Farhad Moshiri — The Solution or Part of the Problem?

Personally I do trust Bill to make sure that is done right but it is some risk on present form. I reckon you are absolutely right to ask if Denise Barrett-Baxendale is the right person for the job. She seems to represent the ethos very well and that is massively to her credit but somebody must be responsible for this mess, it's been under her watch so what is her verdict?

It is a mess – there's no other way about it, all that money spent and Holgate and Calvert-Lewin are our great hopes?

While Holgate hasn't in my opinion put a foot wrong since he joined, that we are discussing this after having a team with Lukaku, Deulofeu and (old but good and reliable) Barry in it is a joke, and that's before the other 300M. I hope we go in for Deulofeu if Watford go down, a step towards righting the wrongs.

We have to hope Carlo can do some good business but you are right – it's not been helped by Moshiri's terrible public speaking. It makes it impossible to sign the sorts of players we are going for: Sigurdsson, Hojbjerg, even Klaassen – these clubs want us to pay off their overdraft if we are going to be all smug and affluent in their faces.

We are a joke, as a club we used to be likeable to other supporters but now we are just stupid rich kids that people must surely be smirking behind the back of.

Surely the spending must end somewhere; we really must be careful, we need to scrutinise every move and not be silent just because there's a chance Mr Moshiri might pay for a new stadium. If he can't prove that, after 5 years, we are better off than we were when we were skint, then I'm not even sure I want his stadium.

Only Everton and its fans could endure decades of the dross delivered to us whilst other clubs visibly surge past us.

This also had the advantage of getting his shares at a discount. Moshiri has only got involved reluctantly when his money was going South. Brands was appointed to the Board in the hope he could stem the flow, so Moshiri could return to his arm length role. The appointment of Ancelotti is a similar move, finally giving up on Kenwright's up-and-coming shit (Moshiri's words not mine).

I agree with Paul the Esk regarding the Board and the commercial side. It all looked great with the Chairman, with his up-and-coming Martinez and the appointment of the publicly highly rated former EitC executive, little Miss Dynamite, who restructured the commercial side by giving existing employees grand-sounding titles, but it all soon went pear-shaped at great expense.

Moshiri (and probable backers) are only interested in two things: an increase in share value; and a lucrative docklands development. He will always want to be an arm's length investor with minimum involvement. Let's hope he will back his frontmen, Brands and Ancelotti, realising he needs a really good frontman on the Board, other than an accountant who is there really to watch the share value and docklands development progress.

Moshiro has other fish to fry.

As I said on another thread Walsh and Brands didn't become poor DoFs overnight. Walsh brought in Vardy, Mahrez, Kante, etc. at Leicester and won their first title. Brands won the title with Alkmaar, 3 titles and a cup with PSV. They get to Goodison and, all of a sudden, the value for money gems dry up. This has Kenwright's size 9s all over it, he just loves playing with Moshiri's money.

Did we really lose ٟm a month on Klaassen? Unbelievable!

Our board is really lightweight and just not fit for purpose under current circumstances. Denise Barrett-Baxendale and Sasha Ryazantsev are great – in theory – but have never run a business before practically. Brands is a football man and Kenwright is, well, Buffalo Bill. We need good non-executive board members urgently.

Back in the day football was a small business money-wise and the Bob Lords of the world ran their local clubs like their own business. You sold the product, took in (gate) money and you paid out wages... and you could always tell a good butcher / football club owner, by the quality of his sausages... or how many games the team won.

It was simple; if your takings / gate money fell, all you had to do was look at the quality of your sausages or team... and on a local note; if the cushions rained down from the main stand you knew you were in the shit.

It's not that simple any more.

Because you're good at your day job, it doesn't mean you can run a football club... especially not these days.

Moshiri (probably?) knows enough to know he doesn't know everything – quite a feat on its own, many never get to that. He knew enough to apply the 'but I know a man who can' rule.

All our problems stem from his simply horrendous choices of key employees and their subsequent choices.

Buggered if I know what the answer is, but I do know one thing, I bet he rues the day he let Bill talk him into all this.

[* Doffs cap in grudging admiration to Bill for pulling off the ultimate 'having your cake and eating it' scam.]

We have indeed gone backwards for many reasons. Even the last 3 games shows that Carlo is failing, woeful football and bad results.

Once again, Blues can see the problems and are once again hoping for small miracles that getting 3 or more key players can put us on track. My prediction is it's not going to get better any time soon.

I don't like Bill Kenwright, he is an egotistica con-man.

We sang "Money can't buy you Stones" to Chelsea fans – the irony is we sold him to Man City, who went on to lift more trophies.

Money can buy good players but you still need good managment in everything else to succeed.

We are proof that money can't buy you success..

Now we have 2 schoolboys in the yard playing FIFA Manager instead of sorting out a proper feasible plan for the club.

Bramley-Moore Dock is incidental, it is the football side that needs the most attention.

I can just see the Machiavellian Kenwright in the background scheming away to his heart's content while everyone else besides Little Miss Dynamite is trying to formulate a plan for the club.

Until Moshiri realises that he has to unite the club under one banner and get rid of the cancer that is the "Greatest Evertonian" in his own mind and bring some "football" people in, we will not progress.

I still think there is a chance for Moshiri to redeem himself and become the solution, but he can't carry on trusting the people he has trusted. He would do well to start by getting rid of the in-crowd.

"Marcel. You have but two instructions. The first one is to find out which players the manager wants. The second is to get them for him. Oh and Marcel, on your way out, tell Denise and Bill not to bother coming in tomorrow."

How very Everton to finally get the funds to compete and yet manage to spend them getting worse and not better.

I feel a period of stability and consistency is needed. I'm not totally convinced Ancelotti is the man to best utilize that stability but his CV of course speaks for itself. Top 4 feels as far off as it has in a decade or so.

Possibly there was a case of keeping Kenwright on board for a short period but after that he should have gone as part of the deal that made "The World's Greatest Evertonian" even more millions. A more professional business-minded management team should have been in place.

