Everton' Ownership and Leadership, Part V: A Winning Strategy

However, in most commercial organisations, strategy is decided by specialist directors who operate as “gatekeepers” of the shareholders' interests and who are answerable at the AGM.

Everton does not have the same higher management structure as other commercial organisations. We have one majority shareholder. He makes all the decisions. We are in effect a one-man business where there is no division of ownership from control.

He may take advice from his directors, but we all know their calibre! Anyway, he doesn't have to take this advice and can't be outvoted!!

This may not have been an insurmountable problem as many clubs have a similar management structure but, in order to answer your 5 questions meaningfully pre supposes a degree of football knowledge. Moshiri and football knowledge do not belong in the same sentence!

So how likely is it that he will change the personnel to those who can make the choices necessary to implement a winning strategy?

As you say Moshiri has to create a winning strategy and make the right choices for Everton to progress and avoid the mistakes of previous years.

However, I am not confident that this will happen, and maybe the only winning strategy is to sell the club to somebody who will adopt a winning strategy.

I have read somewhere in recent days, however, that Moshiri is intending to hold a detailed review of all football-related matters at the club. Lip service... or serious??

"How much money do you want or need to make from your ownership of this club, and how do you plan to achieve it?"

If winning on the pitch isn't seen as a key component of the club's profitability, it may not be at the top of the priority list.

I would also point out that the questions you have posed are hard -- hard to ask, hard to answer. The organization, and specifically the owner, must have the will to face them and answer them with conviction. Without that "want-to", the questions will just float off into the night… like an Alex Iwobi cross.

Moving on, I'd guess that Usmanov had, has and will continue to have a strategy in acquiring wealth (note: I avoid the word "his" please, because it truly belongs to the Russian people, IMO) but what evidence is there of Moshiri possessing anything more than satisfactory accountancy know-how to maximise that wealth? Moshiri has probably got a strategy to protect himself in his accountancy work but does he even need a strategy of any sort to be an employed accountant?

I haven't a clue about accountancy by the way, but even I can see that continuing to do the same unsuccessful things through the same unsuccessful people whilst expecting better results is just plain bonkers, and deeply disappointing to the rock-solid fan-base upon which the life of his club depends.

The answers are more complicated. From what I recall at an Annual General Meeting 2 or 3 years ago, we heard the CEO announce an aim to compete in the Champions League and ultimately win the Premier League. I can't recall what timescale she ascribed to these aims, partly because they seemed to me unrealistic – a case of yet another business leader asserting that their business will deliver world class services and products. Yes, we have all heard that speech.

Given our current financial predicament, I guess thoughts of long-term strategic planning have been shoved to one side while we find a way of making the best of a bad financial situation. In these circumstances, a reactive style of management is the most appropriate until the mess is sorted out. I'm hoping to see at the AGM evidence that it is being sorted out and that we will soon be operating on a sustainable financial basis.

Thereafter, a proactive management style is required. Unfortunately, that is unlikely to be achieved without a change of behaviour and/or personnel. I suspect in his own mind, Moshiri has a very clear idea of where he wants to be in 2024-25: competing in the Premier League at the new stadium. Has he thought of what lies beyond that? Somehow I doubt it.

I got the frustration of having Kenwight tell us he was moving heaven and earth to provide his managers with the tools to do the job.

I got the resentment when he misled and lied to the fanbase when talking about the King's Dock project – and many other things.

I understood when that resentment turned to something close to hatred when he (and the Tesco weasel) insulted our intelligence with amateur promo clips and pushed glossy brochures through our letterboxes in an attempt to fill their own greedy boots by taking us to Destination Kirkby.

I most definitely get the resentment that the fucker still gets the best seat (directly facing the cameras) when there are about 50,000 more worthier causes.

What I don't get is what you expect from the current regime?

The fans of successful footy teams don't really give a damn about what goes on behind the scenes. They are too busy enjoying what goes on in front of them. Do Man City fans care where the money came from? ... Do Chelsea fans care? Only the fans of failing clubs concern themselves with boardroom matters.

We Evertonian's began to obsess about them under Kenwright, but it hasn't stopped. Since Moshiri took over, it has become all-consuming. No imaginary stone is left un-turned. Everyone has a theory. Everyone has at least a couple of culprits. We even have some people who believe our junior coaches are an inherent evil which has to be removed?

I have to ask myself: Have we really got all these bogeymen under our bed?

The primary role of any Board of Directors is to back the manager. This board has done this to a point where we are now strangled by FFP. The board did not get us in this position. The managers and the DoFs they have employed have done it with a seemingly endless stream of fuck-witted contracts offered to bang-average footballers who won't move on until they have squeezed the last drop out of them.

There is enough wealth behind the scenes at this club to get around FFP. To employ people with the same matadorial skills we see at Man City. But Moshiri and his thinly disguised backer haven't just had their fingers burned... they had them cremated.

Strategy? No matter how we generate the money, our owners will not part with the second £500M with the same level of trust they demonstrated when parting with the first.

I don't believe there have been any bogeymen under the bed throughout Moshiri's reign. I think they have all been zombie dancing around the bedroom in full view, to tunes like "The Turkish Song of the Damned". I also believe he has had a belly full. This isn't what it said on Kenwright's tin.

I firmly believe the only real strategy on the table is to get into the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock while still in the Premier League… then sell to the highest bidder.

This would see us overtake Liverpool, like Man City did with Man Utd (after all, Liverpool finished 8th that season, well off the pace for any glory).

