How to lose hearts and minds...

(Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)

A day is a long time in football. A day is certainly a long time when it comes to Everton.

In the space of 24 hours, the club’s leadership managed to lose any credit or trust it had from the fanbase... and it was all for nothing.

Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Bournemouth was overshadowed by news that Everton were in talks with Nottingham Forest over selling Harrison Armstrong, the jewel of the next generation.

Armstrong, to his immense credit, played at the Vitality Stadium, and he played well.

It has been reported that the teenager had not pushed for a transfer. It was not David Moyes’s doing, and it is understood to not have even been a decision made by Angus Kinnear.

Instead, TFG had pulled rank and decided to cash in on the youngster as they aimed to make a quick sale that, it seems, Everton actually badly needed.

TFG has now learned the hard way that you do not rile up this fanbase. By Sunday morning, after an outpouring of outrage among Evertonians — with the 1878s fan group going as far as to threaten a boycott of their activities if Armstrong was sold — TFG had pulled the plug on a deal that, as of Saturday night, had reached the stage where medicals were being scheduled.

That good news was short-lived; Sunday turned out to be one of the most hectic days of transfer-related business in recent memory.

Armstrong is staying, but Iliman Ndiaye is set to join Tottenham, with Richarlison heading the other way. Talks over another loan move for Jack Grealish are at an advanced stage and Kenny Tete is close to joining from Fulham.

But we’ll have more pieces to discuss those various potential ins and outs.
We must circle back to Armstrong, and ask why in the world did TFG think that selling him would be a good idea?

This reeked of a detached ownership stepping in and, frankly, making a huge miscalculation. Whether it’s because TFG has told Everton’s transfer “committee” that there is no more money to be spent, and a sale is needed, or it’s because they simply want to recoup some of the money they
have already put in, or because the Toffees are somehow close to the line on SCR... who knows? 

But what’s clear to this writer is that this was a decision taken at the highest
level without any consideration for the wider context.

TFG, thankfully, saw the error of their ways. But now, they must try and rebuild a bridge they have torched down. It is now time for some open and honest communication from Dan Friedkin, the owner of this football club. We should not only ever be hearing from Kinnear. 

TFG are detached to the extreme. Whereas we heard too much from Farhad Moshiri, we don’t hear anything from TFG, and that needs to change.

Kinnear is their man on the ground, and Evertonians can be grateful for his public communication, but too often it is sounding like spin, rather than honesty. 

But let’s take Kinnear’s words from a few weeks ago at face value. Let’s say he wasn’t lying (as why would he?) — that suggests, then, that the rug was pulled out from under him and his “local team”.

So the next question is, why are Everton so desperate to sell? Why are they in such need to generate, it seems, a profit for the books of around £40M?

Is it just a coincidence that such a profit would cover the amount put into the club by TFG earlier this summer to cover the payment to Burnley?

If it is, then it’s understandable — but tell us! Do not take the fanbase for fools.
Were TFG eager to release funds to attack the last few days of the market, but did they miscalculate who in the squad was for sale, despite reportedly receiving pushback from Kinnear and Co?

Are TFG unimpressed by the transfer committee’s lack of decisive decision-making? Are they unimpressed that fringe players have still not been sold? Perhaps that is why they stepped in.

But if that is the case, then heads need to roll. Ultimately if something isn’t working, it’s best to change it quickly, rather than drag it out. Because, if Kinnear is not being listened to, or if he is being circumnavigated, his position is untenable. If Moyes is being too stubborn, then he must be shown the door if he does not want to fit into the plan — whatever “the plan” is.

And the worst thing of all is, this situation with regard to Armstrong was totally unavoidable. Evertonians might not like it, but they can understand that Ndiaye — who is not going to sign a new contract and can attract a sizeable fee — wants to leave and that sometimes you have to cash in to reinvest when the opportunity is there to do so.

But Armstrong has shown no such desire to leave. He has started every game this season and he has been superb. He is the future of this club, or at least, he should be.

All that this fiasco achieved was not only annoying the fanbase and exposing a flawed structure behind the scenes — it also will have no doubt planted serious questions in Armstrong’s mind.

Over the summer, Armstrong joined the Unique Sports Group agency. These are serious players, they do not mess around. And you can bet, that now, they will be pushing their client out and circling his name, because it’s clear, Everton were willing to sell.

TFG might have seen sense, but is it already too late? Armstrong only has 2 years left to run on his contract. Everton should be doing all they can to renew it, but will that be enough?

He was reportedly in line to earn a six-figure weekly salary at Forest — are the Toffees now going to have to shatter their wage structure to try and keep a teenager who, as good as he is, isn’t 100% guaranteed to be a first-team starter in every single game?

And don’t be surprised, regardless of Armstrong’s contract situation, if his agency generates more significant interest in January, or next summer, from bigger players than Forest.

Armstrong is rightly seen as one of the brightest prospects in English football. He has the composure, the craft and the fight to make it. He is not Wayne Rooney level, sure... but this is a kid that’s going places.

Now, Everton — or, namely, TFG — have opened a can of worms. It’s a huge misstep, and those who already had their concerns over TFG’s true aims and ambitions for this club will now almost certainly be done with them and calling for another ownership change.

Those who were on the fence may now be leaning that way, too. And this is the issue: TFG don’t really have any defenders because they never speak. They never communicate with this fanbase and show that they really care or understand what Everton is about.

Have Dan or Ryan Friedkin even attended a game at Hill Dickinson Stadium yet? It’s going to be a long way back, and there’s almost certainly going to be some casualties of this.

Let’s just hope, on the pitch, Everton still come out of this summer stronger than they started it, and that Armstrong realises that he is, at least in the eyes of the fanbase, the shining light.

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