Denise should have been left at EitC where she has done well.

I'm not sure Moshiri is ruthless enough for the basket case we were and still are.

You can't doubt Farhads financial commitment, but whilst we don't know what goes on, is the day to day management structure at all levels within the club, joined up?

Rank, transfer dealing and buying players who play x4 games a season, is generally what eve bought with his riches.

The bargain bucket Gana, was a gem steal, and now I think this is what we should be looking for across the Leagues.

It's interesting how Davy Klaassen, was a star for Ajax, never got a real crack, here, and has done well since in Germany. Koeman really couldn't be arsed and has left permanent damage with his poor management and in Bolasie for me, summed up he's can't be bothered attitude. Square pegs in round holes, is what Everton, has become, playing many players out of position.

Brands has a lot to prove this close season, he's got a good past record and his reputation, since being at Everton, is taking a big hit.

This season he must deliver. Does Ancellotti have his own targets, remains to be seen.

Can the big Uzbek bankroll us, remains to be seen.

Leeds coming up, will it galvanise resolve at Everton, to succeed, as they will be on a surge, I doubt.

The due care for the purgatory of Everton supporters, must make the board, more determined than ever to succeed.

No more excuses, from Everton board and let's see what the DOF can deliver, and provide proven players and hope.

Hope eternal but it's become Sisyphean, being an Evertonian, and this must change.

When you look back at the mismanagement of that small fortune (in today's football world) and what we have achieved, it almost beggars belief. I doubt many of us on TW are accountants or are business-minded professionals, but I think any one of us could have used that money more wisely.

I would further add that in the last scenario (hypothetical of course) that we would be in a much healthier position both on and off the field. I think as has been mentioned many a time the one person who has been behind the scenes, orchestrating these decisions, is Bill Kenwright.

The sooner he goes and we have a better solid football-orientated decision process the better. Farhad has proved he is not very savvy when it comes to football matters but, if I was in his position, I would be questioning where has all that money gone, and why?

I really do not see a way out of this without a miracle transformation in Brand's performance (which seems unlikely on the evidence to date) and some long-term restructuring of the club at all levels.

A sad, sad situation indeed - we are now consigned to the lower tiers in terms of reputation and only a major trophy-chasing decade will offer any chance to restore that.

Some of the posts on this thread, already show a great deal of understanding and knowledge, and I've often wondered why Moshiri hasn't done his homework and appointed a clever Evertonian onto his board.

One of the KEIOC fella's maybe? Genuine fans whose only interest is Everton, and let it be known to Farhad that him and his partner that they are only here because he helped defeat the millionaire lawyers simply because they have got Everton's best interests at heart.

Reading your piece, Paul, one interesting point stands out on the recruitment last summer, and that is if we hadn't signed Iwobi at the death, we would have broke even.

I know we signed the experience of Delph but no centre-half to replace Zouma, and a very young centre-forward (hopefully one for the future), is not what Silva needed to push on. No wonder we went backwards.

Under Bill and Moyes, we were a regular top 5/6 team, not anymore. It's ok getting investment but just chucking money around and hoping it works doesn't always work. The appointment of Koeman and Walsh have set this club back 10 years and one we may never recover from.

Everything Moshiri has done since arriving has been a disaster, the board is a joke, no real business people in it. The managers, don't get me started. Yes, Carlo is a great appointment but it could be right manager but just to late.

I don't see Moshiri bankrolling Carlo like he did Koeman and Silva. Soon as a job in Italy becomes available, Carlo will be gone. Give me the days of Moyes and skint flint Bill. Because with Moshiri in charge there's only one way we are heading, and it ain't up.

Kenwright will be nothing more than a glorified ambassador, brought in to negotiations to sell the history of the club with his passion.

We might as well blame Moyes for Iwobi's signing.

He has brought in a very highly rated and sort after, Director of Football and a very experienced Manager. Maybe he has been guilty of being too trusting of his brought in experts but, after all, they are supposed to be experts.

No-one is taking responsibility and that is seen on the pitch and nothing will change until a soul and spirit return. Over to you, Mr Brands.

I go back (again) to the first AGM that Mr Moshiri attended after he bought the club and Kenwright, in his usual gushing and sickening way, to me, saying (referring to Mr Moshiri): “He is the man who keeps giving.”

Yes, he definitely was and Kenwright, future managers and DOF kept taking, not even working together or thinking about the formation of the squads they were accumulating, and putting together the utter fuck-up of the club we are today.

Mr Moshiri got a lot poorer, while Kenwright, Martinez, Koeman, Walsh, Allardyce, Silva and a good dozen players got very rich with Mr Moshiri's money. If he hasn't learned by now who NOT to trust, then sadly he hasn't got any wiser either.

Hopefully Mr Usmanov can come in and sort the club out and get rid of most of this useless board of directors.

His big mistake was not to bring in top talent at the board level and a quality team to run the footballing side from the beginning. Instead, he entrusted decision making to Kenwright and a weak board, who appointed mediocre managers and a dreadful Director of Football. It took Man City a few years to get this right and they squandered huge amounts in the transfer market as a result. He should have looked at them from the start and learned the lessons without making the same mistakes.

Investment in the new stadium will transform the club and increase its value, maximising his return when he eventually sells the club. He is a businessman, so hopefully he won't make the same mistakes twice. He seems to have finally realised his mistakes in hiring better quality to run the football side. Now he has to do the same on the board. We all want it to work, that's for sure.

I know the tea-lady jokingly comes in for criticism, but I can't see for one moment any of the others I've mentioned having any say in all matters Everton, apart from Boys Pen Bill.

We have changed Managers and players, and even the DoF, but the problems and faux pas have been ever present.

I was glad to see Steve Walsh go, and equally glad to see Marcel Brands (with his reputation) arrive, but many decisions he has made since have been extremely questionable. Delph, Gbamin, Lossl, Kean (who may come good) and Iwobi.