Unfortunately, this was more along the lines of a vision or objective – rather than a strategy or plan of how to achieve it.

There's been a lot of chopping and changing, no consistency of style, a lot of evasive action when relegation looms, and some attempts to pretend to be a big club by hiring Ancelotti and signing a broken Galactico no-one else wanted. Nothing like a strategy.

In the last few years, it's all been about the stadium and Moshiri's vanity. He knows he cannot afford success. He's disillusioned that he could not short-cut it with different managers, DoFs and Rodriguez – and it's not fun anymore. But he does get to knock about the football scene while he cracks on with the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.

A lot is riding on that stadium. In terms of the future, we have the financial clout to be:

1. An academy-driven club – like Ajax or Lyon or Schalke;

2. A development-driven club – like Liverpool, Dortmund, Leipzig, Brighton and Leicester; or

3. A hybrid of the two, like Atalanta.

Benitez is a pragmatic choice to steady the ship and build a decent squad on a limited budget.

We should be thinking ahead now as to what sort of club we are going to be after Benitez, and build the architecture for that.

And you know what. It wouldn't surprise me if Kenwright conned Moshiri into only selling to someone who would maintain the Everton dynasty by leaving the world's greatest Evertonian as chairman.

As always, you put a lot of work into your articles and they are always an interesting and informative read. Having read the 5 questions you would liked to be asked at the AGM, I have to say that most CEOs or owners would probably give you the same answers:

1) To be the best team and compete with the best on a regular basis;
2) To win the Premier League and the Champions League;
3) By employing top managers and DoFs;
4) We have already invested close to £500 million and are committed to spend another £500 million on a new stadium;
5) On the footballing side, we employ the manager and coaches to achieve what we believe the fans deserve; on the non-footballing side, all you can do as owners is to back the managers with as much money as you can and that is what we have already done and will continue to do.

But the real truth, I believe and have said so for many months, the objective of Moshiri & Usmanov was to invest quite substantially in a club that had managed to finish in the top half without much financial backing. Hoping that would push them on to compete for a Champions League place and also build a new stadium. Which would make Everton a very saleable club, and make them much gold.

I think they will sell within 12 months of the stadium being built as I don't see either of them being here for the long haul, like Abramovich. What they can't afford is for Everton not to be in the Premier League when the stadium is built.

They have no idea of what Everton fans want – you only have to look at the appointments of Allardyce and Benitez to know that. This for them is purely a business venture to add to their extensive portfolio. Now, with Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia buying clubs, I am sure they will be looking for a similar buyer for Everton.

That was always the plan.

The new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock is there to 'Anchor' that end of whole Peel / Liverpool Waters thing... By the way, 'Anchor' means hide the sewage process plant with something a bit more palatable for the soon(?) to be built posh offices and apartments... which is where all the real, long-term money will be made.

Not that this is a bad thing; we needed a new ground, this gets us one.

But that's about all you can say for the last few years.

Everything you say is correct but will receive no meaningful response because one vital part of your analysis is missing.

A good strategy depends on a shared vision, one everyone aligns with. The strategy is the plan to get there, objectives set to make it happen. And yet this is exactly what was wrong under Kenwright. He had his own strategy.

The question for me is a simple but the most important one: What is Moshiri's end game? That will dictate the strategy and that is why we haven't got a clue.

Is he in it for the long term or to sell up once the stadium is built? Does he have a 5-year plan and a 10-year objective?

The absence of a clear vision, strategy or plan is poor management at best or short-term focus at worst. So which is it?

Darren… I happen to agree with just about every word you said.

He is quietly acquiring land and real estate with a view to development – his plans are hardly going to be turned down, are they? He has made investment in the city and now has his foundations in place.

I am not slating the man for this; we all have to turn a pound etc, but has he really changed anything at the club? We still have Kenwright, a clueless CEO, numerous hangers-on and mates' cliques at Finch Farm, no football plan, a host of overpaid rubbish in the squad, and completely unprofessionally run.

My opinion is he will build a new stadium, massively regenerate the area around it, creating a city-wide portfolio, and sell the lot for huge profit.

As for the football, he is hoping Benitez can guide the ship to the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock and hopefully do his dirty work at the club for him in the meantime. If this means finally ridding Everton of Kenwright and chums, then that is fine by me.

Everton are going nowhere fast on the pitch, so perhaps a few years of properly run austerity, leading to some professionalism long term, is the answer for the football side of things.

Buy young, buy hungry, sell the fat cats.

At a well-run club, the board are anonymous, the right things are in place and people are doing their jobs. At poorly run clubs, such as ours, poorly run since the charlatans took over, the message was clear: "It's my club and I will do what I want to do with it; I don't have to tell you anything!"

To me, he placed his money and trust in Kenwright's judgment and management and paid for it. I believe he has had a gut full of Kenwright and is determined to see the build through and bail at that point.

But, if that's his plan, and fair enough, then he needs to have a well-run club and team to maximize any sale. That's where Benitez comes in.

In 3 years time, we will have an iconic stadium, a well-run club but a different owner. If that's the vision Moshiri has, then that's okay, I can live with that… just not the silence or poor communication, not the financial incompetence of a free rein to Kenwright.

Moshiri has been played for a dumb investor. And now he knows it.

You would have thought, with Goldman Sachs being at the centre of the financial crash in 2008, they would have been a little more circumspect on loaning this amount to a club in financial crisis.

