“We were at least worthy of a point here” - says David Moyes after 1-1 draw to Brentford

https://www.goodisonnews.com/2025/02/27/Moyes-could-axe-harrison-from-everton-role-as-touchline-footage-emerges/

Not sure it's even run by Blues.

If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those 2 imposters just the same: yours is the earth and everything that's in it. And what is more, you'll be a real supporter!!!

So it was a little bit disappointing, although probably expected, to hear David Moyes talk about being in Europe rather than talk about ending our very long drought.

Second season, I will be demanding the lot!!!

I keep hearing that it's a poor league, but my own view is that there are a lot of good teams in the league, but not many of these teams have shown much consistency.

If Everton continue to do well this season and sign a few good players, then I believe anything is possible if Moyes can continue to unite the whole club, especially with us going into a new stadium that is going to house 50,000 Evertonians every other week.

I've had enough of those Zs, Neil, but because the Everton I used to know always existed to compete and at least try and win trophies, then I honestly don't think I'm asking for too much by holding out for this once more.

History has shown me before that Everton can rise very quickly, and although it's a different era, I still think we can surprise a lot of people. If David Moyes can add a little bit of belief and desire and a genuine quest to win trophies, when Evertonians really unite, they can be such a formidable force.

I've been saying it for years and I only have to think back to the Liverpool game the other week to remember how our team, without any real craft, were wearing Liverpool down, until one of the best players in the world stepped up to the plate, and quick as a flash, scored a goal out of nothing, considering it was all done on his standing leg.

If you want to win, then the golden rule is that you have got to believe. Honestly.

We currently have a firmly bottom half squad and wage bill, and stand to lose a number of regular first teamers in summer.

There are already 8 or 9 very rich clubs out there (the rich 6 plus Villa, Newcastle and West Ham) - and some big spending / well run mid table clubs too who we would need to out perform to achieve your goals.

So presumably you're expecting TFG to outspend at least 3 or 4 of these 8 to 9 clubs (along with all the mid table clubs like Brighton, Bournemouth and Forest)?

Or is there something else about how Everton is run that would allow us to outperform to this extent?

I don’t see us qualifying for the Champions league for the next 5 seasons.

I hope that it’s not this long obviously but we are basically starting from scratch.

David Moyes has improved the results of the team without any major financial investment. We would be 3rd in the premier league table if the season was based on results since he took over.

He has done that managing and coaching a set of players you always say are not very good.

Your theory is that spending more than other clubs is the only way to improve results and progress up the league ranking.

Ipswich have a net spend of £126 million in the 2024/25 windows and will be relegated. Tottenham have a net spend of £102 million and Man Utd a net spend of £94 million - they are 1 point ahead of us.

Liverpool spent £10 million and received £53 million from player sales. They are 13 points ahead in the league.

How do you explain that?

1) Recruit well but do not overpay.
2) Drive a high performance culture focused on results.
3) Invest in top leadership and management.
4) Run operations efficiently.
5) Focus on young talent.
6) Ensure compensation is competitive.
7) Build engagement, trust and affiliation by treating people properly.
8) Repeat 1-7 in a systematic and consistent manner.

Clearly Moyes has done a great job since his arrival. Can he keep that up over the course of next season?

Personally I doubt it. And not because I doubt Moyes as such. Success ( ie Champions League qualification and titles) usually follows sustained spending with a few notable exceptions.

I certainly don't believe simply spending more than other clubs is the only way to get ahead though (as per lots of articles I've written on these pages). In particular, we are proof of that - having massively overperformed the level of investment since 2021.

We also underperformed the level of investment in the early Moshiri years through an incredibly stupid recruitment strategy that was doomed to fail.

However our squad quality (and depth) is miles off the richest clubs and that is a huge disadvantage especially when injuries bite. So unless we can bridge that gap through spending or some other operational measure then we'll have a job on getting in the top 6. Not sure that is hugely controversial looking at the patterns of the past 30 odd years of the Premier League

The hard thing is we’re playing catchup. The likes of Brentford, Brighton, Bournemouth and maybe even Palace are now really well clubs who scout well and hire good managers. We will be trying to beat them at their own game. And then there are the likes of Newcastle, Chelsea, Villa and Spurs who for various reasons have far more money to spend than I expect TFG to make available to us.

I think around 9th-13th and continued stability will be the aim next season whilst hopefully bringing in some young players to form the core moving forwards. And then maybe after that hoping for 7th-10th with a possible shot at Europe, though most teams league form suffers during their first season or two in continental competition.

Some combination of better management/decision-making and increased expenditure will be needed to claw our way up the table on a consistent basis.

I simply asked you whether you could account for patterns in results and league placings this season v net spend given they don’t match your theory.

Some talk that we may go without a DOF which would please some on here. Personally I think football has moved on and that would be a bad idea.

I backed Dyche for a long time until it became clear this season that he either couldn't or wouldn't get any more out of the players. Atm Moyes and his team are providing real proactive and effective coaching. Improve the squad and let's see if this continues.

Roma have Florent Ghisolfi as Technical Director, so I suppose it depends on how the role is defined. But the role will remain.

I think TFG were always going to bring in a replacement for Thelwell as they appoint their new executive leadership team. It is the right thing to do, as only exceptional talent should remain after an acquisition.

I will never understand why Moshiri didn’t clean house at all levels of the club after he bought Everton. A £600 million error.

Will be interesting to see who comes in. I thought Thelwell had a chance of remaining as I do think the job he has done in the circumstances, whilst not exceptional, is very commendable.