Possibly being harsh on Gbamin, but he certainly seems injury prone. One thing I will say about when Moyes was here, players were thoroughly vetted as to fitness, suitability and how they conducted themselves, before getting them to sign.

Although, having said that, we did still sign the odd misfit or injury-prone player but not on the scale we have recently. Again, in defense of Moyes, money was limited and more effort was applied to making sure we got value for money.

Seems like Carlo has been at the club ages but he hasn't signed a player yet. That gives me hope because for the first time in 35 years we have one of the top five coaches in world football.

The hope was with a bit more structure off the pitch and a bit more money put into what was on it we could maybe start to compete. And finally have a new stadium built.

Yet here we are, suffering from incredible mismanagement from the top down, no definite date on a new stadium and a squad full of massively over-priced and over-paid wastes of space.

To some of the delusional few who think Kenwright is sat around scheming away etc etc, it's simply not the case. He gets in the way. He is a massive impediment to change and his roots run deep and wide (he has senior management roles who pay tribute to him; without him, they have no safety net).

So the solution remains simple in my mind. Sweep away Kenwright and his crony's (DBB et al) once and for all. Then restructure the entire management of the club by making some professional hires with relevant experience and stick them on decent wages with good KPI's.

Only then will Everton Football Club be able to rediscover it's true identity because at the moment we are somewhere between nice (Kenwrights vision) and non-fucking existent. And without an identity that we can transfer onto the pitch via the coaching staff at junior level right through to the senior team we are nothing.

This is what our neighbours do very well - they engender a winning mentality by making all and sundry believe they are the greatest team in the world, as sickening as that is.

And it works because even when they are crap they compete, and other teams fear them (no English team in the Champions League gets as many gimmes as that lot simply due to their name and the myth created around them that they perpetuate).

It's concerning Moshiri has not brought in the right people in the background to put the foundations and building blocks in place for measured progress over forseeable seasons. It appears the club is simply making hotchpotch decisions without actually any real thought process in decision making.

Are other board members restricting Moshiri to bringing in further changes? My personal thoughts are to buy out Kenwright and take full ownership of the club, wave adios to the likes of DBB and bring in seniors to the club who have a wealth of experience at changing the dynamics of a business. Those that have proved themselves at other corporate businesses at the highest levels. I don't see how we move forward if there are no changes at the very top.

When Moshiri took over it was according to Kenwrights terms. Keith Harris a, Director had said previously no one would take over Everton on the terms Kenwright wanted. Moshiri did because he wanted a team already in place and he got the Everton Shares at a discount as a result. I also think because of his connections, Moshiri also wanted a frontman who could deal with authorities and regulatory bodies. The only appointment he insisted on was that of Director of Football, which he thought would be a good idea, though I think he had limited knowledge of the role.

The appointment of Brands was solely to employ someone who knew about managers and players, which Moshiri realised he hadn't a clue about. He continued with the theme of up and coming Manager though. Brands main role was to cut the fallout from the wages bill and he was appointed Director to give him more clout do so.

As you say, a Director is needed that can set and implemented a effective strategy both on the commercial and football operations side. This will not happen soon. In the meantime Ancelotti has been appointment to sort the problems from the bottom up. The two important areas in my opinion is; how Ancelotti can make Brands role more effective in the Club and how the Ancelotti team of Mauri and Fulco can get to grips with the performance management in the club on the medical side. This area has been the most dominant and abused part of the Finch Farm, with implication for training, particularly in the areas of fitness and motivation. Brands on the Board is a anomaly in this bottom up strategy.

As you say, if Everton is to be successful Moshiri has to finally address the areas you mention. Paul the Esk is addressing the same issues correctly, putting Moshiri role at Everton under the spotlight.

Moshiri is quids up still though and will look at progress months down the line. He may raise his head in mid August as he always does. It will be interesting to see whether he is Kenwright or Ancelotti or Brands lead at that stage.

Our player and manager acquisition issues are small fry by comparison but it is abundantly clear Moshiri cannot borrow the Roman and Sheik blueprint.

Only Man Utd and Liverpool withstand the heat from the 2 financial powerhouses because their historic financial resilience is way beyond everyone else.

Like many aspects of life, you can over analyse and miss the wood for the trees this piece is a case in point.

We don't have the dough to plough on regardless and yes Moshiri is a bit odd but, in terms of world experience, his appointment of Brands and Ancellotti are as good as it gets.

All concerned just need a bit of luck. Yes, I know – when do we get lucky? But the summer transfer window is here and hope springs eternal.

Your conclusion states it is time for Moshiri to show leadership, clarity of thought and strategy as opposed to just throwing money at us. Surely the latter is what he is there for? To bankroll the purchase and sale of players and to sort out the new stadium?

The leadership to driving a successful team surely comes from the manager? Moshiri has provided the "Hollywood" appointment, it's now time to do what he did when he had Koeman in charge and back him with money.

9/10 players in and the same out will do me. It's a risk, for everybody, but one we need to take as we are falling further and further behind.

In effect, Kenwright bought a Bugatti Veyron used it for 20+ years then found a mug who would give him a big profit on what he paid and let him carry on driving it.

No wonder the club is a bloody shambles.

I always love reading your posts as they are always well researched and well written. I think this is the first post out of all the ones you have written that I disagree with. I don't see how someone who has pumped 𧶲 million into the club can be part of the problem.

Now you could say he was influenced by people who made the wrong choices, but who was he supposed to take guidance from? You also say our policy in hiring managers was haphazard, but I can only think of one club in the past 60 years who had a planned progression of managers from within their club, and it proved very successful for that club.

You only have to look at what happened at Manchester United after Busby retired; they had a whole raft of very poor managers, and after Ferguson retired, they have struggled to find the correct solution. Although maybe the one most pundits laughed at might indeed restore Man Utd to winning trophies.

Were I do agree is that our choices of manager since Moshiri has arrived have been poor and, for me, I disagree with you in thinking having Brands as a DOF is part of the way forward.