The second purpose is to actually address Moshiri. It is not acceptable IMO for him not to share his strategy for Everton, a strategy which I believe has changed significantly since 2016. We've had our dash at success and failed miserably through poor recruitment, governance and decision-making. So what's the strategy now?

Clearly from Moshiri's perspective, there's a potentially profitable exit route once the stadium is built but, given the amount of capital wasted to date, the margins are reducing continually. As I've said before, the funding model for the stadium doesn't lend itself easily to a quick sale after completion either.

He's got to listen, engage and act. Not with his useless board, nor with many of the people currently associated with the club, but with people who are prepared to give him the truth, who have nothing to fear in terms of losing current patronage. People who just want a winning football club.

I would argue he placed his money and trust in the hands of 2 Directors of Football, as well as Koeman, Allardyce, Silva and Ancelotti. All of which I would argue have little to do with Kenwright.

Blame Kenwright all you want for things like the failed stadiums and for the lack of commercial uptake (which he should oversee in his role), but I believe it's naive to blame him for the money wasted over the last 5 years.

If you want to give Kenwright a walkover over the money spent, then that's up to you. It doesn't alter the fact that his tenure as a chairman has dragged and kept us among the also-rans of this Sky era.

He has shown no innovation, no vision, no business acumen – even before we get near a ground move conversation. Nothing new in anything I say but a big revelation to this owner. Surely he now has to see it. Please, lord.

Roll on the new stadium and a new owner, who will hopefully jettison Teary Bill.

I think Moshiri & Usmanov will radically reduce their net spend from the last 5 years while building the new stadium. Hopefully we will still stay in the Premier League till the stadium is built, and then they can hopefully sell to someone who really knows how to run a successful football club.

But with a reduced net spend over the next couple of years, let's hope we don't follow Sunderland's path of a new stadium followed by no investment and relegation.

I can only think that he wants to be remembered for giving us a new state-of-the-art stadium and a winning team. If he can achieve both, then surely his dream of a lasting legacy will be secured.

You are relentless in your pursuit of a better Everton. That will only ever gain respect and admiration from me, but I do tend to agree with Christine.

The charlatan She refers to is the only real example Moshiri has had to follow and I have no doubt that he now also believes "It's my club and I don't have to tell you anything."

Farhad did initially try to speak to the fans through the media, but was roundly ridiculed for naively revealing insider stuff to creepy Jim White. I don't for one minute believe his skin is as thick as Uncle Bill's (not even sure that is possible) and I think it's going to take an awful lot for him to open up again.

I think your efforts will be rewarded eventually and you will get an owner and a board of directors who will forge a good relationship with the fans... I just don't think it is going to be this one.

I don't often post on threads created by your articles because frankly, much of it goes over my head. I'm not a businessman and I don't get business. That doesn't stop me enjoying your stuff though. You remind me that – no matter whose name is above the door – the history, the future and the soul of this club will only ever really belong to us.

Being a cynic, I think we have been rudderless since Peter Johnson sold up.

Moshiri has an agenda that has nothing to do with football. Kenwright has an agenda that has made him a multi- millionaire whilst remaining in charge.

The fans count for very little. Our aspirations are to challenge the big boys. Unfortunately, that will not happen whilst the current regime are at the club for the reasons that Paul has highlighted in this series of articles.

Imagine as a fan being in Kenwright's position. At what point would you have held up your hand and said "This isn't good enough for the club, I need to resign"?

It's embarrassing to think that a 'true Evertonian' is happy to treat the owner like cash cow and the fans like idiots.

As for a strategy, The bare minimum is to stay in the Premier League. A new stadium isn't the answer. It could well be the noose around the club's neck. Sunderland and Derby didn't exactly prosper after unveiling nice new stadiums. Even Arsenal struggled under Wenger when the new Highbury was built.

There isn't any innovation or defined strategy in improving things. Throw the dice every year and hope we win is about it. Clueless.

Not long after Kenwright took over, he said we are historically a successful club and success comes in cycles and it will be our turn soon enough!

We are still waiting, Bill, whilst you have won the lottery.

The problem I see at Everton has alternative strategies to a competitive strategy. There are two.

Moshiri wants to have the same involvement at Everton as running an offshore company; his strategy is money management based. Put the money into an offshore company and have the capital grow. When the money goes south, change the manager to bring costs under control and tell the DoF to reduce wages.

Kenwright's strategy is to increase his shareholder value and, in the process, pay off those that gave him the money to do so.

I see Barrett-Baxendale not as a Chief Executive Officer – more a Personal Assistant doing Public Relations for Kenwright. She also is good at self-promotion.

So effectively Moshiri has bought Everton as a shell company, buying into the idea (like all of us) that all that was needed was a money injection to turn Everton into a winning club.

Ultimately these two strategies will be successful. Moshiri's capital will increase and Kenwright's remaining shareholder value will increase, as did the shares he sold to Moshiri.

The problem is Everton will remain a midtable sleeping giant for the reasons that Paul has outlined.

I am glad that the 27 for 27 campaign is going ahead. IMO, its strategy is the only way to get the correct strategy implemented. Its informality is its strength because it is with these two informal alternative strategies supporting and providing information to representatives who are able to engage Everton supporting by the forums of a group of media and social networks.

We live in the age of informality, not structure. I know this is hard for many to get their heads around, having worked in structures of the past industrial age. But believe me, you will be surprised by the impact of your post on ToffeeWeb on those that run Everton FC.

