario: we could sell the old lady and groundshare Prenton Park...

As for those waiting for a billionaire to take us over, we've got a better chance of attracting one if these Americans can take us forward and sort out the stadium issue (hopefully redevelop Goodison Park), like what happened at Man City when the Arabs took over from Shinawatra.

On a final note, I hope the possible takeover will persuade our best players to give us another season. The potential of this squad is incredible.

Maureen still available - funny that!

A man with no connection to Everton, could really take things to the next level, because he wouldn't be worried about getting a bit of stick off the fans.

It concerns me that we look like we are selling to the first bidder, when their are supposedly other interested parties.

The only thing that eases that concern, is that Kenwright will have our best interests at heart!

For all those highlighting the take overs that 'failed' you seem to forget that almost every club in the top two divisions have changed ownership since BK took over (some multiple times) - yes there were a few losers but there are also many clubs doing much better afterwards. To name just few in the prem....chelsea, city, southampton, swansea, bournemouth, west ham, leicester, stoke and I'd even add the RS with the current owners. Also the likes of Arsenal and Manu have not suffered from a change in ownership. Spurs also haven't exactly done badly since Levy took over from Sugar. Obvioulsy not all these clubs have won things but many were coming from a much lower base than Everton.

Whatever happens Everton football club will still be around for years to come and one thing is certain, if there is no change in ownership now then f'all will happen for another dozen years and god knows what happens when GP starts falling down - the stadium is 50 years old.

Btw - I'm happy for the club to sell Stones, Lukaku will demand to leave in the summer anyway. If these two are sold for 100m+ and a lot of the cash is reinvested in the playing squad or put towards sorting out the stadium issue, then that is a positive development for me.

I would say stop being afraid of change and look to the potential (significant) upside that it could bring.

Also WE HAVE FUCK ALL SAY IN THE MATTER.

There is enough sky money to build a decent squad without a new zillionaire pumping in billions (can't do it anyway with FFP). Maybe a fairy tale but Leicerster and Athletico both show what can be done with a decent manager and carfully put together squad.

I know that some of us are sure all owners are useless (many of them are !) but what we are entitled to expect is that the new bunch will run the club on sound business lines and provide a new or greatly renovated stadium.

Selling some of the playing assets may not be a decision in which the new boys have much say as today players go where their agents wish to take them. Hence I feel Rom and Stonesy will not be long for Everton whoever owns the Club !

For all I've criticised him, I'm happy that Bill gets a say in this. I'm going to back him to do the best he can for us.

All that's left to do is embrace the change, hope for the best and keep the next lot honest.

That's not worrying about whether BK & Co. will leave the club, I personally cannot wait to see the back of the lot of them, and Green who is pulling the strings behind the scenes.

If they pay £200m for the club, then continue with Vibrac loans, no new stadium, no capital investment, selling players to raise transfer funds etc....we are out of the frying pan and into the fire. We will be trading in one bunch of carpetbaggers for another. Who in their right mind wants owners like that?

I thought I was cautious but where have all the worried posters been up until now?

When everyone was calling on the board to go were they expecting a line of scousers to turn up at an auction?

Any investor/buyer has the right to do whatever they like but not many want to devalue the very thing they've just put their cash into. So let's be positive (I know that's hard) and see what happens, and get behind them until they prove they've cocked up.

So the choice is between a billionaire who runs a successful venture capital company that has made a fortune buying into and adding value to software companies and sporting enterprises... and a weepy theatre producer and his pals who have no invested a penny in the club since they bought the club?

I vote for change.

Like Denis above, I want these new owners to come in and run this as an effective business. I'm not sure if the Chinese consortium can get a hand in this, certainly the more competition for our brand the better.

Kevin, anyone potential buyer can do that, don't you think? We can only hope.

Maybe we should trust BK to do what's best after all these years.

Interestingly another person on GOT thread knows guys who work for them and they had nothing but great things to say..

Let's not let fear stand in the way of growth. Can we really put up with 10 more years of mediocrity!

Have we forgotten how many broken promises there have been with the board we have now? How Bill and the board have refused to answer important questions posed by fans and shareholders. How many blundered attempts there have been with securing us a new stadium?

I am not saying that John Moores and his consortium are going to be brilliant and solve all of our problems, but I think to sit here and condemn them before we have even heard any kind of plan for the club is nothing short of ridiculous. If we want Everton to become more successful both on and off the pitch then change is needed. At this point, for me, any kind of change will do.

Your post, however is spot on and I agree that we need a change (we have waited long enough) as we have stagnated and gone backwards for the past twenty years. I hope it happens and then let's take it from there.
All the doom merchants will never be happy. We are similar to an old , dilapidated house that nobody wants to buy that is surrounded by wealthy properties (Man U, City and the RS).
Well it looks like we have finally found someone.

Let's hear what they have to say and see how they back it up before we start bitching. Can't believe people are whinging about potential ticket price rises before a takeover has even happened.

It is all well and good saying prices shouldn't rise because of the TV deal but don't forget that every club will get the same increased money and transfer prices will rise accordingly. If want the best players and a better stadium it isn't just the owners who will have to cough up, it's fans, supporters, commercial partners too.

I for one am really excited about the possibility of the takeover. We've been crying out for this for years, and now it's about to happen (fingers crossed), I can only see the benefits from it. I mean let's be honest, they can't be any worse than Kenwright, who's been taking money out the club year on year (and denying it).

I can however understand some people's concern over this, as it's a big change for our club, but I think these fears have grown from the years of failed/lies about takeover possibilities from our board that we now worry that it may come true.

Personally I think it's the first time we've really been put up for sale, hence the interest in buying us.

At some point Bill's shares will go somewhere else. Completely unavoidable fact. There's nothing more certain in life.

If it's not some billionaire looking for a plaything or a supporter protecting our interests then it will be someone expecting a return. That person will do what all business owners do... they'll seek the most efficient way to run the business for the most profit.

All the things we want will come down to a simple calc. What is the likely return on each capital expenditure request? I fear the best model for Everton as a business would be minimal investment in the team unless PL status is under threat.

Looking back now, the great Kendall years (84-87) were a temporary blip (I still can't work out how he did it as the club feels like it's got a weird jinx over it) as we've had 3 good years out of 46. I guess you could chuck in the 95 Cup win as a highlight. Little wonder then that we're all so jaded.

And yet, and this is my key point, in spite of the overwhelming tedium of our inability to really succeed and win things and stand out, the club remains a remarkably well-knit, very strong community-oriented club with a great ground and a rich history. People admire Everton for our very separateness, for our ability to keep our dignity and strong sense of distinct identity in the face of the gross commercialisation and brainless vulgarity you witness elsewhere, not the least across Stanley Park.

I guess we couldn't keep on limping along with Bill, and change feels kind of inevitable, but getting American venture capitalists involved is without question the wrong approach. Your football club really is about more than trophies and glory. Sure we all crave those things, but the Evertonian identity has evolved to be more than those arseholes who follow Man City or Liverpool or Chelsea – the arrivistes whose fans expect success and completely lack any perspective on the game.

If this deal goes through, we will witness the slow erosion of what Everton FC means... like it or not, this club has an identity rooted in the city of Liverpool, in fair play and decency, and in survival at all costs. We cling on to top-flight status with pride, and occasionally we get close to much more, but we do it our way, without the absolute sell-out others have undergone.

It seems to me that Liverpool City Council have a really big role to play in all of this , given that we have seen three or four new stadium projects bite the dust as regards EFC. I am pretty damn sure that if this scenario were replicated in the US, as happened in San Diego, then Everton would no longer be at Goodison and we'd probably have realized the Kings Dock Arena project.

I am sure the potential owners are very astute, and I sincerely hope that if the do acquire the club, that they play hardball with the local authority to achieve the dream.