You have to ask: Who did Moshiri consult with before appointing the managers he did? Koeman was a great player but, like so many great players, they don't always go on to be great managers. He had done okay with Southampton but nothing that would suggest he could transform an under-performing Everton side.

It soon became clear that Koeman saw Everton at best as a holding position until he got the Barcelona job. Let's remember, the only other contender for the job was Frank De Boer and we all know how his appointment at Palace went a few months later.

Koeman and Walsh went on a spending spree that will take this club years to recover from. After it became clear that Koeman was no longer the answer and with us not being far from the relegation zone, he appointed Sam Allardyce after Unsworth's short spell as caretaker.

Allardyce was universally disliked by practically all the fanbase, so I guess this was Moshiri's choice, who was probably worried as to what would happen to his investment if we got relegated. He even allowed Allardyce to spend 㿞 million on Tosun and Walcott, but Allardyce admitted later that he wasn't sure about signing Tosun, one of the few things he got right, but if Allardyce wasn't sure about his signing, then who did make the signing?

We then appointed Marco Silva who, like Martinez, one of his predecessors, had just managed a side to get relegated from the Premier League. Hardly the appointment of a club with big ambitions.

So, without doubt, some of our appointments in both the manager's role and the role of DOF have been nothing short of disasters, but I think Moshiri must take some of the responsibility for these appointments. I would love to have been a fly on the wall when these decisions were being made as I think Moshiri has been badly advised.

Like many posters here, I identify the Koeman signing as the start of the rot. Koeman plainly wasn't interested from the beginning and only came to Goodison because his 'mouth was stuffed with gold'. So, not surprisingly, he was disinterested and spent more time on the golf course than Finch Farm, spending Moshiri's money like a kid in a sweet shop. Moshiri's management decisions after merely compounded that mistake.

All-in-all it has been an absolutely disastrous tenure from Moshiri. I assume it's his money he's wasted, although like Abramovich at Chelsea, it may be money he's loaned to the club that we need to pay back at some time in the future!!

Summer 2018 purchases were good but most of summer 2019 purchases have been very disappointing. If Moshiri backs Ancelotti properly, I think we will see a much better side next season.

We have to be looking at a minimum of 3 really top class players to make a difference.

I have tried to be objective, as I said in the article it is impossible to think ill of a man who has spent so much money on our club. However, the point remains, he has not spent it well and the principal reasons are his impetuosity and his failure to address the board and executive team.

I'll trade being unpopular with some fans and the management team at Everton for progress in fixing the management deficit at the club. Then perhaps, along with Brands and Ancelotti, we will see progress and a proper recovery strategy in place.

Thanks again for your comments.

Drifting from manager to manager, player to player, it almost seems that this is a hobby or project to Moshiri, but to me it has become a conundrum.

A new stadium, a vision of regular European football, sounds great and yet so far not achievable and with the current bunch of misfits it is likely to stay a conundrum.

If Moshiri stays around long enough and the finances hold up he may well yet achieve his and our goal, but for the moment there appears a rocky road ahead. Hats off to Ancelotti if he can solve the problems, but he will have to be ruthless and honest with the current squad.

Players' lack of desire, effort, ability to control a football and pass it. Chasing down opposition etc etc.

What goes on at Finch Farm I don't know.

Let's be very clear: Hicks &Gillett took them to the brink of administration. FSG bought the RS below market value due to the creditors just wanting to keep them in existence.

To be fair since then FSG have managed them professionally even walking away from the Stanley Park project. That is the type of cold calculated evaluation of risk and financial management Moshiri needs to model our beloved Blues on.

We may not like it but it is sustainable! It is professional! and with a world-class manager can be very successful as both a business and footballing entity.

My personal view on Kenwright is irrelevant however he is too emotionally invested in the good old days and Everton's historic values

The club needs Moshiri, but it also needs to be intelligently run. First and foremost by having a coherent and first class recruiting regime. Even if everything else is working well, we will still be 11th if we are stinking the place out with our relegation standard recruitment of recent years.

I think the truth is we need Moshiri more than ever, and need him more than ever to have far better direction and support from those within the club entrusted to give him it.

Being much harder on those directors, demanding more from them, would be a start.

Like others have said, I need to read it thoroughly a few times, as you have covered so much ground and so many aspects.

But I would make two suggestions now.

One, the line that Moshiri could be "part of the problem"? Hmmm, while he can be criticised for some things, my first reaction is that's too harsh.

However, what I would suggest is that heightened expectations since the arrival of Moshiri have been part of the problem.

In that, as I see it, many Evertonians seem to have been expecting a quick return to 1970 and 1985 levels of excellence.

As a result, I often ask myself if impatience among the support base has led to an excessive intensity of pressure on managers and players that hasn't been at all helpful.

I wish to make it clear that I see that as just one possible factor in our lack of success. There are of course many factors.

One of them comes in my second thought: While a lot is said about how much the club has spent on players since Moshiri arrived, it is often overlooked or forgotten (notably in recent TV commentaries) how much we have recouped in sales, which have involved the loss of some very good players – not least the goals of the often-criticised Lukaku.

So I'm pleased, Paul, that your analysis clearly makes that clear. Especially as the article may become recommended reading matter for anyone interested in Everton.

I don't think that, with the amounts of money that has been spent, it's not unreasonable for the fans to expect improvement, but when you see players who have not only cost the earth, but are on weekly Lottery wages, and not even breaking sweat, it does give rise to complaint.

At the end of the day, the supporters have all done their bit, turning up to support in their thousands home and away, and in all weathers. Also, no supporter can be blamed for the ridiculous decisions and purchases/contracts that have been dished out.

It's an entertainment business too when it all boils down to it, and people who are paying good money, expect at least some good football and effort in return.

Too many chiefs.