Paul, I am in full agreement with the proposals for the AGM and I'm heartened that the 27 for 27 campaign is persisting and adapting.

It became my supervisor; I can't recommend it highly enough.

Kenwright will do more than push for plaudits in getting the stadium built (if it ever does – this is Everton, remember). He will already be campaigning to have a part of the said stadium named after him. There's a sickening thought for us!

Moshiri is a businessman for sure but he knows nothing about football nor, more importantly, about Everton and its supporters, which has been shown with certain managerial appointments. He is dangerously naive and would not have survived this kind of mismanagement in the days of old when us supporters had more time in our lives to really let them know our thoughts.

We have not played a game for a while due to Covid and yet results elsewhere have been very very kind to us. I, for one am not forgetting how poor we are as a team and, if we lose half of the upcoming fixtures, we will be back in turmoil again and Moshiri will be once again forced to splash cash on average mercenaries brought in by a washed-up manager.

This club is going nowhere fast and, If Moshiri wants a bit of respect from us, then he should start by getting rid of Blue Bill and appoint somebody with a good CV to take his place. This should be his priority in starting a culture change because, if he does not do it, then it's clear that he hasn't learned his lesson and has no proper plan other than for us to survive in the Premier League.

Bill Kenwright's idea of success is beating a Top 4 team once maybe every 2 years.

As for him wanting part of the stadium named after him, it's close to a sewage plant so we could meet him halfway on that.

He has nowhere to hide if this story is right about a proper review about competence etc. Them idiots clapping him on the big screen a while back are also culpable to giving him yet another lifeline, allowing top players to leave the club in this Blue malaise.

She also has a useless Supervisor. I will recommend your second book as well. Thank you very much.

All of this, of course, is speculation until/unless Moshiri makes his thoughts and plans public, which doesn't seem likely.

Darren says at #21: I have no doubt that he now also believes "It's my club and I don't have to tell you anything."

I'm convinced he has never believed otherwise. In the past 30 years Moshiri has not run, operated or been involved with a business that was accountable to anyone. All his ventures have been non-public, non-traded companies in which he had to account to only one man -- Usmanov. He has no idea how to communicate with the public because he has never needed to (which accounts for his clumsiness in doing so through White).

Unless he executes a complete change in his personal business philosophy -- and hires a professional communicator to help him out -- we supporters will remain on the outside, speculating with very limited information about what's happening on the inside.

The 27 for 27 campaign won the 2021 Guardian Mahatma Gandhi award for the most pointless protest.

While I wholeheartedly support its aims, its means of achieving those aims is, at present, deluded and self-defeating.

We need a group of minority shareholders to insist on their rights and hold the board to account as far as they are legally able. If this requires financial support, I would be happy to help. Regrettably I am not a shareholder.

The first question that must be asked to our owner should be for him to describe to Evertonians what was the main reason for him buying Everton FC?

The second question should be to ask him why he kept on Bill Kenwright as Chairman, considering when he purchased Everton, they were in such a poor financial state.

The third question I would ask him is if he genuinely knows anything about the history of Everton FC, a club that had always managed to win at least one trophy in each decade, until Mr Kenwright downgraded expectations with such ease.

The fourth question would be to ask how an accountant could waste so much money, even though he's already given us the answer, by stating he didn't want Everton to take up too much of his time.

The fifth question to Moshiri, would obviously be to ask him why he's never been prepared to meet Paul the Esk, or any similar clever and passionate Evertonian, who he could clearly learn from, simply because they have the best interests of his football club at heart.

Are the 27 for 27 campaigners self-funded, Paul, and what are their plans moving forward, mate?

He's been here 5 years now. I think your Question 2 should be readjusted to ask why he continues to allow Kenwright to hang around.

I also think it should be upgraded to Question 1.

Although, once we got the truth, I think it would be hard not to want to hear the answer to Question 4!

Moshiri has certainly ploughed money into the club, he now needs to weed out the hangers on, who for years have ripped the heart and soul and what we stand for, out of our great club.

Everton Football Club is not the club I grew up to love and support, over 20-odd years, it has been ripped apart by amateurs, it took Bill years to find an owner that was right for Bill Kenwright, and not the club, and until we get him out of the club, we will continue to make mistake after mistake.

The best way I can sum Moshiri up is, he has certainly put his hand in his pocket, his heart is in the right place, but his lack of football knowledge is being left in the hands of Inspector Clouseau.

Get Bill out and bring someone in who knows how to get this great club functioning both on and off the pitch again.

Firstly, you need a vision to shape the strategy. To coin a military definition, "a strategy is a plan to achieve an objective". So to have a strategy and formulate a plan to deliver on the vision, you need an objective. I've always found that in having an objective first and foremost; knowing where you want to get to or want to achieve, you can work back from there and put in place what is needed the get to that place.

Vision. Strategy. Objectives. Goals. I'd say on those, Moshiri gets one out of four from me (vision).

Another way of looking at defining strategy is this nugget I learned on a course: "a coherent, evolving portfolio of initiatives to drive long-term performance".

Coherent. Fail.

The next point for me is once you know where you want to be, you then design the structures and organisation needed to achieve that. This include roles and responsibilities of key positions. Don't make existing or traditional ones fit the vision. Put the right people in place to realise the vision. Reshape and restructure if you are trying to change something that has been failing and you want success.

Fail.

I like the point made about getting the right formula. It's not always about throwing money and people at the problem. How you spend, not what you spend. Maximise and optimise the resources at your disposal and invest wisely.