Dispute all the flack that Bill has endured over the years, we know he has always had the best intentions for the club and in him we must now trust to deliver Everton's future. With trepidation, I say we must bite the bullet and go with the buyout as there might not be another decent one for a few years.

I worry about the future of the game. I started going with my dad in the 50's. My dad was not well off but he could afford to take me even if as I got older he'd pass me in to the boy's pen and he'd stand by me on the other side of the fence. My membership of the Everton Family was thus assured. Who's going to join the Everton family in my place if it's going to take a week's wages to take yourself and a couple of kids to the match?

One other concern relates to the playing side– I really hope they let the manager pick, the team, tactics and purchase the players he wants with no interference.

This transfer committee thing is bullshit, it doesn't work.

For all the criticisms of Kenwright (most justified), he let the manager, manage (and all that entails).

I just hope that Kenwright et al have some sale conditions clauses to protect the club.

I would ask the doom mongers if they can point to a PL owner who has bought a club then asset stripped and left it as an empty shell? The Glazers effectively bought Man Utd for free, but that is a different case as the club was profitable and could afford the debt - they still invested in the squad.

Lerner sunk a fortune into Villa but it didn't work on the pitch. Waldorf and Stadler bought Liverpool but got burned. It was previously a hope that the collective television rights system that the PL have would be abandoned, allowing the big clubs to take the vast majority of the money, but this hasn't happened and there is no likelihood that will change.

There is another way, apart from asset stripping. Invest in the business, improve its commercial income, improve on the pitch income (CL etc), build a stadium then sell the club for a profit as it is more valuable than when you started.

Yes, David, pretty much as I alluded to in an earlier post. We're all guessing on intentions but my guess is that this is what would happen in terms of business strategy. We're also guessing on ability to implement that strategy, though some interesting and useful contributions here in terms of these yanks' track record to date and the probability of that translating into "success" with us.

If the American owners come in and hike ticket prices up like FSG have done across the park, then the club is potentially missing out on the next generation of Evertonians. Hopefully it will be a non-issue and any potential new owner will realise that being "The People's Club" is a valuable commodity.

Problem with English football all started when the FA allowed the Premier League to be formed in the first place, but that's another story.

Re ticket prices, clubs will price tickets at the point they feel fans can pay and the stadiums won't be empty. For some clubs (e.g. Arsenal) the demand is so great, the prices are high. For us, I'd be surprised if there was a massive rise in prices as we don't get close to selling out the stadium most games anyway. Also a large portion of the seats is taken up by STHs.

On the investment side, let's wait till it gets done, then we can judge. We "reverse mortgaged" Goodison Park and Finch Farm, so it's not like we have any hard assets to build on. I would think they would see that and figure they need to invest in the short term.

Dave (#183), I absolutely agree with you and that as we are right now, we don't have assets to strip. Players are not assets to be stripped as they can move anywhere they want these days. I think the only way they get a profit out of this is to invest and make the returns from on the field performances and off the field businesses.

Whatever these guys know about football may well be written on the back of a postage stamp, but surely common sense says that you need a team good enough to compete in the Premier League to keep everyone interested and at least maintain the value of your investment.

So much conjecture without any confirmation this is truly a goer. So much negative stereotyping of Americans as if any and every one of them is a Gordon 'greed is good' Gekko.

Look, I 'get' the concerns and reservations of some in this thread, although I draw the line at the 'be careful what you wish for' merchants.

The bottom line is, BK is ill and aging. Change MUST come, sooner or later. Due dilligence cuts both ways. Has not BK always stated he will ONLY sell to the right buyers?

Mike Gaynes @ 149 gives a much more optimistic profile of the (still only rumoured, still only perspective) potential new owners. Their philanthropic nature is very much alighned to the club's existing EITC program.

Personally, I'm astonished people are 'fearful' of ANY new ownership, given the stagnation at Everton under BK's stewardship, particularly in regards to the stadium and varied commercial income streams, for at least 2 decades.

People deny themselves opportunities in life to seriously change the course of their lives for the better, with the cop out: "Ohhhhh... I couldn't afford that..." That is, can't afford it in financial or emotional terms. If such folk would simply invert the sentence to "I can't afford NOT to do it" they would be astonished at what can result.

To quote my favourite American poet Robert Frost and The Road Not Taken,:

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I ...
I took the one less traveled by,,
And that has made all the difference"

How about we hold off assuming the best or the worst of these guys until the ink is dry on any agreement signed and we actually hear of their plans, intentions and ambitions for the club?

That's how fans still feel part of the club and respected, not looked at as just a customer. If they come in all we're "Billy big time" we'll do what we want, they're fighting a losing battle from the off.

Of course its not just him, Lerner should have been wise and limited MON a lot sooner than he did, but hey, he was a trusting chairman and the manager he trusted was possibly the worst example of a spoilt brat who collected toys and threw them away. After MON spat his dummy out (realising he had gambled and lost another mans money so heavily) – Lerner was fighting a losing battle and made some poor managerial appointments.

Now that brings us to Everton – we have been lucky. Very very very lucky that our 2 managers over the last 14 years have been excellent transfer operators. Without them we would be down in the Championship or worse. We never had the buffer of a well run club to eradicate transfer mistakes.

I watch this one with great interest and hope.

I sincerely hope that they do intend to invest and they can start with a new stadium. The team is sound enough, maybe some investment there, but a ground to rival any in Europe should be at the top of the list.

We are Everton, we have been the fore-runners of English football since the year dot and should remain to do so. If they know their history, then they should put the club first.

And the information that he has walked past Mr Moores house, what is that supposed to mean or impress? Who is Mike Gaynes? How does he figure in this? Is he a reporter?

None of us has a clue how things will pan out but we will just have to cheer the lads on and pray that things work out for the best.

The point is though if he only invests ٟ.00 it will be ٟ.00 more than the current board have ever invested of their own cash.

For me, let's get the deal done and move on.

We need an owner who will buy into EFC as a brand and love it for what it is, warts and all. I personally don't feel the American pair meet my expectations for the simple reason they are very successful carpet baggers. My money is on the Chinese investors, I'm told we have one other interested party from the Middle East too.

Yes, BK will make around £68 million on this sale, less the £20M expenditure, so a cool profit (less CGT) of £48 million – but he was the only one willing to stump up the investment at the time and could've easily lost everything if we had been relegated in the past 20 years. With that risk, in my mind, he deserves his day; sadly, he probably won't live long enough to enjoy it.

The difference now is we have a squad worth very close to the asking price plus £100M every year from the TV deal so the prize is much bigger and it leaves us open to less scrupulous businessmen who will cut and run – something BK never did, which has seen us sustain EPL status... something only 5 other teams will have done if Villa go down.

My observation on this is, proceed with caution...

On the other hand, I do not expect any new owners to be throwing money into the club. I would expect they will use their expertise and connections to add value to the club and maybe underwrite some loans but do not anticipate an immediate sea change – no matter who the new owners may be.

Mike Gaynes (#159) puts a proper perspective on these guys. You do not become successful through constant deceit and lack of money. For those still believing Bill remortgaged his house to buy EFC, that myth was put to bed long ago.

If nothing else, new owners will take us up a level, even if they cash out in the near future.

In short, a donor, which is what BK has been slaughtered for expecting for years. None of us have any idea what these yanks are like, and if these other parties you talk about are so good well they should be forcing the board to consider all offers. However maybe the American one is the best on the table. No one knows.

It's a shame some of the experts on here in every field from football finance to stadia don't offer their services freelance because we would be by far and away the best club on the planet.

I have only been an Everton fan since the initial Donovan loan and thus cannot speak that intelligently on the Kenwright era, but it seems to be from reading these pages over the years that he did an admirable job but the majority thought a change was in order. Change is scary but I think we should embrace it now that it's here and the majority were calling for it... no?

Hard to argue with such a well thought-out, considered, detailed argument... but I'll give it a go.

'Kenwright has been shite, Moores is probably able to tell his momma he has got his third comma.'