Moshiri being a clueless buffoon when it comes to football wouldn't matter unduly, many owners are clueless – there's a fabulous story that when Abramovic came to London he was initially offered Spurs but, on his way to view the club, he got stuck in a traffic jam on Tottenham High Road and asked if there was another team that he could buy that was nearer to the West End bright lights – but if you do have a clueless owner, you need a brilliant board beneath him. We have Kenwright, Barrett-Baxendale and a Russian yes-man.

Trust us. We finally get the billionaire owner we wanted, and he's a fuckwit, supported by even bigger fuckwits.

Carlo Ancelotti was the wrong choice (again) as the manager, a man used to dealing with top football players at Europe's biggest clubs, squads already in position, assembled by committee and with the upmost of consideration and planning who just need fine tuning.

At Everton, he finds himself with a lazy bunch of incompetent, low rate and past-it performers being paid enormous wages on the back of the Premier League riches and with little incentive to achieve and, boy, do they live up to this.

Everton should have trawled the world for a hungry, technical coach versed in assembling a young squad and creating and honing a playing style to suit the modern era.

Instead, we seem to do our scouting and recruitment via the newspapers, believing them as to who is the latest big thing with predictably disastrous results.

Everton FC has become a mirror image of our ramshackle board, disconnected, disinterested, tedious, lethargic, boring and amateur. (I could go on all day here.) Making up the numbers (for now).

A pathological state of sleepiness and deep unresponsiveness and inactivity (the definition of lethargy).

This illness has spread to much of our support, ground down by a seeming inability to change anything or even to get anyone to understand the problem, ignored and ridiculed in the media, and fed up of seeing gloating buffoons in red pants taking the piss.

The problem being he's been ill-advised by poor football men around him.

Hopefully Carlo can help advise.

Moshiri has made many mistakes since becoming the major shareholder but surely the worst one has been the retention of Kenwright as Chairman.

After three managerial failures (although Allardyce did prevent relegation and finished 8th), at last we now have a top-class manager. It is imperative for Moshiri to ensure that we have a board to match.

I still believe Moshiri has been really good for us, and will be going into the future.

No way Bill would have got Ancelotti in. He might have gone for Eddie Howe instead when Silva went – Ouch!

First signing approved I can recall after joining us is Branthwaite - not bad for starters.

Gordon gets to play and given the confidence.

Decides at first time of trying in first transfer window - goodbye Schneiderlin and Niasse. Stuff of dreams we've all been crying for.

I still think he can get Kean going too. Look at Jesus at City - never beat a man, only scores around the penalty box. He gets at least 3 great clear-cut opportunities a game. When did we last put them on the plate for Kean?

If Kean played for Man City and knocked in 15 tap ins over a season at 20 years old, does this mean he's a supposedly better player because he was coached better at City. I just think he needs help from next seasons midfield to bring out his qualities. Believe in Carlo's assessment.

Ancelotti says in his interviews he has a very clear plan of how he wants to play, which means he has a clear assessment of the players for each position when recruiting. Expect progress up the league we go next season.

Trust Moshiri has got his man. We'll be cracking open the champagne many times with Carlo at the helm, and we should sing the praises of Moshiri and team when we get in the Champions League soonish.

There are suggestions today that sizeable funds will be available this window. Please God we get it right.

I'd rather see a back to basics Sean Dyche type manager working on a shoestring getting us hard to beat, passionate, playing for the shirt, working up a sweat again. Who would weed out the shirkers and the injury-prone has-beens from the squad. Then try adding the odd player who offers that bit of stardust rather than the Farhad approach of making egotistical appointments such as Ancelotti and trying to run before we can walk.

Similar to the Moyes, era we had a hard-working gut-busting team with the odd quality player such as Arteta and Yakubu etc. We just needed a bit more investment on that solid foundations to move us on. You see what Martinez did in his first season with that base with a quality striker before he personally unravelled the hard work over 2 seasons.

We have no base or foundations anymore, the squad has no pride or identity. All our 㿀M to 㿔M signings are just expensive band-aids that don't address this key problem.

Our squad is rotten, expensively assembled, injury-prone and are collectively bleeding the club dry with their astronomical wages. If the whole squad was put up for sale tomorrow, probably only 5-6 players would be of any interest to the rest of the premiership. The rest aren't good enough on too much money and injury prone to boot.

We need a fire sale over 2-3 seasons and reset. The problem we have now is, with Farhard's egomaniacal appointment of Ancelotti, just makes zero sense for club in our predicament. Patience is a virtue they say. Let's hope Ancelotti has it.

On the field we've probably regressed slightly, whilst others have improved hugely, making our travails much deeper than they might have been. The quality of player we had has definitely decreased, failing to replaced hefty sales with anything approaching half decent.

Our academy isn't producing regular first-team players of the required quality and, as such aren't even making money selling them on to lower league teams.

We've made several poor managerial choices which many were opposed to and or unpopular choices before they even got their feet wet and ultimately it's proven to be a fair prediction.

You can point to lots of things but this has happen under Moshiri's tenure and, unless something dramatic happens, I cannot see us improving, more likely regressing further.

He's a poor owner in my opinion, saved from scathing criticism because he brought money with him. In public he is hands off and if he truly wanted to shake things up he would have. I think across the club he has appointed very poorly.

So why is he still here and will he stay has got to be the more pressing question. Is it a straight jacket he cannot get out of financially? I guess this summer we will see.

He's finally appointed a manager who has clout and gravitas, crucially Ancellotti has a much higher ceiling than any of his predecessors so I'm hopefully but not yet convinced he can make the change.

For us fans it's a paltry return on the money that's been pumped into the club. Neither success and for the most part, uninspiring rubbish, has been proffered for us to reject and whip ourselves into a repeated frenzy. The appointment of Allardyce nearly ended it all for me, truthfully it's never quite been the same.

Yes, he had a dour (typically Dutch) outlook... but he had a good first season and was looking to build on that when Lukaku was let go and a past-it Rooney was brought back without his agreement.

His answer to that move (by you know who) was to go off golfing, with the attitude "If you don't want me to run the club, I won't."

We have since become a graveyard for managers and players.