Invest wisely. Fail.

I kind of agree with the supporters only really caring about what happens on the pitch sentiment. Ultimately we do. I do every week. I often used to cite Manchester United and Liverpool as examples. Get it right on the pitch first, the fans are happy and the rest will follow. The stadium came later once successes had been achieved.

But in the modern era, there's more to it than that. To contradict myself, I'd say much was going on behind the scenes in the 7 years before Sir Alex won his first league title and established his dynasty. The foundations were no doubt being laid based on a vision based strategy? Both in terms of transfer policy, investment and the academy.

To me, Moshiri is at a juncture. To coin another military phrase; no plan survives contact. His quick win, throw money at it attempt has, well failed.

Regroup. Reassess, make changes to the plan and, if necessary, the personnel required to execute on the new and necessary direction of travel.

I can't deny that manager after manager, all of them different flavours have failed (that word again).

But the fact they all have indicates to me that the strategy and plan has failed more than them. To me the problem lies somewhere between the man with the money and vision and the managers making do with the tools provided.

When there is continuous failure, there's usually a common denominator. And more often than not, it isn't the obvious fall guys who take the bullet to preserve others in privileged positions.

Fans on the board. The German model. Vote Danny.

I jest. I'm nowhere near articulate enough and too much of an emotional wreck with Everton.

Vote Paul the Esk.

Happy to help. There are two types of MA: taught courses or those involving research. I am guessing she is doing the latter?

Mo
Happy to help off list if needs be: my email is drlarryohara@yahoo.co.uk

She might also find discussion threads on the urban75 forum useful. I use my real name there but 99.8% don't so she can safely vent!

If we look back to the infamous 24/7 search for a new owner (which was probably the biggest lie ever told, confirmed by Elstone in the Kirkby enquiry), Kenwright actually wanted investment from a billionaire who would leave him in charge of running the club.

He found one. Quite a patsy as it happens. Moshiri, the 5% man, wanted the ownership but not the responsibility of running the club as he focused on turning the investment into a profitable endgame. Except the man he entrusted to run the club took his money and trust and blew it.

I reckon the appointment of Big Sam was his alone, designed to keep the club, and his investment, safe in the Premier League. Since then, he started becoming more involved in the club's running and decision-making. Let's face it, Benitez or Kenwright on club structure? It's shocking to think about – never mind make the call between them.

The transfer window opens in a few days; one can only hope that on the top of Moshiri's list is a new chairman and board of directors.

Everton in the Community remains the jewel in the crown, but that crown has been pawned.

A typo in my previous post skewered the central point off its meaning.

Because the two alternative strategies of Moshiri and Kenwright are informal and have no structure, it takes an informal and unstructured approach to deal with them. The set out of the 27 for 27 campaign as an informal coalition with simple objectives is a ideal way to do this.

Those that engage with the existing Everton management on the cam[paign's behalf have the support and the discussed opinions of posters, followers and contributors across a coalition Everton interested media and social networks.

Because the existing structure of Everton has no winning strategic plan, it is just a structure manipulated between the two alternative strategies. Dealing with the existing Everton structure to get change directly will get you nowhere. Ditto a group of minority shareholders.

Actually, a walkout of 10 supporters and a 27 for 27 banner, with a light round of applause, with an attentive media is more effective. It resulted in the DoF being scapegoated, an announcement of engagement with ESSG (Everton Sanctioned Supporter Group) and Kenwright going on Twitter to say he was all our 'brother'.

Of course asking the questions as suggested by Paul, after Denise has waxed lyrical on the outcome of the ESSG meeting's result, would seem ineffective, but it will set a focused agenda to build on, which will be under the control of the 27 for 27 campaign. Reports will flow out on the media and social networks and be discussed, adding to it's credence. These questions will be discussed within Everton.

This discussion, which will consist of disagreement and agreement, will flush out issues, defining and focusing the 27 for 27 agenda. Just like you and I on this thread.

The result being that, when two guys hold a 27 for 27 banner up at a match, people will be clearer on it's objectives and Everton will have no alternative but to eventually engage. Nothing has changed and there will be more opportunities for disquiet, with the 27 for 27 campaign as an increasingly clearer focal point.

To ask Evertonians to get up and leave their seats was never going to happen; no protest should ever take place while the match is being played.

At the end of the match would have the biggest impact, by supporters staying behind for a few minutes and putting their point across.

i will have to invest in the book, Christine, when I get chance.

Just got the book Boys from the Bluestuff, so looking forward to reading it.

If I remember roughly the time before he landed in Kenwright's lap, Moshiri sold his shares to Usmanov, almost certainly (like the spider said to the fly) Kenwright had buttered him up into believing he ran such a great club (oop North) and all Moshiri had to do was jump aboard and enjoy the ride.

Well, my view of how things went from the start is that Kenwright wrapped his tentacles around Moshiri and the man was trapped. I'm not sure how long it was while Mr Moshiri only had 49% of the shares, but by that time, my guess is that Kenwright was controlling the club in all but name.

At least Mr Moshiri tried the DoF route; but I think the old boy network plus the new CEO didn't blink an eye and just carried on with their own agenda. I think Brands was a decent man and maybe a good DoF but he didn't appear strong enough to put himself in a position of "back me or sack me".

He didn't do it. So we carried on buying players who the various managers fancied, with Kenwright allowing Moshiri to get involved in the recruitment side, and we ended up with a right dolly mixture of players over the last 5 years or so.