Okay, so my second rhyme is a bit McGonagall and the 'three comma' thing only refers to being a billionaire on the TV show Silicon Valley... nevertheless, I think two rhymes gives me the win.

I think in the modern world the winner takes all. The 'winner" in this case is the Premier League. The other leagues in the world are doomed to being Second Division. One by one they have fallen away (remember the Old Firm anyone? – they used to sign our top players!!). Only about 5 clubs in the whole of Europe can stand up to the Premier League's earning power (Real, Barca, Bayern, PSG, Juventus, maybe Athletico...maybe the Milan clubs...but we are richer than Inter now). I think the American sees this and the trend is that all the best players in the world will want to play in the Premier League – already the best managers want to be here. If this carries on we can just forget about the Champions League as well as the real contest will be within the Premier League. And that means even more TV money.

"There can be only one" because every match is available live everywhere so people can simply choose the best to follow. And that's the Premier League... not some cheaper local football... it's not the same thing at all.

I foresee English clubs treating the Champions League like a minor irritation...like the Europa League is now or the FA Cup has become. These used to be important competitions... really important (I mean the Uefa Cup and Cup Winners Cup for the Europa League)... but they just aren't anymore because the professionals don't see them as the main prize. The same will happen with the Champions League and the World Cup... the Premier League will overshadow them all.

Dave Abrahams, the TW oldtimers know who I am, although I post less often than I did years ago. Yes, I was a reporter here in the US for 20 years, covering mostly sports. I went from there into a consulting gig in Silicon Valley. So I know of Moores on a secondhand basis from two different perspectives, although I've never met him. (The fact that I walked past his house was just meant to be amusing, no big deal. Everybody who has ever been on the 18th hole at Pebble Beach went past that house.) I don't know anything about his partner, and I don't know if they'll be good owners, but I'm more confident in their motives than some here.

I do agree that Rom and Stones are likely to be sold, but I've been convinced of that for some time anyway... I don't think whoever owns our club could turn down 65M for Rom this summer.

Let me add one more note that hasn't been mentioned in this discussion. American owners who understand marketing -- and Moores definitely does, because both his tech companies were VERY good at it -- might just make it possible to someday find an Everton shirt in an American store. I am so fucking sick of walking into sports gear stores here and seeing nothing but fucking ManU and Arsenal. I even saw a Spurs shirt recently. I wanna be able to buy some BLUE here.

I am sorry but I don't understand your point. It would seem that the lure and promise of easy TV money would increase the number of shark-like investors interested in buying a club, stripping its assets, and then selling it at still a profit to someone else. Waiting wouldn't really be an answer then would it? Besides, where've they been for the last 10 years?

Couldn't find anything on his partner.

The only reason the Padres went to the World Series in 1998 was that Moores put money into the team in order to win a vote to get a stadium passed. Since that World Series and the vote, the Padres went to the playoffs twice in 14 years – and that was with only 5 teams in their division. They were always among the lowest in payroll.

The Cubs are doing well drafting young players, but that's because before they changed the rules, the Cubs paid top dollar for young American and foreign prospects. With Moores, the Padres were always among the lowest spenders when it came to drafting prospects. Plus the Cubs finally have smart ownership that pour tons of money into the club. This is the exact opposite of the model Moores followed.

If EFCSA are willing to act on behalf of such a prospective scheme, I am willing to contribute my share to the scheme.

Just a thought.

Kansas City: back-to-back World Series, using the low-payroll model. Tampa Bay: very low payroll but consistently compete at the top.

Plus, he hasn't owned then for years, so what does the last 14 years have to do with anything? In fact, last season the Padres spent big and did horribly. MLB is about building through your minor league system, which the new Dodgers owners understand.

And after rebuilding through the five down years, they came within one pitch of winning three straight division titles 2005-07, a pretty impressive run. So your portrayal of Moores' ownership results is just flat-out bunk.

Go Cubbies.

1. I knew a lot of people who left my company for BMC in the 80's and early 90's and the ones I know still loved the place. Some of them are still there.
2. Anyone who supports the ACLU gets a chance in my book.
3. The only "leftswipe" factor (for me) is that Moores supported W in Texas and deregistered from being a Democrat ... but he's still a centrist by all accounts, is fairly left leaning for a US businessman, plus he has done great civil works, per Mr Gaynes above (and some online research I did).

I think this might actually be a good thing and we need something to happen. We're all scared of being a Villa, a Leeds, a Blackburn, a Portsmouth, but we're not going to compete with the likes of City, Chelsea, Arsenal, United, Spurs and the RS - and the mighty Leicester - without taking some bold chances and making some determined strategic changes.

I cannot understand the Anti American sentiment on here. I would hope that it is not from fellow scousers who are renowned the world over for their friendliness and comradery.

I know some people are wary of change and Bill is seen as a safe pair of hands but that is patently untrue.If it wasnt for the Rooney sale and TV money EFC would be technically bankrupt and EFC is still run like a corner shop compared to where they should be.

I do believe the growth opportunities lay in the USA and the far east so any capable owner should be able to improve EFC on what has gone before and if they choose to sell out for a profit in a few years I do not have a problem with that.

David- #226 are there any assets to strip? I thought we sold, mortgaged them all off With Sir Phil G. holding all the deeds

Jay - I know what you mean but no one runs a corner shop as bad as we perceive our club to be run, but then a corner shop doesn't get £100m thrown at every year.
We need change at the top and as fans keep our fingers crossed the owners have good intentions

And cheers Daniel for the Sky update... loved your post earlier about "terrified optimism"... perfect and appropriate description.

Safe to say that whoever he chooses to run the club will have a pretty free hand and great job security. So keep your fingers crossed that he makes the right choice.

Especially about buying Everton gear here in the Colonies!

Change is hopefully upon us - let's endorse it and give these new potential owners an Everton family welcome and trust BK has made a well-informed decision; takes his profit and recovers well enough to enjoy his spoils.

Glad you're still loyal to your special libation. Please take a sip for me. I'm an enforced teetotaler these days.

Has time and again bullshitted about a new ground, dismissing Goodison being a fecable option, has not put a single penny of their own money in the club barring Bills remortgage, which he will get back tenfold.

The Kings dock fiasco, then telling us its got to be Kirkby, Goodison will fail a safety certificate soon.

Absolute joke you cannot purchase an Everton shirt through any retail sports shop.

The Yanks may not be the answer, but they cannot be any worse han this bunch of clowns running the club.

Lets see how much Bill and the board donate to Everton or the players foundation as a good will gesture of the vast profit they will make if the sale goes through.

We need change, lets give the Americans a chance instead of another few years of this board in charge.

It's our turn to be great again, I'm optimistic we could have positive successful wealthy businessmen running our great club just like the last John Moores

Like what Daryl just posted these guys are part of a consortium who probably have considerable wealth and who are used to winning

For all BK faults and failures i'm sure he will have insisted the club is passed to good hands

Time will only tell and of course and there is no guarantee but I for one am willing to take take this chance and opportunity

If BK wishes to do the right thing by the club and the fans, the right thing to do is to get fan representation on the board. Selling 5pc of his shares at the market rate raises the holding of the minority shareholders to near 10pc and it is difficult with such a block not to be given a board seat.

Once a board seat is acquired, that board member owes no responsibility to the majority shareholders and can uphold his/her fiduciary duties by offering answers at the AGM to questions which could be answered from access to information which a board member should have.

To preserve confidentiality, answers can be provided under NDA.

If EFCSA is willing to run such a scheme and table it to BK in writing, I am willing to contribute my share.

It doesn't concern me, whether the new owners are, American, Arab, Chinese or Russian. It's irrelevant, what is important is the manner of the purchase. The club needs a cash injection, not to be broken on the wheel of a leveraged buyout. Saddling the club with debt, aka Manchester United, is simply not going to work. Yes there are improvements to be made in increasing revenue streams in all areas. But if we are truly going to compete and what I mean by that is, challenge for titles, both domestically and in Europe. We need a sustained capital flow.