Paul the Esk, I love the fact you do theses posts but, to be honest, I don't take any notice. Bramley-Moore Dock stadium will be built because there is a load of dosh to be made in the whole development. It's not just about the stadium – it's about the whole project

The context of my argument was that he had money and was fooled into parting with a large chunk of it, mainly into Kenwright's pocket, and was then further a fool for agreeing to let Kenwright continue to run the show.

And by the way, he was gifted a large chunk of his fortune by Usmanov, so you could hardly argue he made money through being very clever.

Have you any evidence to show how he cleverly made his fortune or shall we just leave it that he is now around ٟ billion short of what he had before he met Kenwright?

Paul Gregg was similarly shafted but not to the same extent.

He learned his lessons at a big price.

Just have to see what the Ancelotti - Brands team get us in the next 2-3 years.

Not to mention, approval for the new place later this year.

Moshiri was not gifted a large chunk of his money by Usmanov, they were business partners, and he sold his Arsenal shares to Usmanov, to raise money to become majority shareholder and owner of Everton.

Moshiri is a charted certified accountant and has worked for Ernst and Young. PKF and Deloitte and he and Usmanov have been long-standing business partners. This has allowed him to have shares in a number of Usmanov's companies.

With Usmanov, he was co-owner of Red & White Holdings which held their shares in Arsenal. I for one believe he is a successful businessman and he will soon sort out Everton's Board problems.

As Evertonians, I think we are expecting instant success as we now have a Billionaire owner, as did Chelsea and Man City. The problem today is there is now FFP that Man City were nearly caught out on. This was as people think to protect the top 6 and the European elite.

What today's top six have that makes it financially difficult to compete with them is 4 of them, Arsenal, Tottenham Chelsea and Man City have new grounds and Liverpool and Man Utd have larger upgraded grounds.

Moshiri has come in and as a businessman realizes that the priority is a new ground and left the running of the club to the previous members. He has since become aware that is not working and brought Brands in on the board tried Silva and now has brought in Ancelotti to improve the team and try to get into Europe in 2021-22.

This may be his last attempt to save his investments (who knows?) but I believe he is a shrewd enough businessman to not waste his, and is looking at his involvement as a long-term investment, and he may yet involve his long-time partner in business.

The shares he sold to Usmanov were given to him as a gift by Usmanov years before. I am not debating whether he is a clever accountant or not, those credentials speak for themselves.

What I am saying is that he was fooled by Kenwright to buy the majority shareholding and leave Kenwright to run the show — not realising he is okay carelessly spending other people's money but never his own.

It's all history now though, of course, and somehow we have to take over Arsenal, Leicester, Burnley, Wolves and Spurs and to get a top 4 spot. Somehow, the club needs to behave like winners with a winning attitude. The board and Brands need to be ruthless.

It's in the past, stop dwelling. This is the Moshiri era and he has spent a fortune getting us into a better situation.

That is my understanding of the takeover. I have always believed that Moshiri had to sign a Shareholders agreement as part of the deal. I still think that the deal suited Moshiri since he wanted to be an investor as opposed to actually get involved in running the Club. He could also be a front for Usmanov, who is more likely to consider Everton in terms of capital gain.

I don't think Moshiri is a fool. He is sitting on shares that will be worth considerably more, especially if Kenwright goes and he is an anchor tenant, with possible future control of a lucrative docklands development.

Moshiri left Iran for the UK as a teenager. His family were well to do by Iranian standards, but he was not wealthy himself. He got a degree and qualified as a chartered accountant and worked his way up.

Quite how he became a billionaire is not immediately obvious. However, at some point he developed a close relationship and partnership with Alisher Usmanov. There's rumours, in business circles, that Farad was very well paid for doing some less than scrupulous things for certain people.

How true that is, I have no idea. But he went from accountant to billionaire very quickly and Alisher Usmanov thinks very highly of him.

Maybe he was just a brilliant accountant and businessman? But, as Usmanov is a very mysterious man, with the greatest mystery being how he got his own money and whether it was legitimate or the kind of money grab Roman Abramovich is accused of.

So, to be a brilliant accountant for a murky character like Usmanov is in itself questionable. To be very well rewarded financially for this is highly questionable.

The purpose of a shareholder agreement is to protect the shareholder's investment in the company, to establish a fair and equitable relationship amongst the shareholders, and to govern how the company is run.

I admit he may have made a mistake in keeping Kenwright on but, even with the amount of criticism we the supporters have about Kenwright, apparently listening to other owners of football clubs, he has a good reputation, and that may be the reason he was kept on.

As far as spending money carelessly, I think the board would have a say in that, and as Moshiri has put 3 members on the board and Denise Barrett-Baxendale will back him before Kenwright makes foolish decisions.

After the Kings Dock fiasco, I have no time for Kenwright but there is no way a billionaire is going to let someone make a fool of him spending his money foolishly.

Kenwright is a relic from the past and is just being kept on as a figurehead. He may have had a lot of control when he was owner & chairman but he is just the chairman now and answerable to the owner in any major decisions.

Kenwright was answerable to where the club is and was; if the club get out of this mess with the backing of Moshiri, I hope no-one gives Kenwright credit for it.

Koeman lost Lukaku and got an unwanted Rooney to replace him which ruined any chances of progress. Silva lost his best defender and midfielder, also wanted a striker but got no defender, an injured midfielder and Kean. No wonder the team regressed the next season.

Now we are at the crossroads with Ancelotti. He would have certain demands, such as a couple of midfielders and other positions he identifies as priorities. If we end up landing the wrong targets or none of them like brands did last summer, then we will see further regression and Ancelotti looking like a fool when it's really the people running the club who are the real fools.

In summary, Moshiri has made many poor choices, which have led to the club making huge losses year after year, he took over a club that were regularly in the top 8; now making top 10 is the exception. He may have facilitated massive spending, but these were all loans which the club owe him and will be expected to pay back at some point in the future.