Again, it seems to me that Moshiri and Usmanov, well knew what they needed to do, but how to go about it was maybe something they didn't have enough knowledge of, and that is the way a strategy (seems to be the in word) can be enacted.

My guess is they spent many hours talking to Benitez about the situation of our club, in comparison to Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea, Spurs, or any other comparatively successful club. I think they have handed a bit of a poisoned chalice to Benitez, and he well knew it.

There's been talk on here and other threads about a review going on. It wouldn't surprise me That the Manager is undertaking the review on the football side, in recruitment, the academy, the first team and he may well be asked by the owner(s) for his knowledge about how the various boards he has worked under compare with our illustrious leaders.

I am in favour of Benitez as our manager and I hope he proves up to the job of recruiting and moulding players in to a much better team than he was handed. I think he deserves time to do the job.

As far as the 27 for 27 campaign goes, well, they might represent the shareholders but I don't see them representing me.

I'm willing to put my faith in the manager (and Mr Moshiri, come to that) and one thing that I would love to see is "brother" bloody Kenwright removed from the place he has despoiled for over two decades... We might have a chance then of becoming a top club again.

That was only a small part of the 27 for 27 campaign. I didn't agree with it either, but they still had the right to protest.

It was the threat and build up to the protest that was the effective bit. It had no effect on the team and possibility provided focus and even helped get a very necessary point.

What would the threads on ToffeeWeb have been like over Xmas if that had not been the case?

"and possibility provided focus and even helped get a very necessary point."

Ridiculous claim.

ESSG represents few people that I am aware of, certainly not me, and is just another front from a bogus board to enable them to say "We are listening." The 27 for 27 campaign, whilst well-intentioned, isn't taking the vast majority of the fan base with it.

The Companies Act of 2006 gives minority shareholders certain rights in law and surely this is where we should start, knowledge is power. I know that this is easy for me to say since I am not a shareholder but, as already stated, I would happily contribute to a fighting fund.

I don't think that 27 for 27 will ever take the vast majority of fans with it. It does not have to. It puts forward opinions and affects the Everton narrative, This if well thought out and is seen in reality will become the opinion of those that may seem not to support 27 for 27.

For years certain posters have put forward the opinions on ToffeeWeb calling into question the Management of the Club and been attacked for doing so. But many of their opinions are now main stream, though they will never be given credit for their hindsight.

Maybe such opinions on various forums have come of age and have manifest in the 27 for 27 campaign, which is still in it's infancy.

The Club cannot ignore mainstream opinion and will have to engage or adapt to it as Everton are already trying to do.

Brendan #46

Possibly means maybe. But something affected the teams performance and preparation on the training ground during the week. I agree not necessarily 27 for 27, but maybe it was a factor, Of course you may have a different opinion which you are entitled to do,

Stephen, you're right too. If the fans want to have genuine influence, they have to do exactly that; influence. Protest is one means, but a unified fans approach and strategy to get that influence is much more impactful in the longer-term rather than a rant on a particular matchday.

Splinter groups often represent a certain element or minority. They may have a seemingly loud voice but will rarely have too much of an effect. It sort of reminds me of that sketch from Life of Brian. The People's Front of Judea and the Judean People's Front.

Same cause, same side, but actually fighting each other whilst the ruling powers watch on and carry on.

It means a clear-out of the youth system which demonstrably produces players with more entitlement than ability. It also means an end to short-term signings of has-beens and players with dodgy fitness records.

We will know this is in place when the Everton bench is cleared of dinosaurs.

The #27years campaign will continue. It's primary objective is to bring Moshiri to the table. To hear direct from fans our real concerns and to hear from him what changes he will make at board and executive level in order to make Everton a successful club once more.

The campaign calls on him to Listen, Engage and Act. We have some considerable influence across the media and we will continue to develop that. Equally we will seek to widen our support across the fan base. The idea of visually presenting our concerns, to gain media attention, thereby getting Moshiri's attention will continue until such a time as he responds.

Thanks for reading my stuff, an in particular all the comments, the vast majority of which back up the claim to be among the most knowledgeable of fan bases!

His full name is Farhad Moshiri and The #27years campaign might have more success with your aims if you address him as such. Listen, Engage and Act works both ways as good manners cost nothing.

Not that I could offer much above and beyond my often too emotional, overly ambitious postings, let me know if I can contribute.

dannyefc26@gmail.com

Few of us really give a damn about non playing issues - and neither should we- as Everton are no more or less set up to be a rich man's folly than 95% of Premier clubs. It's only the boredom in following a piss poor side that gives the Esk an audience at this time. I'm sure he knows that the vast majority of us couldn't run the proverbial whelk stall let alone a top football club - be there twenty -seven or twenty -seven thousand of them !

PS. We've signed a new player, I see !

Non-existent owners should only be accepted if they've spent enough time, effort and money, to employ the best people for the job, which definitely does not seem to be the case, whilst we continue to operate the way we currently do.

There is definitely still a power struggle going on behind the scenes, and it looks to me like Farhad Moshiri can be easily seduced by professional manipulators, so he definitely needs to listen to some very genuine Evertonians, especially if the only thing he's got to offer is money. If he's not prepared to give us enough time or effort, then how else are things ever going to change?

Your post more than adequately shows the real reason that people like Mr Kenwright and others manage to keep themselves in positions of power at football clubs.

Unfortunately, the same can be said about most people in most walks of life; unless their decisions are shown to directly affect them, the perpetrators get an easy ride with a few soundbites to smooth over any dissent.

