Misery loves company... We won't be the only ones up this particular creek.

For me the key messages are:

- wage bill must come down (that means sales of big earners and replacement with younger players with lower wage demands)

- the stadium must go ahead, otherwise Moshiri is disincentived from the continuous bail out

- we must get better commercially

- the recruitment strategy must guard against stockpiling unproductive high earners

Unless we do all 4 there must be a genuine risk we go bust.

I bang on about the benefits of youth based recruitment (and get a bit of stick for doing so). But you can see in the analysis above how it helps a club. The fact that we made money on youth failure (Onyekuru, Lookman and Vlasic) is in stark contrast to the drain on the club that is Bolasie, Sigurdsson, Tosun, Bernard, Walcott etc.

That said the policy now has to shift towards youthful quality that are an investment , an asset and at the same time can invigorate the club with an energy we are sorely lacking. It doesn’t have to be a revolution, but an evolution cherry picking the best we can get.

As regards for the clamour to invest in youth rather than pay over the top for experience. Perhaps it would be an idea to get behind these young players when they do break through. e,g Tom Davies, Jonjoe Kenny.

Also players like Calvert-Lewin bought in for small fees, ('Championship at best' according to many), who was on the end of a more than a few choice pelters from my seat in the lower Bullens.

If the business is continually making losses and the commercial side is going nowhere, the first thing to look at is the management. It is obviously not good enough and should be replaced.

Moshiri may be a billionaire, but a considerable amount of his money is now tied to Everton. He has been an advisor to Usmanov who ran a business. Anyone who knows how to run a business would be asking questions and insisting on changes. There were problems before Covid as regards to running of the business.

It is also worrying that the connectivity to Usmanov is getting weaker. Moshiri has been re-investing away from the business he made money in, and losing money.

Ancelotti and his calm demeanour are here to stay. There will be no transfers in January. Next transfer window, like January, will consist of an emphasis on getting rid. Next summer's window will be based on strategic squad requirements, with limited funds available for transfers in.

The end will come, hopefully Everton are still standing after it.

Great analysis by Paul the Esk. Thank you.

The wealthy people that I have worked for in my life have been willing to take risks to reap reward – and, in most cases, it has paid off handsomely.

It would be interesting to get your opinion on what he sees as the long-term prize.

Yet again, Paul, you have done a great job in keeping fellow Evertonians well informed, and up to date.

I don't know any wealthy peop!e like that either. Any of those that where businessmen consider it a good decision to cut their losses. The most successful ones would close down a business as soon as it was apparent that it was not going to wash its face.

This is why I have doubts myself about Moshiris business ability. In my own case I have sailed close to the wind, but have always had a safety value , with a Exit strategy , to get myself out of the shit.

Of course some will say he's a Billionaire and can survive big losses. But the bigger you are the bigger the losses and in Moshiris case in regard to Everton they have been huge. A bad business can lose money at a frighting rate.

Your articles are always interesting and always well researched, and this is no exception. I read that the accounts published last week showed an increase in salaries rising from 85% to 89%. I remember an accountant from one of the big companies a year or so ago saying that any club operating at salaries above 75% wasnt sustainable. So if that is true then unless we unload many of the high earners, how can the board possibly endorse any future signings.

I would imagine that the board must have told Ancelotti and Brands that there can be no purchases of players, until we get the salaries down to somewhere near the 75% mark To do this we would have to part with quite a few players, and not those on moderate salaries but a few of the top end earners. Paul I would be interested to hear your thoughts on us continuing to operate at well above 75% of salaries against turnover.

Looking at this season although we lost some hefty wage earners last summer we also brought in James, Allan, Doucoure and Godfrey, plus Ancelotti's full year wages (as against 7 months in the last accounts).
Turnover will increase on the back of the broadcasting revenue from the last 7 games of last season falling into this accounting period.

I'd estimate total wages of £170 million on turnover of £206 million (83%)

Until we increase income we are going to make eyewatering losses funded by Moshiri. It really concerns me that when FFP and Profit and Sustainability rules are reintroduced we are going to be massively non-compliant