The failure to do that has laid the shaky foundations for our current problems. The club finds itself in the worst position it has been in since the early years of the century and my fear is that previous poor decision-making will be compounded by a fresh round of bad management which will drag us further into the mire.

Why?

● In net terms we haven't out-spent the teams above us, we haven't done a Chelsea or a Man City.

● there have been too many cooks interfering with recruitment, even when a director of football was supposed to be running the show.

● There's been a clear enough objective (top 4) but (since Martinez left) no clear vision of how we achieve it.

● Moshiri is late to the party. We're miles behind and the financial focus is on a new stadium.

● Kenwright remains influential and he has a sentimental, small club mentality.

If we are to succeed then there needs to be a clear vision as to how we succeed. To me that is:

● Promoter of young talent, ideally from the British Isles and better still from our academy.

● A club that develops exceptional talent from overseas.

● A team that plays high tempo, aggressive football.

On the first two points, if we were to be very dogmatic, we would be looking to build around Gordon and Branthwaite, plus recruit the likes of Veron from Palmeiras.

However, that's a big leap. Branthwaite is very young. Veron would tie up a lot of the budget and he is also very young. When we were linked with 17-year-old Renier for circa 㿊M, it was an unpopular use of money.

On the final point, Ancelotti is a conservative coach as we have seen. He's not like Pochettino. Football is more like chess to him.

So there remain all sorts of tensions between the fabric of the club in terms of expectations, objectives and how we develop. It's a really tall order to sort it out.

However, I now think Kenwright is living in the past and looking at that era as a blueprint for success, and missing the point that time and circumstances have moved on.

Koeman came in and soon spotted EFC were not what it says on the tin. He got fed up early on and couldn't be arsed to deal with the shite that is EFC.

My fear is that Brands spotted the same things and will go when his contract ends next year, quickly followed by Carlo, who has, in all probability, now discovered what a con this once great club now is.

Now the reality check: Klopp took over from Rodgers the season after the RS finished 2nd. Read that last line again... RS just came 2nd.

We blues think we can win the Premier League or get top 4 within 6 months of Carlo inheriting the biggest pile of overpaid egotistical mercenaries I have seen I one team...

Patience and time folks will give us stability. From there, we can move forward. We can't alter the past, although the RS try to; we need to endure the present then breathe and look forward to the future!!!!

Just read your article and, from that, I guess you don't want any part of Usmanov at Everton as he is, as you said, a murky character even though he has helped the club out at Finch Farm and a proposed sum for naming rights for the new Stadium.

You also seem to have doubts about the integrity of Moshiri. As you say, to be a brilliant accountant to a murky character is in itself questionable. And there are rumors in business circles that Farad was very well paid for doing some less than scrupulous things for certain people. You follow that up with, "How true that is, I have no idea."

Shouldn't you have proof to make these sort of accusations or are you just guessing from newspaper reports?

Some posters I feel are misinterpreting your piece which they feel is too critical of Farhad Moshiri. You clearly state "No-one, not even his harshest critic, can doubt the financial commitment of the man."

What you legitimately lay out and question is if we have got full bang from those bucks given the managerial and player recruitment in Farhad's four-plus years with us. Then of course there is the Kenwright factor in all this.

My quick appraisal of the manager-merry-go-round is this:

Roberto Martinez wowed most with our football in his first season, but had poor 2nd and 3rd seasons even with the two semi-final cup runs before Farhad took the popular decision to sack him before the season was completed.

The appointment of Koeman was arguably a good one. His two seasons at Southampton, even having almost an entire team sold from underneath him between seasons, were impressive. Excellent recruitment. Excellent record on the road. He got a tune out of whatever players he was given.

He started well at Everton, wobbled mid-season, finished strongly. You could see a shape and pattern of how he wanted Everton to play. But then came that dreadful summer of really mixed signings between Koeman and Walsh which we continue to pay for.

More, Koeman changed completely from the successful template he had laid down the season before and we were shambolic.

A 5-2 home defeat to Arsenal was enough and Moshiri chopped him. Again, a popular decision with the fan base. Only, quite evidently, no contingency plans were in place with someone lined up to replace him. David Unsworth worked stoically with the hand he was dealt, but a couple of heavy defeats pressed the alarm button and Moshiri panicked into recruiting Sam Allardyce.

Getting shot of both Allardyce and Steve Walsh as quickly as Moshiri did was again, most welcome by the fan base. The recruitment of Brands was well-received. The appointment of Silva more mixed.

Silva initially impressed, stalled very badly, recovered by season's end. Last summer's recruitment was mixed with the pursuit of a Chelsea centre-back (don't forget we were looking to land both/either Zouma or Tomori) being scuttled on the last day of the transfer window with David Luis's move to Arsenal.

There was still enough in the squad to get a tune out of. Silva never got our season going and didn't look like arresting our downward spiral. After the 5-2 debacle at Mordor, he had to go.

Landing Carlo Ancelotti was – and is – a tremendous coup for Everton. I'm willing to give him longer than zero-5-10-15-20 games of this runt of a season before condemning him. I fancy a few more Evertonians fall into the same camp.

After 11 years of the cosy relationship between Moyes and Kenwright, Moshiri then was giving supporters the ruthlessness of a Sir John Moores many had craved for in regard to underperforming managers.

Where he has been naïve and too profligate is in player recruitment, fees and contracts. He was too trusting of the ‘football men' he appointed. Many a fan could have told him there wasn't something quite right at recruiting Klaassen, Rooney and Sigurdsson in one hit for the fees and contracts we did and expecting they could gel together.

Marcel Brands had a considerable mess to clear up. He impressed in his 1st summer offloading a lot of deadwood and recruiting well. His 2nd summer not so good. Personally, I expected him to have recruited more diamonds-in-the-rough as he did at his previous clubs than he has.

Like Paul, I am concerned that our wage bill has virtually doubled without seriously improving our squad or league position.