It's right to be wary and until we know the details, it's all conjecture anyway. However I'm cautiously optimistic, saying that, If the specter of a leveraged buyout emerges. Then the grace period that the current board have benefited from, will be considerably shorter.

Nevertheless I think minority shareholders currently hold more than 10% in EFC anyway. Am surprised the EFSHA has never tried to get us all together (I also have a share), so as to put our case forward as a block. Then again, looking at some of the ridiculous questions they put to the board, I'm not surprised the majority shareholders told them to get lost and consider them a nuisance.

A board seat is all we need to make more transparent the core issues affecting the club, namely the stadium issue, ticket prices, community out reach and avoiding being saddled with debt.

One board seat does not mean we can over ride the majority owners, but it does mean they cannot undertake decisions without some level of fan scrutiny.

Actually it's an interesting and sad story. The chief crook, a guy named Gardner, was originally a VP who cooked up a scheme with the sales execs, the CFO and the infamously sleazy accounting firm Arthur Anderson to cook the books and inflate the stock price of the company. Gardner was so slick that he became not only the CEO but eventually chairman of the board when Moores left. The scheme ran wild after that and they bankrupted the company. If I remember correctly, Gardner was fired and Moores was briefly brought back as chairman to supervise the bankruptcy.

It took years for the chief conspirators to be sent to prison. Gardner died there.

Again, Moores and the other board members weren't implicated... just poor judgement and lax oversight.

The good news is that the company Moores built was an absolute ass-kicker before it was wrecked... quality products that are still considered top drawer today. I worked briefly for a company that competed with them, and they crushed us.

So let's hope the quality emphasis carries over!

As others have mentioned, without billions to invest in a new stadium and stupid amounts on players and wages etc I can't see how they will majorly improve the value of their 'capital' in order to see a return on their investment. So that suggests they will sit on the club and wait for it to increase in value as the TV revenue increases and / or find opportunities to improve marketing, reduce operating costs etc. Not the end of the world but hardly anything to get excited about and certainly enough to be concerned about given the examples of Villa, Sunderland, utd and the shite.

The TV contract probably guarantees them return on investment, their ambition and ego will covet success, so I'm expecting tighter management, higher expectations and proper scrutiny of team management
I'm old enough to remember when people didn't like us because we won things rather than this poor little Everton 'people's club ' nonsense.

I want those days back so let's welcome them with open arms......

I would have no problem if these guys build a new stadium (neverneverland under Kenwright) improve the management and marketing of the club and then make a tidy profit.

On the other hand they might stay on for the ride as long as they enjoy it.

If the Americans do buy the club, I think the only thing we can be certain of is that their in it for the money.
How they intend going about gaining that profit will be either good or bad for us supporters.

Personally I don't see much change as far as the stadium or the playing staff goes, I hope I'm wrong.

What we really need is a benevolent billionaire, but they don't grow on trees!

Everton need this, otherwise we'll just continue being this plucky little team that everyone loves. Of course we have our history, but it can only take us so far.

I think it's untrue that supporters of other clubs envy us - I also think that supporters of other clubs love their clubs in exactly the same way we love Everton - it's the reason they're equally as passionate about supporting the RS, Man Utd or York City. It doesn't matter who you support, it's a lifelong passion and the notion that Everton is somehow different just seems like blue-tinted nonsense to me.

We've been held back before, and we now need to let go of the past and look to building a 21st century football club, in a 21st century stadium.

16 long years here of seeing scathing anti Kenwright posts, he will NEVER sell, ever. When it looks like he has....well almost....possibly.....there is a deluge of posts telling us to beware the unknown, as if it's a surprise that there is going to be uncertainty until a new set of owners make it clear they have a plan, and exactly what it is.

Sorry, I actually don't disagree with some of the concerns but it feels sooooo like us lot, on here in particular, to be so bloody contrary after folk like me have been ranting about pitiful spend during transfer windows, failing to compete and falling way behind...and so on.

Deep breath.....no UK based billionaires want to buy us cos they are only interested in the RS and they don't want to spend £300m on a new stadium in a park in a place they don't see as iconic ish. At last there is a glimmer of hope that we may have investment, it feels like it's going to happen but there have to concerns in a week when at last the greed and needless ticket pricing structures at most clubs are exposed as on average producing £2m - £3m more pa per club whilst forcing many fans out of the game as tv money delivers a minimum of £99m to the worst team in the league. And then there's the focus on American owners.

Here's the irony for me. In years gone by its mainly been about investing in the team, or in our case, not, and seeing the result of that on the pitch. Sure the stadium issue has always been there but now most clubs can afford even stupidly inflated prices....£24m for Shelvey and Townsend, give me strength....and this year I think you can see just how extra tv money is levelling the competition, a little.

So if our takeover goes ahead I expect to see us benefit on the pitch immediately but not in a way that years ago would have got us top 4 and with glass ceilings being broken. But I do think this takeover is mostly about a new stadium or a totally redeveloped Goodison, otherwise there would be zero business or football sense in the deal. Long term if the owners get the stadium done, and they will have no help from the public sector, then there will be a real change and our steady improvement in the squad will start to look even better.

So surely it has to be worth the risk wouldn't you say ? From zero investment to a new stadium and a small ish but probably significant increase in player spending ? The hope has to be that the club gets the owners the fans deserve.

I asked him, after reading Mike Gaynes' comments last night, to look into this for me and tell me his opinion.

Here's what he had to say. And yes, to you he's a nobody... his opinion means naught. But to me he's quelled my concerns - a little - and he's a life long friend I trust implicitly.

Ok, I'm giving this guy a modestly positive review. He bought the team in 1994 and their worst fire sale was 1993. He owned them to 2008 and won I think five division titles and a pennant, which for the Padres is their glory years. Definitely invested in the team and they had consistent contenders after moving into Petco Park in 2004. Some fire sales to be sure, but no more than any other team in similar circumstances. My only red flag was that shareholders in his other ventures have sued him A LOT. So I would want to be sure he's committed to trying to win. But I'd think relegation would kill an investment faster than anything, so I'd be okay with this.

I love the "if"... I don't like this guy too damn much to be honest but if he's going to buy us anyway it's time to take the plunge and hope for the best.

This is such a large block that if they are able to work together then they must able to play a role on the board, even if it is only to preserve the value of their own shares.

Just like they will no doubt comment on future players linked to Everton, no matter what player we target
same comments, nah too slow, to old, too small before the guys have even pulled on the Blue shirt.

I was under the impression that Bungling Bill only had his shares on loan from Lady Grantchester, Robert Earl is supposed to have fuck all to do with the club, Sir Phillip Green???? I wait with baited breath.

Their Yank owners have spent £746mn gross on players cf ours of £228mn in the same period, £265mn nett cf ours of £56mn, of which £47mn is the last 2 seasons.

Do we want to be successful and compete on and off the pitch? Yes. Why would businessmen like these want to do anything but also want that? You don't invest in something to run it in to the ground.

As someone said above a lot has been said about JJ Moores and Noell fronting this consortium and even though maybe they're not worth what some people want them to worth on here they're the head of the consortium which we don't know how far it reaches. This consortium, for all we know, could be worth more than some of the Chinese that some people are asking for.

Just think in a few years time we could be in either a redeveloped Goodison or a brand new stadium, competing with the richer clubs in the transfer market, owning our own training complex with plans to expand and being part of the new San Diego MLS franchise they want to build. Kitbag is now American owned so surely the sky's the limit. Why can't we be the next major force both sides of the Atlantic?

Think positive people, it's time for us to get excited, it's been a long time coming.