Evertonians need people like Paul to highlight areas of concern, even if the vast majority don't care about the business side of the club. Life in general needs people who investigate and observe the rich and powerful and aren't afraid to call out any area that may adversely affect the population at large.

Happy 2022 to all, let's hope it's the beginning of a new and successful period for the Blues.

Most people are accepting and will let things drift on. But a few who don't can make a difference and, in the right situation, rally enough of those people's support over a short period to make a difference.

The resulting change may seem insignificant, but it is such change that makes a difference, rather than attempts at sweeping change.

From the club's point of view, the ESSG is a means of dividing and ruling the fan base as it excludes those who are likely to be the most troublesome. Derek #56 is the perfect example of the success of this tactic.

There needs to be a concerted effort to bring all the various tranches of our diverse support together. This needs to be of necessity less radical than 27 for 27, but with a clear vision of what needs to be changed, a vision that is readily understood by all.

Make no mistake, Everton as is, could, very easily, find itself going the same way as Villa and Sunderland.

It is interesting that nearly 50% of the Chief Executive's recent statement on evertonfc. com, which is reported in the Echo as an update on the Strategic Review, consists of details of what the meeting with Everton Stakeholders Steering Group will result in. The rest of the review has no detail other than it is happening.

This shows that club feels the need to respond to a concerted media campaign, which backs the objectives of the #27 years campaign. This was initially probably a response to the Fan Led Review, but has morphed into a response to recent fan pressure.

I expect at the AGM that the Chief Executive will have further progress regarding such Fan Group Meetings to report. The #27 years campaign questions that Paul has outlined to be asked at the AGM are timely and appropriate.

I would say that these questions will have the single biggest impact on the actions of the Board, than any other part of the AGM. Given the rest of the AGM will be, in the main, bullshit anyway. They will expend a lot of time and resources trying to counter the #27 years campaign demands.

The removal of Brands did and does not provide a solution to the club's problems, neither does an overhaul of the footballing activities by itself provide lasting solutions.

It seems to me that the owner and board are gambling on the new stadium to be the catalyst to future success, given how badly the previous gambles have been for the club in recent years, an all-in bet on one element of the club is some huge gamble!

We are a family club. And whilst families can sometimes hurt – we all want the same thing.

We are determined to deliver success on the field and, following the departure of Marcel Brands as our Director of Football, the strategic football review we have initiated is progressing well. All structural levels of the football operation, including coaching, performance analysis, recruitment, sports science and medical services form the basis of the review. It is crucial that we are thorough and considered in this process - and I look forward to sharing updates on further progress in this area with you in due course.

Just thank her for looking after EitC and let her go… For 6 months she has supposedly been looking for a new position, her CV mustn't be up to much.

The EFC board's response is to set up 'Fan Group Meetings' – who are these fans? How where they selected? How do they represent the majority of the supporters who pay good money to watch, week-in & week-out?

The response of the 3-person board of Kenwright and his creatures will be interesting at the virtual AGM. I'm not holding my breath for anything more substantial than we've had for the last 20-odd years.

"a concerted media campaign, which backs the objectives of the #27 years campaign"

Incredible piece of spin!

Look beyond ToffeeWeb and the Echo, particularly other fan forums and Twitter.

Give us a few links to support your claims then.

I'm pretty sure you won't be able to...

Newton's Third Law is: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Everton are not reacting to nothing. These may dress it up as part of a Strategic Review, but it is a reaction to pressure originally put out from various fan sources. Even Paul the Esk's unanswered letters, which had a fair bit of technical detail. Everton, according to David Prentice of the Echo (he may be retired), have over 100 people in their press department.

From Jerome – Hello, People!

Denise is more a PA and PR to Kenwright than a Chief Executive. She is a Chief Executive in name only IMO. I can't see her going anywhere, unless she manages to work herself into the Premier League or FA, with Kenwright's help.

Jerome #69
"Everton, according to David Prentice of the Echo (he may be retired), have over 100 people in their press department."

Less than five posts between...Hello People!

Everton for decades have had a fabulous 20th century history tarnished from the boardroom/owner by ineptitude, deceit, deliberate unaccountability, some very obscure financial arrangements (to say the least) and failure in a 20 year (and counting) alleged effort to establish a new stadium.

Most of us share that opinion and express it. Some of us though demand credible (in their opinion) "sources" to substantiate criticism of those in charge of our club.

It's patently obvious to me that Kenwright will NEVER disclose anything at all to do with the nitty-gritty (no offence intended) of his machinations throughout his tenure. Further, I suggest that Moshiri's attitude to disclosure perfectly mirrors that of the various public bodies who for decades knowingly hid the truth from all the ordinary Scousers who lost loved ones at Hillsborough.

Credible "sources" from without the club are therefore pretty thin on the ground, to the huge benefit of the suppressive muppets in charge of it and, as a direct knowing consequence to those very same muppets, the huge anguish of those many of us who love the club.

I'm not seeking to compare our anguish at the ineptitude of those still currently in charge of Everton to the hideous anguish of all those bereaved Hillsborough families but the fact remains that they never ever stopped voicing their mere opinion as to how bent the system was against them until some (but not enough) truth was dragged out of the bastards fully responsible by the relentless expression of "mere" opinion.

So, to me, public protest is more than valid, it's demanded if we want to even try to be a catalyst for any measure of improvement because to me there's zero "improvement" know-how between Moshiri, Kenwright and Kenwright's legion of minions in the club - provable by what we've endured/seen for decades.......in my opinion.

