Elstone and Ryazantsev appointed to Everton Board

, 16 March, 35comments  |  Jump to most recent

Sasha Ryazantsev becomes Farhad Moshiri's representative on the Everton Board of Directors
Everton Chief Executive Robert Elstone and Alexander Ryazantsev have been appointed to the Board of Directors the club have announced.

Ryazantsev, not to be confused with the Ural Sverdlovsk Oblast winger who, coincidentally, was linked with Everton during David Moyes's reign, is a long-time business associate of new majority shareholder, Farhad Moshiri.

He "has a background in corporate finance and has held management positions at the Royal Bank of Scotland and ABN AMRO Bank," according to a statement on evertonfc.com.

Also known by the common nickname for Alexander, Sasha, 42-year-old Ryazantsev's bio on his now defunct blog page says that he gained "a BSc in Commercial Management from Russian Plekhanov University of Economics and a Msc in Finance from the London Business School."

It went on to say: "My total experience in finance is over twenty years and before my roles in the City, I held various positions at a Russian metals and mining and financial conglomerate in both Moscow and London, focusing on raising international finance and managing a diversified investment portfolio across asset classes."  



Reader Comments (35)

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Steve King
1 Posted 16/03/2016 at 16:50:18
Just seen this, that the club have announced Robert Elstone has been appointed to the club’s board of directors!

That’s tempered my "We’ve got a new major shareholder that knows what he’s doing" excitement a bit!!

FFS Everton!!

Patrick Murphy
2 Posted 16/03/2016 at 16:55:25
Steve, I can understand what you mean however the full story reads:

Robert Elstone and Alexander Ryazantsev have been appointed to Everton’s Board of Directors.

Elstone joined Everton as Deputy Chief Executive in 2005 from accountancy firm Deloitte, following four years at BSkyB, and was appointed to the role of Chief Executive in 2009.

Ryazantsev, who has worked with major shareholder Farhad Moshiri in a number of previous roles, has a background in corporate finance and has held management positions at the Royal Bank of Scotland and ABN AMRO Bank.

Steve King
3 Posted 16/03/2016 at 17:02:30
Patrick,

Of course you are correct. I personally know nothing about Ryazantsev and am not in a position to comment about him. However it's far from surprising that Moshiri would bring in his own man onto the board.

My disappointment stems from the fact that it is clear a large proportion of the miss management of our finances and commercial enterprises since 2009 have been overseen and managed by Mr Elstone. I had hoped that a new major shareholder would look to clear out such people rather than promoting them.

Then again as Elstone himself is a shareholder maybe it isn't easy to sack/remove him therefore this is a cunning move to relieve him from the position of Chief Executive and "promote him out of trouble"?

Patrick Murphy
4 Posted 16/03/2016 at 17:09:12
Steve,

I hope you are correct in saying that they 'promoted' him out of trouble. As you say we can't comment on the other guy but I'm not sure being associated with RBS over the past few years is something to brag about – we will see how it all pans out in the months and years to come.

Graham Mockford
5 Posted 16/03/2016 at 17:21:33
Just been announced that Elstone has been appointed to the Board.

That will go down well with some.

James Marshall
6 Posted 16/03/2016 at 17:34:49
Good, maybe now we can get a decent CEO in place who actually knows what he's doing and makes sensible decisions.
Paul Andrews
7 Posted 16/03/2016 at 17:42:20
The plot thickens.

I hope Mr Ryazantsev is a business colleague of Mr Usmanov.

David Price
8 Posted 16/03/2016 at 17:46:07
RBS? Oh crap!
Paul Ellam
9 Posted 16/03/2016 at 17:51:19
Sounds positive.

It might not be... but it sounds positive!

Andrew Presly
10 Posted 16/03/2016 at 17:52:46
I for one would like to welcome our new Russian overlords.
Colin Glassar
11 Posted 16/03/2016 at 17:57:11
So no major changes then?
James Marshall
12 Posted 16/03/2016 at 18:03:31
I would suggest Elstone would have less of a say in operational matters now, so this is a good move.
Jon Withey
13 Posted 16/03/2016 at 18:09:51
RBS will probably lend us anything.
Phil Walling
14 Posted 16/03/2016 at 18:12:10
James, that is unlikely as he will remain the club's CHIEF executive Officer.

By the way, if Elstone has not previously been a Director who was it who earned £300k + last year?

Bobby Thomas
15 Posted 16/03/2016 at 18:12:51
Elstone moving onto the board is hardly going to be met with much approval!!

On the bright side, one of Moshiri’s associates has joined as well. So that's now two new board members from outside the club. I think everyone agreed this was much, much needed.

If we can get a shit hot CEO in then we may have a good balance of old and new.

I will take evolution, not revolution, for now. It’s early days.

Graham Mockford
16 Posted 16/03/2016 at 18:12:54
James #7

Why would you say that? He’s still CEO. If anything, he now has a more powerful position.

John Keating
17 Posted 16/03/2016 at 18:16:54
Bad news.

I was hoping Elstone would be sharing a taxi with Martinez at the end of the season.