The principles of sound business probably would be along the lines you describe - which seems to mean that if you're well run you can outperform a better resourced club that is poorly run. This is how we lost ground in the early Moshiri years. But the problem is that a well resourced and well run club is very hard to catch - and there's quite a few of those.

Exactly Robert, Manchester Utd for example.

Add Spurs and West Ham this year too.

But that still leaves 6 very rich and well run clubs. And a good handful of other well run mid table clubs that have invested hundreds of millions more than us in just a few years.

Which is why, going back to my questions, I asked what level of net spend is expected - or what other operational measures are likely to be taken. Because this is what will help us catch up and then overtake over a given period.

Dan Ashworth may also be available and could be interesting.

I do think though that you over-state the impact of net spend in some of your posts. It is an important factor but strategy, leadership and organising choices are more important.

Spending money badly is incredibly easy for businesses, particularly poorly run ones.

Ambition and objectives backed up with a vision and a strategy. And the key word being belief.

Aston Villa and Newcastle, are examples of rising again to compete. We can do the same.

Villa have been relegated twice in my living memory, the latest being 2016, after which they spent three seasons in the Championship. They only avoided relegation in their first season back on the last day.

Newcastle have been a yo-yo club over recent decades, despite the media love in with them, were relegated as recently as 2016.

Look at both of those clubs now and what they've achieved in a relative short space of time.

So we can believe that we can revive our fortunes and challenge again. In terms of budget and transfer, under current rules and guidelines, it won't be possible to do a City or Chelsea before them. Besides that, I have always been a firm believer in it not being how much you spend, but how you spend it.

We should know that better than most given the debacle of the Moshiri era.

Anyway, more broadly my point is that success will generally depend on the quality of the players. Most highly successful clubs have excellent players through a combination of high spending, heavy investment in academies and youth development. The competition for top players is fierce and perhaps as few as 5 clubs in Europe can afford the ready made best. We are a few tiers down, which means most of the ready made players we can afford are far from top quality.

So the real question is how do you deliver top quality players without a competitive budget?

This is what teams like Brighton, Leipzig and others have addressed (with mixed success) and sadly the RS have also adopted most successfully (alongside heavy but not astronomical spending). It seems to hinge on youth player scouting / trading, use of data analytics and low cost markets, heavy investment into the academy (to generate players for sale as much as players for the first team), player development via loans and affiliate clubs etc. Even money bags City and Chelsea do this to manage PSR and an overheated transfer market.

But all of these things take time. And so net spend alongside all of this is very important. It is what might allow a material upgrade in quality and depth this summer as well as keeping Branthwaite.

Mentality at the club is changing and that's key. Playing squad nowhere near as bad as some say.

Dyche had lost the plot, Moyes has put a few pegs in right holes and given them confidence and balance. But can't be makeweights anymore. Forza Everton

Totally Nick. When I used to watch Roma occasionally, they used to shout Forza Roma to each other as some form of greeting. I think Forza translates to "force" or "strength" in English.

Spot the link with the new owners!

Robert, I understood that as RB Leipzig built themselves into a force, they wouldn't spend more that €20M on a player and unearthed some right gems that put them on a platform to success or were sold at significant profit.

But they had a seeming conveyer belt of replacements. I think it's called an extensive or expansive scouting network!!

I just think if we get the squad right and get off to a good start then it cannot be underestimated how much the power of having fifty thousand Evertonians, inside the stadium every other week, could have on the team though.

My mate sits in the family enclosure, close to the dugout and he was telling me about the stick the Liverpool bench was getting, after I had said that Goodison, definitely got to Arne Slot.

Hietenga was getting told he was the only centre half who had ever played for Everton, who wouldn’t head the ball - shut up and sit down yer fuckn Dutch shithouse, and this is exactly the type of thing we need all over our new stadium next season😂

I remember reading a photographer saying that Evertonians, would have been the crowd he would have feared the most, if he had ever been a professional footballer, because there are some funny people, who constantly chip away at the opposition, so let’s take this to Bramley-Moore!!

But the bigger fees have gone on players with Champions League style and potential rather than more reliable ready made players of the same cost.

They now regularly spend in the £20M to £40M zone - mid-table Premier League transfer fees akin to what the likes of Brentford, Bournemouth, Forest and Palace have been paying.

They don't compete in the £65M to £120M zone at all which is where established Champions League clubs do business.

These are good questions, but I am unclear who you want to answer?

From my perspective, I would expect in the region of £50 million net spending over the next 2 seasons, in addition to money generated from player sales and expiry of contracts.

The operational measures that I would take (in this order):

1) Appointment of a completely new CEO and executive team.
2) Talent hire a top DoF.
3) Overhaul the Commercial function at the club.
4) Initiate a cost reduction exercise of 10% club-wide.
5) Set outcome-focused objectives and KPIs for each part of the business with quarterly reviews until performance improves.
6) Overhaul the recruitment strategy to focus on data and analytics.
7) Develop a long-term plan to invest in the Academy structure.
8) Invest in the playing squad based on parameters on age and value-growth potential.
9) Develop a succession plan for Moyes.

It would be great to hear your answer the questions you posed to others?

the key issue for us is Branthwaite. those negotiations need to be happening now, either clubs are prepared to meet our near £90m fee, or he is going nowhere. What we cannot have is us budgeting for keeping him, and then some crappy bid comes in mid August which destabilises him. Obv if we sell him, then that completely changes the quality and number of players we can bring in. Hate to say it, but it may only be Liverpool who are prepared to just take the hit and pay our price early. they know that if they want one of our players they can't negotiate, the price will be the price. I keep harping on about Liverpool because they have been superb in the transfer market, and Branthwaite is perfect for them. the ideal replacement for Virgil. And the performance in the derby will have underlined this fact.