OK, it was self-harming.

Never mind "grow up" Brendan. You maybe need to "get real".

If I have to explain it... I'm guessing you'll probably never grasp it.

If you want to substantiate your comments you should surely be able to find sentences to address my point of view shouldn't you, as a rational adult?

Or are you such an arrogant buffoon too far up yourself as to even try to do so on this open forum?

Address please the fact that mere "opinion" (IMO) made things eventually happen to reveal a significant truth about the appalling deaths of nigh on a hundred innocent football fans, for whom you seem to have some disdain (tell me if I'm wrong on that though!).

And, in case you're wondering, I'm still as bitter as hell about the criminality of RS fans at Heysel that cost us so dear.

Those innocents who died at Hillsborough were not at Heysel though. They were innocent of any wrongdoing, obviously.

Unless you now tell us all your different take on the Hillsborough victims of course.

And take as much time as you need to put more than a sentence together. Some people find it difficult admittedly.

Totally agree with your post. It it is often the truth that those that perpetuate lies, tuf out attempts by those that seek it. Often those that do attempt find themselves under attack not only by those that ignore them, but people who should know better.

Over the years you have highlighted problems regarding the management of Everton and often been attacked for doing so. But as you say your opinions are now main stream, though some who have adapted them will not acknowledge your input. Such is human nature, It is to Michael Kenrick 's credit that he has.

Of course you are right to identify similar comparable tracts of deceit, Hillsborough being a very apt and ongoing example. Least we forget,

Public protest is very valid as you say. Your contribution, you know, matters and as does all those that contribute. The current protests will experience the same wall of tufIng out, one way communication, manipulation of the narrative and attack from those that show know better. The narrative of truth will eventually become main stream and the necessary pressure for change will build and achieve it's objectives.

Keep up the good work Don.

Companies are located in industries which have different intrinsic strategic objectives. Importantly, the theatre and professional sports clubs have some features in common - they are both about relieving punters of their cash and, typically doing so in a manner which is attractive and exciting (and "exciting" can simply be "my tribe beating yours"). However, there is a crucial difference which may be the origin of the Kenwright disaster.

In London, there are hundreds of theatres. I love going to the theatre. I grew up with the Everyman in the 1960s-70s which I would contend was probably the most creative theatre in the most creative period of theatre since Shakespeare. The most recent productions I have seen are Leopoldstadt by Tom Stoppard and The shark is broken an ex-Edinburgh fringe production. Next week (for my birthday!) I'm going to see Neil Gaiman's The ocean at the end of the lane. I thoroughly enjoyed the first two, and I hope I enjoy the third.

After my birthday I may say "I though the acting in Leopoldstadt wasn't as good as the guys in The Shark, but I loved the production in The Ocean."

What I shall not do is say "Great result, Stoppard hammered Neil Gaiman's pathetic effort."

In the theatre, plays don't "compete". I can go to a Stoppard, a Shakespeare, an Ibsen on successive nights, and enjoy (or otherwise) all, none or some of them.

By contrast, I only really enjoy matches involving Everton, and the ones I love best are those where they defeat the other side, and, to prove the point, I still have the Sunday Times headline "Anfield in ruins" held on my whiteboard with an Everton 1878 magnet.

But the essence of theatre is to make a perfect production involving perfect acting, set design, casting and so on. It is intrinsically inward looking.

The essence of football is a quote from Conan the Barbarian:

Mongol General:
Wrong! Conan, what is best in life?
Conan:
To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women!

Does not everyone wish this on the Redshite, ManU, Chelsea etc supporters (even more than on their teams)?

OK I exaggerate (a bit).

Bill Kenwright is a theatre producer. He will understand theatre better than I ever shall. He will understand that great theatre is about bringing together a perfect team of complementary performers with specific skills, training and rehearsing, managing and accommodating tensions, setting up scenes and configurations and occasionally being rewarded by sheer genius in live performance.

However, he does not seem to understand that the essence of football is victory and the glory of conquest and defeating enemies, not just the bringing together of a great group of performers.

This, I believe, is at the heart of the failure of Everton since 2004.

A possible solution lies not in Porter's 'Competitive Starategy', but in his less successful, but more relevant successor, 'Compeitive Advantage'.

Sustainable advantage lies first in understanding your organisation in terms of:

Inbound Logistics (player acquisition - this may be youth development, prospect scouting, acquisition of established players, even salvaging of crocks like Peter Reid, Jolyon Lescott, Tim Cahill, also manager acquisition and training / medical staffing)
Operations (onfield play, I won't bother with details)
Outbound logistics (sale of players in an orderly and profitable manner, but also merchandising, handling of TV and related matters)
Marketing and sales (global image, local image, appeal to different groups, the whole gamut, and again planning the sale of TV, media, internet and streaming rights, in a whole range of languages and to different markets - ManU and Barcelona have done this superbly for 30 years)
Service - Why not get a train line built from the airport via Lime Street to the new ground and on to Southport and round to the West Coast main train line. Maybe even to motorway service stations on the M6 or M62?

Then work out how these can be built into a coherent and sustainable programme (strategy) by being superior to competitors. And of course, we may consider that our competitive market changes from Premiership survival, to domination of the 2nd tier (Leicester, Spurs, currently West Ham), to regular Champions League, to Premiership domination and Champions League regular winners.

But it must start with the replacement of the theatre impressario mindset with that of an Eisenhower.