Moving on ... Anyone wishing for a Chinese buyer must be mad. We haven't the faintest idea about their way of doing business or rationale in buying in to the club. I know people who have put deals together in China and Hong Kong and they tread very carefully, never understanding who they're dealing with or what's in it for them. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Okay, the Americans may be mid-term investors looking at a return on capital (because that's what it's all about) and even have an exit strategy but to achieve that they'll need to make the club (they'll call it franchise or product, get over it) worth more than when they bought it. You generally do that by investing (human resources = players) or infrastructure (ground etc). You never know... they may even become fans when they appreciate our history and traditions.

Don't forget our great history was once someone's future. Let's be positive. Onward, upward with the best club in the world.

I hope I am correct in looking for the best from this consortium. I have a good feeling about this takeover bid and hope it goes through.

All Evertonians will have to accept this if we're going to become a so called 'big team' again. Love it or hate it, I'd say it's part & parcel of our modernisation and something we'll have to accept.

Shows me that although you might live a long way from Goodison Pk, you really do love Everton.

Let's hope this fellow American, if he does eventually purchase us, one day feels the same way about Everton, as you do!!

I think people who are maligning Randy Leaner are forgetting that Aston Villa spent like a top 4 club in the first 3 years of his tenure. He gave Martin O'Neill the best part of 20m to waste on Darren Bent when that was a huge outlay on a player. It's no wonder he stopped writing the cheques. In fairness the money from Benteke was also reinvested in the squad. There lies the crux of the problem. Didn't Tim Sherwood say that he didn't have much of a say in player recruitment?!

We've just recruited a Yank from the US Olympic Committee to oversee our youth development. While he has excellent credentials my fear is that we'll see a similar guy come in for player recruitment who will just sign players just on statistics. We can't ignore statistics but we know they're open to interpretation. Joe Allen is a player who has excellent pass ratio but if you dig deeper you discover that most of these are short sideways passes.

So if it's not broken then don't fix it. We have an excellent record in the transfer market with the last two managers and I think this is because we don't have an overlord who dictates to the manager who he should buy. It' not confined to American ownership either. Look at Newcastle with Mike Ashley putting Joe Kinnear in charge of transfers. I can't think of one club in the league where this system works.

From the informative posts from Mike Ganley it looks like our new owner won't interfere too much and should be savvy enough to keep the things that are working in place. I would hope that the areas where Moores will bring people in to make a difference will be in the commercial side. It looks as though that's already happening with Kitbag deal being bought out.

I'm very optimistic about the future. If anyone can get this ground situation sorted it sounds like it's this man.

Chelsea got in on the act fairly early on so buying that success was easier than it is now. As for the RS, bringing in ten average players every season on inflated wages is never going to work. Villa did the same. Look at Spurs, for once they've packed all that in and now have a settled squad which Kane said has great spirit.

So bringing in new owners who will want to sort the ground issue out and the marketing side of the club will do me fine as all the TV money will just be levelling the playing field even more (a good thing). The club really has to stick to its roots, promote youth and have the best possible training facilities.

I'm not against the takeover per se, I just think these guys aren't rich enough and there might be richer suitors out there. I also think with a new chairman with a bit of business sense and a new CEO we could go it alone.

From what I've read that John Jay Moores is more likely to be a billionaire then have the $500m fortune being reported. I understand that wealth estimation is from 2004 and despite a divorce he has being doing very well in the 12 years since then. I'm sure our American Toffees can shed more light on this.

On the "he may not be rich enough" point, what is there to stop him from allowing other groups to invest in the club? We don't know the details of any agreement yet but if there are other interested parties, just buying the next club that is available will not be fruitful for the parties that missed out. Fingers crossed whatever deal that gets done, it represents a better exposure to off the field muscle that BK previously struggled with.

Given that the other two have been silent partners and presumably don't want anything to do with the running of the club, I guess they will also want to bail out if BK does. So long story short, due to BKs health, the club will be sold regardless of the sky millions.

Change will come and we just have to accept that. Had to happen at some point. Still amazed it's taken so long.

Kroenke seems quite content to let Wenger continue in his ways so to me he sounds like a richer version of Billy Kenwright.

Gavin, I hope you're right. I still think we could do it ourselves though.

Here are the payroll numbers for the San Diego Padres for the period right after the vote to get him a tax-payer-funded stadium and when he started selling because of his divorce:

1999 17th out of 30
2000 16th out of 30
2001 25th out of 30
2002 26th out of 30
2003 27th out of 30
2004 18th out of 30
2005 17th out of 30
2006 17th out of 30
2007 24th out of 30
2008 19th out of 30

People can personally vouch for Moores all they want. Every baseball in America who was alive at the time know Mores did not spend on players.

link: http://www.stevetheump.com/Payrolls.htm

Under his watch, the Padres won the National League West in 1996, 1998, 2005 and 2006. In 2007, they lost a play-in 163rd game to the Rockies at Coors Field on the last pitch. And in 2010, they missed the playoffs on the final day of the regular season.

San Diego is a small market. So, it is absolutely to be expected that they would have a lower payroll than:
2 Los Angeles teams
2 New York teams
1 Boston team
1 San Francisco team
1 Dallas team
2 Chicago teams
1 St Louis team
1 Atlanta team
1 Philadelphia team.

So that's 12 teams that always spend huge. On top of that, he left the Padres with a massive TV contract and beautiful stadium. His ownership period was considered one of the most successful if not the most successful period in Padres history. He donated millions to the local universities, including 30 million to San Diego State university.

Just for once I would love to know exactly what is going on. Ahh the pleasures of being an Evertonian!

When Moore's Padres won the National league western division. This essentially means they won their equivalent of the Premier league 4 times but because it's a smaller state it's more like the Scottish Premier league.

They've taken part in the World Series which is a bit like the Champions League, but didn't make great waves.. Is that the gist of it or am I reading the Padres form wrong??

JOHN JAY MOORES

Having been a computer specialist for Shell Oil, Moores helped found BMC Software in 1980, a company that went from humble beginnings to becoming one of the largest software firms in the States. Going public eight years after its launch, Moores had helped turn a £1,000 original investment into a company making $200m sales within ten years.

Born in Texas 1944, he headed into venture capitalism including the founding of JMI Equity in 1992 - an investment firm specialising in software. Two years later he bought 80% of Major League Baseball franchise San Diego Padres for $80m - incidentally from current Liverpool chairman Tom Werner - and was credited with investing to hire star names and boosting attendance.

Moores said at the time: "My goal is to stabilise the club financially so that it can be competitive on the field and accepted in the community. We're here for the long haul, and it helps that we're using my money and not someone else's."

He eventually sold up two years ago for $800m having won four regional titles and one National League championship and overseen their move to a new stadium.Moores invested in software company Peregrine Systems in 1989 and made $630m from the later selling of shares.

He has donated much of his earnings to others, a $51m contribution to the University of Houston in 1991 one of the largest in US history to a public university, establishing a cancer centre at San Diego Univsersity are among various payments to good causes.

Owning farms in Kentucky and Maryland, he set-up racing stable Merreibelle with long-time business partner Charles Noell and bought all of the stock previously owned by Irish-based Kilfrush Stud last year, promptly selling broadmare Immortal Verse for a European record $8.1m.

A personal friend of former US President Jimmy Carter, ten years ago Moores was recorded as among the richest 400 people in America, Forbes estimating his value at $730m; his wealth is believed to have grown since.

CHARLES NOELL

Noell co-founded JMI in 1992, based in Baltimore, having been the president of Moore's family investment company since the previous year. He had previously occupied roles as a managing director at technology firms while also serving as an investment associate in the treasury division of American Security Bank and at Pittsburgh National Bank and handling several high-profile IT business deals.

Based in Baltimore, Noell, who attended Havard Business school, was part of Moore's takeover of the Padres and served as vice chairman. He said of Moores at the time of their Padres control: "As much as he understands the software industry and has been successful at it, he loves sports."