Ged Simpson
18 Posted 16/03/2016 at 18:19:12
Good move for transition. Makes sense to me. Learn from challenges Elstone has faced and have new people with new ideas of how to deal with them.
James Marshall
19 Posted 16/03/2016 at 18:31:17
I said that because I thought he was being relieved of his duties as CEO - apparently not.
James Marshall
20 Posted 16/03/2016 at 18:32:29
By the way, where does it say he’s staying in the CEO role? I can’t see that in the statement on the OS.
Raymond Fox
21 Posted 16/03/2016 at 18:39:09
Put the news in the positive tray. There's none of the clubs problems that cannot be solved by more money. It's shaping up like Moshiri will bring more of his buddies on board.
Ged Simpson
22 Posted 16/03/2016 at 18:39:28
This is a time to abandon entrenched views and look at changes as they happen. The pro-this and anti-that stances need to be reconsidered.
Martin Mason
23 Posted 16/03/2016 at 18:52:17
I assume that Elstone stays as CEO. Ryazantsev is obviously to represent the interests of the new major shareholder. This obviously makes Elstone more powerful and is a reflection of how the club views his performance to date. I assume now that Martinez will be staying, that is the only cloud on the horizon as far as EFC are concerned.

Fair comment Ged, it may be that Martinez will also be told the targets that he has to meet and that will decide his fate either to stay or go. None of the Everton board are stupid or incompetent in any way, they know that the fan base isn’t happy with RM and with more finance available he is going to have to meet higher standards.

I live in hope by remembering the Kendall and Ferguson were a game away from the sack they were that bad. RM may still stick his hand down the toilet and pull out a Mars Bar.

Nick Page
24 Posted 16/03/2016 at 20:03:33
I would read that as associate of Usmanov. I work with in and amongst some of this crowd and I would say big things are definitely afoot here. This is a major step to change. IMHO of course
Gordon Roberts
25 Posted 16/03/2016 at 20:28:16
Not sure of the governance arrangements in regard to voting rights, but the inclusion of Ryazantsev on Everton's Board will strengthen Moshri’s influence. Elstone’s position is very interesting, vote with the majority shareholder and he becomes secure whereas opposing Moshri and Ryazantsev leaves him vulnerable.

Despite saying all the right things in interviews over the weekend, let’s not underestimate Moshri’s financial and personal objectives. The power game is well and truly underway in Everton's boardroom. Interesting times ahead for sure.

Tony Abrahams
26 Posted 16/03/2016 at 20:56:31
Martin Mason, you are one funny guy!!!
Jack Mason
28 Posted 16/03/2016 at 23:03:21
Nick @ 19. Any chance you can elaborate a bit further on that?
Eugene Ruane
29 Posted 17/03/2016 at 00:47:43
Boardroom - Goodison.

Elstone: (smiling) - 'Well listen guys, can I say that I'm really excited by the idea of leading the club into a new era, moving forward in real terms and helpi...'

He is interupted by an unsmiling Derren Nesbitt look-alike with a dueling scar on his cheek.

"I am Alexander, I vud like tea - lemon, no milk no sugar'

He then points at Elstone.

"You - you vill make my tea"

Elstone laughs and says "No actually, I'm the CE.."

Bob is suddenly slapped hard in the face with the two leather gloves in Ryazantsev's fist.

Alexander calmly and quietly insists -"Tea. Now."

Bob is stunned and looks for an ally but everyone suddenly seems fascinated by the carpet and no one steps forward.

He leaves the room red-faced, hurt and trying to hold back tears.

He then hears laughter and as he looks back to the board-room, the blinds are slowly being pulled down.

It's like some 'iron curtain' is descendi...

Dan Davies
30 Posted 17/03/2016 at 00:53:11
Yes Eugene, then Ryazantsev is heard answering the phone and saying "Yes boss, immediately boss, I understand Mr Usmanov"!
Keith Harrison
31 Posted 17/03/2016 at 08:14:08
And Usmanov has him shot for not remembering his name correctly. Usmanov then joins our board after we have spanked Arsenal on Saturday, and Earls' proper title of Common Errand Officer is announced.
Kevin Elliott
32 Posted 17/03/2016 at 08:48:18
Eugene @24.
You crack me up mate.
Love it when your name appears at the top of a post.
You should have been a comedy script writer.
Phil Walling
33 Posted 17/03/2016 at 10:02:31
I've only just picked up on the fact that Moshiri is not to become a director and that Ryazantsev will 'represent his interests'. So voting control – if the board ever has one – will still be vested in Bill's cohort. I had hoped that our new investor would be a bit more 'hands on' than this!
Brent Stephens
34 Posted 17/03/2016 at 10:11:41
Phil, maybe Moshiri and Bill "understand" that Ryazantsev will bring Moshiri’s agenda to the table; and that if Bill doesn’t go along with it, then Moshiri will become more personally involved in board meetings?
Tony Doran
36 Posted 17/03/2016 at 14:59:40
Well if he was involved in Banking that's a good thing!!!
Ray Said
37 Posted 22/03/2016 at 18:58:25
Just who is on the board then. BK, Woods, Elstone and Ryazantsev?

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