The biggest positive on Moshiri's watch – and I understand the continued scepticism from some – will be the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock. It was at the forefront of his pitch on taking control of Everton. He has subsequently mentioned many times there is a long-term plan we are working too. He has admitted in the video interview Paul links that the playing side is not as advanced as he would have hoped, but still, he considers we are on course to achieve his goals.

Moshiri cannot touch the wealth of the Chelsea or Man City owners. Throwing money at Everton until we get it right, as happened at those two clubs with considerable manager and player turnover, does not appear an option.

By good fortune and timing we now have a world class manager at the helm with a highly regarded Director of Football alongside him.

At some point we have to put our trust in a management team and give them the time to get things right on the playing side from the considerable mess they inherited.

And whilst I agree that, on the governance side, Moshiri could make better appointments to the board than he has, I can't go as far as Paul does to suggest that Farhad is part of the problem given the investment he has made in the club and the vision he has expressed.

I'm sure you know how business works but it is the board comprising of Kewright, Barrett-Baxendale, Ryasantrev and more recently Marcel Brands that run the club, with the chairman being the most powerful position.

Moshiri's only power as a majority shareholder over 75% is to remove any board members.

Now you claim Moshiri has 3 people on the board. I would love to know who they are.

Barrett-Baxendale and (before Brands) Keith Harris were both Kenwright acolytes. In fact, it was Keith Harris that was involved in looking for "investors" as nobody wanted to buy the club because of the conditions of sale – which no doubt had Kenwright remaining in power.

Moshiri only had Ryasantrev representing his interests until Brands was put on the board last year.

Moshiri, as a tax exile, is only allowed into the UK for a limited amount of time so he, blissfully unaware of the snake-oil salesman, was happy for someone who "knew what they were doing" to continue to run the show.

Let's hope he has woken up and smelled the coffee, as Paul Gregg did, and realised that Bullshit Billy and Little Miss Dynamite are not suitable to run the good ship "Everton".

You may have taken my previous posts to have been overly critical of Moshiri who I think is a nice man with good intentions. My only criticism is that he wasn't smart enough to suss Bill Kenwright out.

If you check it out, the three people on the board are Ryasantrev, Brands and Chong alongside Barrett-Baxendale and Kenwright as Chairman.

As you say, Ryasantrev is there to look after Moshiri's interests; Brands as Director of Football; and Chong for Stadium Development. It is very rare that you have an even number and usually the chairman is there if it is a tied vote and that is why usually there is an odd number on a board.

Moshiri is majority shareholder and the financial backer to the club. I belief that gets him more power than just being able to remove people from the board.

As I said, I am no fan of Kenwright and I have an open mind on Barrett-Baxendale. Supporters say "What does she know about football?" but, as far as I am aware, there is more to running an organization than the football side of it, even if it is a football club.

I worked for 25 years in underground mining and attended meetings in different head offices where 75% of the people helping run the companies had never visited a mining site.

I do not care who runs the non-football side of the club as long it is run efficiently; then, if that side of the club sinks to the level of the football side of things (we have just dropped to 12th), then that is when we can start complaining.

I can find nothing wrong with your analysis.

And for FSG leaving him in CHARGE???!!! Haha haha fuckin ha!

I just cannot fathom why there is not a sort of ‘Spirit of Kendall' amongst our supporters. Evertonian's seem more like the ‘Spirit of the People's Front of Judea' type.

That man is nothing but a bloody Jonah. You can link back every failing in this club, past and now it seems to the present day, back to him.

Moshiri must've made his money piss easy to squander it so recklessly with that Wormtongue in his ear and, as Paul (the Esk) knows, when Moshiri came in, he cleared Kenwright's Payday loans, Vibrac Loans, Earl's loans, BHS loans and Gregg's silence money.

To me (as an overview) it all smacks (sic) of a Drug gang that's found a frontman.

As far as I am aware, while Chong was appointed to Director of the New Stadium Development he was not put on the Everton Board of Directors.

Also as Steve Guy highlights Moshiri is our only saving grace at the moment. He will deliver the stadium as he has access and credibility in the world to finance. Usmanov will be our supply chain for steel in the stadium.

The team is a mess however without Moshiri we would now be in the championship or god forbid league one after a period of administration.

Colin Chong is a full-time employee of Everton. He carries the title of 'Director' (just as Richard Kenyon does, for example) but is not a board member.

Everton have no non-executive directors, all four board members are employees of Everton Football Club Company, Limited. A point I make in the article about there being a lack of scrutiny and accountability of the executive.

I met a fella on a train once coming back from London early to get to an Everton game. The man was a friend of Kenwright's, told me he was an actor, and had played the Mayor of New York in a Godzilla movie, and he was definitely a “Godzilla” — rhyming slang for a killer (Idiot) and was very alarmed by my vitriol towards his friend.

I remember it got round to me saying I can't wait for Bill Kenwright to sell Everton. The man squinted his eyes and raised his brow, shook his head, and said "He doesn't want to sell, he wants investment."

This tells me that Kenwright loves being involved in Everton, much more than he loves Everton, because it's all about the ego — for any phoney imo.

There are no "on the one hand, on the other" arguments here. Everton are a bit like the country at the moment. We are teetering on the edge of a financial catastrophe, but we are in furlough at the moment and so it hasn't hit home.

Put it this way: if I had told you four years ago that Everton would sign a squad of players for between 㿅M and 㿙M each, with none of them, barring one or two exceptions, having any sell-on value, and with no discernible difference in our placing in the Premier League table, I'm sure you would agree that that would be a position we would struggle to recover from. Used to as we were with fretting over 𧺬,000 signing-on fees at the time.

Well that's where we are, and one of these days somebody is going to come calling for that money, and we don't have it.

And that's where this all comes back to Bill Kenwright. I have been used to defending his record, but his decision to hand over the club to somebody who patently did not have the first idea of how to run a football club, damns him for ultimately being concerned only with a big fat cheque and to hell with the club.

I feel sorry for your stupidity, as that's exactly what we did with Martinez and Silva.