As well as his active involvement in the pair's horse racing investment, he is a keen investor in property, paying close to £4m for Ardbraccan House, a mid-18th century estate on 120 acres near Navan, Republic of Ireland last year.

In ten years the payroll for Padres averaged 22nd place out of 30. That's 10 places lower than the teams you name who should have a larger payroll - out of 30!

Again - these are the ten years after Moores got the taxpayers to build him a stadium and increase the value the value of the franchise. After the franchise soared in value he stopped funding the team.

Let's explain to non-Americans what winning the NL West means. In 14 years, Moores beat the 4 other teams in his division 4 times - not almost every other team in the league as it is football.

Apparently he is a philanthropist which will fit excellently with our community projects. At the same time I read, he donated and opened a new sports science department at Texas University but then told them to take his name off the plaque and didn't give them a penny more because a student newspaper accused him of corporate greed.

So he sounds like a sensitive soul. I'm not sure how that's going to fare for us if he ever reads this forum then.

We currently have bumbling, deceitful potless Bill and cronies who are only interested in how much they can get out of EFC, have sold or mortgaged all of our assets and until the recent influx of extra TV money did very little to support the manager and you are concerned about a consortium consisting of 2 self made billionaires one of whom has a Harvard business degree (sure as hell beats acting on Corrie) who both have a record of success.

Even if these guys are only init to profit they are surely better than what we have now.

There are no Abromovichs or rich sheiks around now and quite frankly I would have less trust in them than people who speak our language and understand our culture.

Lets get behind these people and give them a proper scouse welcome.

A few questions I'd like answered are A) Do we really need to sell now? The new tv deal guarantees us at least £200m a season, doesn't it?

Under different circumstances no, we absolutely do not need to sell and in fact with the bumper TV deal coming in it'd be a poor time to sell.

Complete conjecture here... Bill is very ill. He either has limited time or simply can not continue in his current capacity. To protect his investment and take care those that he will (eventually) leave behind he's selling quickly as inheritance taxes will cut a massive piece of the pie out of his net worth - and therefore not be in the best interests of his loved ones.

Thank you.

Jay, BK may well be a bumbling, deceitful, potless, conniving fraud but he's one of us isn't he? I mean he stood on the boys pen for gods sake, he saw the cannonball kid in the flesh, he marvelled at the likes of Collins, Pickering, Young etc.... Drooled over the Holy Trinity and was besotted with his darling David for over a decade. Better the devil we know and all that

I doubt if there are many supporters whether they are for or against the present board realize that the only person interested in the running of the club is B.K. who takes most if not all of the criticism.

We as supporters have been told that Everton F.C. have been looking for someone to buy the club for a number of years and along with various failed ground investments have become frustrated with what we think is lack of effort to find any investment.

We now have an opportunity to have someone come in who do have some knowledge of running a sports enterprise but being American there can be no secrecy about them with the amount of information available from various sources that we are able to get .This reminds me of the phrase "what you see is what you get"

In regards to people who would prefer a Chinese consortium taking over with the lack of information and propaganda from this country the phrase to mind is "what you see is what your told "

We have been crying out for someone to invest in the club and no matter who it is it will be a classed as a gamble and uncertainty for the supporters, but to quote another phrase " it is better the devil you know"

These talks may have been forced earlier than we expected due to the illness of B.K. but with his genuine love for the club we should except that he sells the club to the right people and get behind them

2005 - Padres won division with worst division winning record in history 82-80. There were 13 teams with better records.

2006 - Padres win their 5 team division yet 9 other teams had a better record.

Please stop insulting us with "top 6."

Your good knowledge of baseball yet complete bending of how baseball really works makes me think you are a shill.

You still have not denied that the Padres averaged 22nd out of 30 teams in wages for the ten years after Moores got his stadium money.

Out of 30 teams in baseball the Padres had the following records in the 10 years after Moores got his stadium money:

1999 - 21st best record in the league.
2000 - 20th best record
2001 - 18th
2002 - 26th
2003 - 28th
2004 - 13th
2005 - 15th
2006 - 8th
2007 - 8th
2008 - 28th

In addition he has proven himself to be the artful dodger on so many levels that I personally will be glad to see the back of him.

Like all of us I don't know what will happen with these people or whether a deal will go ahead but I think all of us need to embrace this opportunity to bring new energy to the club.

Cynically exploiting football supporters really makes my blood boil

On a completely different matter, I have a mate who can get tennis balls very cheap, has loads of them.

Not that most supporters would need tennis balls but..you never know.

Link

As Jay and others note, a canny operator who knows how to get the best deal for the club is a significant upgrade in our ownership to the current crew.

His genuine love of the club? I think the Bumble had more love for Oliver Twist than phoney had for Everton or the supporters of this club.

You wouldn't by chance actually be Moores ex-wife would you? Jesus you hate the man.

So, the Padres moved to Petco in 2004. They won the division in 2005 and 2006. In 2007 they lost a one game playoff to again make the playoffs.

But back to 1999, that year they didn't slash payroll. Which by the way, when you say that you are implying that the Padres used to have one of the highest payrolls in baseball. Not true. They are a small market team. But back to 99, coming off of the World series the prior year, they lost their star pitcher because he was a free agent and signed the largest contract ever with the LA Dodgers. ps, I'm a Dodgers fan, so I remember it happening and was thrilled at the time.

The lost a few other star players to free agency because, being in a small market, they couldn't compete with those offers. Seeing that they now needed to rebuild, they did what every small market club does and traded what valuable pieces remained for prospects. They didn't slash payroll, they lost their highest paid players to free agency to much larger markets to insane contracts. The Dodgers gave Kevin Brown his own personal jet for his family to fly into LA 12 times a season. They gave the man, 34 years old, a seven year contract, which was a disaster.

But going back to your payroll statistics, and the way you try to imply that this is what constitutes a winner, lets look at what payroll gets you in baseball.
2015 World Series Kansas City vs New York Mets. Kansas City 16th payroll Mets 21st in payroll.
By the way, Houston had the 29th payroll and made the playoffs.
Highest payroll: Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Boston, Detroit, San Francisco, Washington, LA Angels, Texas, Philadelphia.
Dodgers lost to the Mets in the first round. Philadelphia had the worst record in baseball, Boston the 19th worst, Detroit the 22nd worst, Yankees eliminated in a one game playoff to not make the postseason.

2014 World Series Kansas City vs San Francisco. Kansas City 19th payroll San Francisco 7th.

The last 4 years the Yankees have been in the top 2 of payroll. How many championships have they won? Dodgers top 2 in payroll last 3 season, no titles.

Whilst that maybe true, most successful people in these guys wealth bracket are ruthless sociopaths who'd probably eat their own kids to increase their wealth. So lets not fall into the trap of thinking they have our, the minority stakeholders in the club, best interests at heart. For them, its business for us its part of our lives.

This is going to happen, probably sooner rather than later. If not these guys, then somebody else with deep pockets. The perfect new owner would a forty year old BK, with a couple billion in the bank, but that's not going to happen. Things will change. Some changes will be to every ones liking; some not so much.

There is sweet fuck all any of us can do, so grab a beer, find a comfortable chair, and try to enjoy the ride.

I am not a fan of the manager either.

Jay 316, my previous post was totally tongue-in-cheek. I can't wait to see the back of him. I'm just completely undecided about this Moores fella. I'm waiting to see which of David or Michael win this pennant race.

I'm not saying Moores is going to be some great savior. I have no idea. But I completely disagree with this notion that he mislead a city to get a new stadium and then slashed payroll. Just wasn't the case. As you know San Diego is a small market. Small markets have smaller payrolls. And as you'll know in baseball it is routine to hold a firesale of your valuable high priced assets when it becomes clear you won't compete in order to get a group of prospects that can either develop or be grouped together in a future trade to acquire a top quality player.

EFC has loads of Baseball history for you USA fans. I played the game for 17 years representing GB at my best and spending a winter training camp in Florida in '92 for the Expos. If you're interested in local American Baseball history in Liverpool, visit the City Museum at the Pier Head in the sports section or visit www.liverpooltrojans.co.uk.

My Dad played for EFC at Goodison Park, he was paid by the late John Moores who was a massive baseball fan. The local team in Liverpool is the oldest baseball club in the UK and is a direct descendant from Everton! So I technically played for the Blues!

Maybe all the pain catching in my knees was worth it. My arm is still strong but the body isn't so I have retired from the game in 2008 after playing for Essex Arrows. Great sport and great memories.

All BK can do is see if they have the cash to buy him out. He can't see into their hearts or minds.

David I get your point about the Padres. I just hope these guys have the ways and means to take us forward.

People arguing Baseball and Football is like arguing that football is the same as hockey, whole different sport and due to regulations is run differently. One common theme is Baseball has its favorites like Sky Sports has its, and due to America having such a huge population with Baseball being its natural sport, the larger areas get more coverage with TV coverage relying on adverts and sponsorship..

The club and fans will be far the worse for his going and new ownership believe me. It is the end of Everton as a "peoples" club and in a few years the protest planes and banners will be crashing into each other over Goodison as we become a clone of the LFC franchise. Open your eyes, why do American businessmen take over a UK football club? Do they want to put money in or bleed it dry?

Of course, he's had to pawn the 'family jewels' to keep us stable – do you think he might have to pay off the tickets before he says goodbye?

* courtesy of GoT.

I am sure Bill will retain you as his PR agent.

I know there is a lot of uncertainty around right now when you consider what has happened at other clubs but we cant stand still and at least it is someone who understands our culture and speaks the same language rather than someone who will rename us the red dragons, Moscow maniacs or sand of the desert while fighting off their deportation on fraud charges or tax evasion.

Looking to appreciate what he put in and for what and
for what he got what will he (i stress, "he") get?

Once that is clear I hope that the " 9 fold" issue is clear in my head.

Cheers

PS , I think the clue is that the feeling is He put in £20m to gain control, whereas the rumoured £200m goes to the shareholders, in proportion.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/Everton-takeover-latest-john-jay-10870567

Nice photo at the bottom. I posed for the Echo with my Everton scarf at almost that exact location a couple of years ago when we played Juve on the preseason American tour. Stones won it by elegantly chipping a pen into the top corner.

A Mets fan! Just when I was starting to respect you.

Martin,

I appreciate your comments on here. I don't agree with them all regarding Bk and current ownership of the club, but they do make me think before rejecting them. As one who stands seemingly alone at times against the onrushing tide of opinions on here I can appreciate your position. Keep posting and making me think.

However, I don't understand how Everton can continue muddling through with the current ownership and BK's health issues. The club must move forward and this will take it forward, in my opinion.

If Moores is worth a billion he should not have to go that route. American leagues will not usually let someone acquire a team through LBOs.

However, it would be interesting to know, why exactly Swansea turned them down and will the consortium be providing the cash injection, the club so desperately needs. Or will they be placing the burden of purchasing Everton onto the clubs shoulders.

Call me old fashioned but you would at least expect, someone, I don't know, maybe in the local media, to be at least asking these questions. Considering, ya know we are the longest established team in Liverpool, founder of the modern game, an institution in the community and world football. And all we appear to know about the consortium about to purchase the club, is a couple of blurry photographs and a press release.

Link

I am no accountant and I have no idea what the operating costs of EFC are but those numbers look pretty attractive to me. The catch of course is to get the money you have to stay in the Premier League.

As an aside, and perhaps to be a little bit mischievous, does anyone know who they sold their software company to? It wasn't this bloke was it?

Link

You'll ask questions of this, questions I've asked this "source" myself, but I don't know much more. Reason for posting this: can anybody shed any light on this or does anyone know or have they heard anything similar?

Apparently this Chinese consortium is mega rich, money is not a problem, they have a long term plan and will build a new stadium "without a problem". However, Bill is set on doing business with Moores and Noell and isn't entertaining the Chinese.

How true this is, I really don't know... but I find it very disturbing that if there is other parties interested, parties that have this sort of wealth, then why aren't they seriously being considered? Unless they are and obviously we don't know about it, but according to this person (who I don't know by the way but seems to have a lot to say about it), it's not on top of Bill's list.

Obviously this could all be a load of crap but it had me worried and wondering if Moores and Noell are the right buyers? Sounds to me more like a Man City type takeover whereas the Americans are a bit more like a Liverpool type.

If the latter is true, surely they will need only to find around c £102M to gain a 51% interest as I see no prospect of them buying out the myriad of small investors. Why should they?

What do we know? Kenwright's time has been paternalistic, caring (see charitable works, community projects, ticket prices even), possibly theatrical in nature. Looking at where he began he needed to be able to pay off (or otherwise satisfy creditors) crippling debts while at the same time stave off relegation. Those debts were pushed over the horizon for a time when we might be able to pay them off, when perhaps their value and significance dropped - happily rather like a mortgage that time has arrived.
The strategy was survival and in that he has been remarkably successful - more so that a dozen or more club chairman already mentioned, beating all but maybe 6 during his time? Not bad at all Bill!

A winner of silverware? Obviously not.

All around us successful clubs have moved away from treasuring the 'club in the community' and instead view the community as customers. When you do that the emphasis changes from long term nurturing for the purpose of keeping the club safe for future generations to treating it as a money making object that is essentially disposable once its use is complete i.e. when it ceases to generate enough profit for shareholders.

We see this routinely in the business world when looking for value - mergers, buyouts and when all is lost administration and corporate death. Here then is the source of our misgivings as death of our club is unthinkable - however others have shown this is the only way to win a silver pot.

Even those who spent big and won a cup have found success unsustainable if the customer base is not secure in terms of profits. They failed to make enough money to sustain investment - that is why we need and will get a new stadium when new investors arrive BUT they will only buy if they see value. Our value is based on a large (aging) support base from 20 years and more ago plus those who have been touched by our extensive community building (well done Bill) and those who choose a 'plucky but sustainable loser' from the teams around us when they watch PL on TV around the world.

We will have to go from a 'community' club to a 'winning' club and if that success arrives be able to take maximum advantage - hence the need for all your 'plastic' fans as there is limited scope from current supporters wallets. There only seems to be one way these clubs can satisfy their shareholders that they are a 'winning' club (thus generating profits) and that is by short-term actions such as continually changing managers after 2-3 years, each time at huge cost. That works if you have huge amounts of money to invest, great means to generate cash and a good exit plan. I suggest Everton are not ready to get that at this stage and that is probably a good thing as it is high risk - albeit underpinned by massive PL funding.

Keeping good managers long term is good for stability but not necessarily good for winning things - Wenger hasn't too many titles to boast about (though a few cups) and Ferguson is probably the opposite as his titles sustained his reign rather than the other way round.

What we probably should get is something between the two, geared towards making money but also philanthropic towards the community (once it has paid for itself). I don't think we will see a merciless dash for success yet but a building of the customer base keeping costs to a minimum. If the customer base is not there (and PL success suggests it is but see Sunderland, Newcastle, Villa for warnings) then it will peter out and be sold on - but if it is not there then we never had the club we thought we had in the first place.

Bring it on. Football is about winning.

I have heard many Evertonians defend the club's poor performance by directing detractors towards the work EitC deliver. I'm sorry, but there are many, many clubs which carry out charitable work, but don't seem to promote it as much as we do. Why on earth are we even involved in free schools?

I believe we should put all of our efforts into making our team as successful as possible – the charity work really takes care of itself. I'm sure we all donate to our chosen charities, but we really need to remember the reasons why our club exists in the first place.

http://metro.co.uk/2016/02/09/how-will-chinese-money-affect-the-la-liga-and-premier-league-product-5671166/

Such a level of aggressive investment would transform us overnight, but it is unclear why Chinese investors are generally not buying out clubs, just buying stakes.

I believe a club finishing around 10th next season will get roughly £125M, we got around £70M last year for 11th as a comparison. So we should be looking at at least an extra £40-50M a year for the next three years. However, once we have a couple of players on the payroll on around £100k/week+, that extra money's going to disappear fast.

Sad truth is that as soon as the TV money goes up, the players' wages follow suit so the clubs are not really in that better a position. It won't be long before we have the first £100M player earning £500k/week.

I guess this is because of FA and UEFA rules that limit club ownership (with different ownership thresholds applying between the two)?

Let's face it if you remove the rose-tinted glasses, we have been owned by Kenwright who has invested in the squad in a minimal fashion and has let the stadium rot away around us.

Any owner is going to be a step up. Kenwright is a small time theatre producer in a league of big business players and billionaires.

In terms of ownership we are stepping up to the plate more than we would under Kenwright. Our transfer outlay might not change but I do expect big changes in how the club is run as a business behind the scenes. No more amateur hour thinking and signing sponsorship deals for pence.

People are scared of change – I for one cant wait.

Help !

Will the council change the name of the East Lanc's Road to the East Yanks Road?

Nothing is certain on how the owners will be received either by the fans or the council.

Bill Kenwright's reign looks to be ending anyway due to ill health and if he has sorted out, what in his opinion is a good deal for the future of Everton Football Club I think most Evertonian's will be happy with that.

The question: Are either or both of you family members, business associates or highly experienced behavioural scientists? Presumably both of you at least know him personally?

It would be so disappointing to discover your outpourings are merely opinion based.

The stockbrokers for Everton told me that whatever is agreed with the directors would need to be offered to the minority shareholders too (i.e. they can't offer BK £10/share and the minority holders only £/share). However, as far as I know the minority shareholders don't have to sell up if they don't want to. (BTW, I'm by no means an expert on corporate law, just going by what I've been told.)

Here's the deal. Moores bought a majority stake in the Padres for about $80 million in 1999. He only owned around 51%. He and the minority owners sold 100% of the club for $800 million.

$600 million was paid to the owners, including Moores, and then Moores and the other sellers took $200 million from future revenue out of the club from the new TV deal. The old TV deal paid about $10 million a year. The new deal paid about $1 billion over 20 years. The sale occurred right as the new deal was going to start. The TV deal and the new stadium drastically increased the worth of the franchise.

Just so everyone knows - every baseball club has had these astronomical increases in revenue as their old TV deals expires.

A very good post but can we ditch the myth that Bill saved the club. The facts are that he inherited a net asset position and within a couple of years on his watch it became a net liability such that if we hadn't sold Rooney we would have been technically insolvent.

Paul Gregg, a friend of Bill's up to that point, was so horrified at the way he was running the club, he offered to invest on condition Bill resigned as chairman. He also offered to fund KD on a mortgage basis but Bill declined and invented FSF claiming he was getting £15M investment and then proceeded to rubbish Gregg through the media.

And some people still think the guy was a saviour just because he is one of us.

There's a school of thought that says, we are just consumers or fans. I don't subscribe to that view. I'm a supporter and my family have been for five generations now. In that time, we've invested a lot of time and money, like many members of this forum. If you do the math and adjust for inflation, it's not inconsequential. It's bigger than just football. If you took the F.C away from Everton, it could fall under the remit of the National Trust. That's how important the club has been to the community, and football in society at large. It's because of it's working class origins that clubs are looked down upon and not valued as it should. Now there's vast amounts of money to be made, that's changing. But the important, historical nature of Everton should never be forgotten. It's what defines and binds us together for good or bad, whereas fandom or consumers are tempororay in nature. Being an Evetonian is permanent. It saddens me that the value placed on that support by some, is considered meaningless and without influence.

Imagine dropping down to the Championship with that consolation prize.

The sad thing about these shares is that Everton F.C. receive no finance from these transactions.

My memory is that the club was in disarray, Johnson wanted out but no-one stepped forward to buy for many months. Certain players were being bought and paid large sums and were failing to live up to their billing, having to eventually be sold on for less money than they cost, or never actually played (Bilic). We had lived on the brink of relegation for some years and had sod all to invest.

Kenwright & Gregg took on a mess, avoided relegation with no investment but by selling every fixed asset the club had to sell (which wasn't much) to keep bankers happy. Net assets may well have fallen slightly when True Blue (TB) took over (some of which was down to costs of the takeover) - (tangibles 2000 were £15million, in 1998 were £15.6million; Total assets in 2000 were 4.3million and in 1998 4.9 million; Total assets less liabilities improved 1998 £11.1 million, 2000 £12.1 million) - no sign of asset stripping there but we survived in the PL to now enjoy an income currently £125 million, making that survival fundamental to where we are today with us about to be launched into a new era (we hope).

Not sure where your 'net liability' notion comes from? 2003 the year before we sold Rooney Total assets less liabilities had risen to £27.4 million but fell sharply in 2004 to £8million. Is this the figure you are assuming suggests insolvency if £10 million had not been raised for Rooney?

I suggest that cashflow year on year is far from as simple as you make out. Player assets have to be managed and we certainly carried out several short term fixes back then (as most famously Johnson did) but we all saw an upturn in club fortunes and have seen a steady climb/consolidation continue. No other club I can think of has managed to do that in PL over that period of time with the sort of cash we had available to spend. None. Not a bad legacy under those circumstances. Not a myth.

Rooney was available to sell because he wanted to go. Had he not wanted to go funding would have been found in other ways or perhaps more likely money would not have been spent during 2003-2004 (I can think of 4 players who came in in that reporting year after Rooney left) were it not known the Rooney money was available.

IMO Johnson was much maligned because he was a Reds supporter and a section of fans purported the myth that he was on a mission to take us down hence the nickname "Agent Johnson".

The fact is Johnson put a lot of his own money into the club, Built the Park end stand and was actively seeking a new ground for us. He had underwritten a lot of player purchases and his Park Foods empire was coming under pressure financially and the banks were putting pressure on so EFC's credit line was reduced.

He did not want to sell but following the death threats he decide to sell quickly and cheaply. Step forward one Bill Kenwright.

Relegation was again flirted with and Bill who had supported Walter Smith....."I talk to Walter every day on the phone"........... was forced by the supporters to get rid of Walter and Moyes came in to save us from relegation that season.

Once Bill got in place he set about liquidating assets left right and centre despite inheriting a net asset position and it is felt but not proven that the swing of 20 to 30 million in Bill's first 2 years was to repay the 20 million he had paid for the shares hence the club had paid for the True Blue shareholding. Goodison was mortgaged to the hilt, Netherton training ground was sold off, Finch farm aquired for 2 million then sold off and leased back at 1 million a year for 50 years described as the craziest financial transaction ever seen and so after Bills first few years he had managed to turn us into a lossmaking club with net liabilities.

So there you have it.

Bill Buckner was so distraught he tried to commit suicide by jumping in front of a bus.

But the bus went between his legs.

Get me coat and whatnot....

I really doubt business study students would be in any way interested in the running of EFC under his stewardship anyway as it's been a very simple boring case of running a business within revenue and borrowing constraints, providing as much money as possible to strengthen the squad within those constraints and without the business going under.

Compare that with Blue Bill, operating with a much bigger TV revenue budget, a steady manager in Moyes and his biggest legacy is one failure after another. Sold Rooney to pay the banks, failed on three ground moves and delivered no silverware.

Someone is going to need huge drive, energy, ambition and money to put us back in that top bracket.

A 73 year old yank with a short term plan to bump a profit is not what I was hoping for after treading water (or going backwards) over the last 17 years.

The one thing that unites us all is concern over the future. Stick with the present board and where do we go? Accept the offer on the table and what happens? Whatever happens from now on our club will never be the same again.