Moshiri acknowledges mistakes in post-season letter to supporters

That's what most of us wanted, I think?

I know some will pooh-pooh it but I think it's a major step forward.

I know it'll be met with a lot of cynicism and derision but openly admitting the mistakes and apologising for them is quite profound.

Maybe, just maybe, we'll make progress now.

Mind you it's not the first Dear John I've had
They were full of shit too!

I have not been loyal for a few years, mainly working abroad and not being able to support the team since I was working abroad.

Everton is in my blood, I hurt when we are beaten as well as cry. I despair when Liverpool win or sign someone who was supposedly coming to Everton.

My blood is Blue, my heart is Blue, my head is Blue… more importantly, my life is Blue!

NSNO, UTFB – We are gonna win summat with Frank!

Go for it, Moshiri – start the cull and make us great again.

His alleged targets seem to be well thought-out – if we can get them, that is, with a very healthy mixture of young ambitious yet talented players with the odd 'old head' thrown into the mix. The Future's Bright, the Future's Blue! 💙💙

And as I've stated before, he needs to directly apologise to Everton fans for this fact.

I'll gladly take his participation in the project given his funding position but the dude is not at all reassuring as an organizational leader. Moshiri is out of his league, I'm afraid.

You may have noticed over the past 6 years that I know fuck-all about football — and neither does Bill.

We need to sign young players with ability and the right attitude who can fit into Lampard's vision of the way we play. Not cast-offs from the so-called Big 6 who will be on Easy Street.

What strategic review has been undertaken, Farhad? Have you stripped out the board and replaced them with competent folks who can actually perform those duties with a degree of success?

No, of course you haven't, and nothing is changing. This clown will continue to treat the fansbase with utter contempt.

This is well known and established fact. Moshiri had to be convinced on Lampard.

Moshiri unfortunately is advised in many instances to do with football matters by agents who have established much influence within the game, and who seem to have established their influence upon him.

I do not feel that the motivation of such agents is to help Everton evolve, progress and ultimately achieve.

Whoever is filling the roles of DoF and manager, there must be a line of accountability and assurance to the board that all recruitment decisions are soundly based from a footballing and financial standpoint. Without that, we risk repeating previous errors.

There is much to be done to turn the club around. An open acknowledgement that mistakes have been made is a positive first step and to be welcomed.

You made me so proud to be an Evertonian. Moshiri has slightly opened the gates to this, whether he means to or not.

Time for a different approach with young potential, free signings and loanees – and long overdue.

Everybody's entitled to their own interpretation, but to me the subtext says "I have now fucked up enough times to realize I don't know how to run a professional sports organization, and I have learned to hire people who do."

It's just what I would have hoped to hear.

Tommy #17, you mean something along the lines of "I want to apologise to all of you"? Done.

Seems to me that "strategic review" equals what you call "forensic examination". Does it not seem that way to you?

He was offered a rock-bottom loan from the Council about 10 years ago, yet he's now 'committed to securing funding'? It'll be a miracle if this thing goes ahead.

No. There's a lot of ‘we' in ‘his' apology.

I want him to say that it was his decision to appoint Rafael Benitez as Everton manager, despite enormous resistance both within his own board and from the Everton fanbase.

And that he was wrong to do this. And that this directly initiated the most disastrous of seasons in the history of the football club.

And ultimately, that he is truly sorry for introducing this indelible stain onto the proud institution that is Everton Football Club.

As for your hope of abject penitence and self-flagellation for one particular decision, good luck with that.

Excuse the verbal eye-roll, but that ain't remotely realistic.

Moshiri has given his apology, but what will happen if we end up in a dogfight to stay up again next season?

“Many of the learnings have been implemented”. So, what about the quality of players that have been recruited over the last 5 years? A handful have proved themselves good enough to play for Everton, but we are laden with poor quality players who got us into last season's predicament.

If you really have learned, clear out this bunch of players bar a few, and recruit quality players.

It's almost the single worst decision in the history of the football club. And it was all his. And many people called it for the disaster it would be.

But nevertheless, now that we have had the review, what has it brought? A new manager to replace the manager we sacked. A new director of football to replace the director of football we sacked. We have now got a new coach for the coaches. A recruitment policy which has been forced on us by profitability and sustainability restrictions. Fan input in the board (a good thing in my opinion.

I'm sure there are other changes, as he has stated; many of the proposed improvements have been implemented, so I imagine there are not many others in the pipeline.

I agree with many in these posts that big changes are needed at board level where we can recruit people who know how to run a successful football club. Until that happens, I think he will continue to shoot from the hip and lurch from one crisis to another.

Apologies are all well and good but real change with a real plan orchestrated by people who really know what they are doing is needed at this club. I do hope it is in the proverbial pipeline

I'm assuming none to any of those, he's just the 'easy to leave' face of the club as a chairman that has supported the club for years. I can't see he really has any power other than being a mascot and getting a free ticket to every match?

As an absentee owner, why is he leaving the running of the club to a London-based part-time waster who hasn't got a clue?

For fuck's sake, Moshiri, the club needs a well-thought-out plan and a board, management team and squad to deliver it.

We're still waiting.

Moshiri can apologise all he wants but, as long as the buffoon he left in place as Chairman stays put, then we will remain a poorly run club.

Then of course we have two of the worst managers in our history attached to the club under his ownership. How he allowed that to take place tells me he is totally disconnected from the club and football in general.

The stadium is his only saving grace and he knows quite well that, once built, he can reclaim all of his losses plus a lot more by selling the club.

The guy has simply made too many mistakes for me to put my trust in –especially with no signs of change happening at board level.

I have never heard of a successfully run business that employs a chairman without real power.

Add an absentee owner and a woefully under-qualified CEO and you have the disastrously run business for which Moshiri is belatedly apologising.

He and the bloke he says he gave the reins to for 95% of the time have royally fucked us for seasons to come, never mind the years of his coma.

The fact that some of us applaud his apology disheartens me. His and Kenwright's so-called strategic review is meaningless because of the ineptitude inflicted on us since Moshiri bought in.

It's a bit like Trump apologising (as if!) for the years of his appalling presidency but then seeking to reassure everyone that a strategic review led by his trusted minion, Rudi Giuliani, still in post, would deliver much better next time up.

Totally unbelievable until immediate actions render any words unnecessary.

ps: For the avoidance of doubt, Trump and Giuliani are a pair of self-serving cunts!

I couldn't have put it better myself.

You learn from your mistakes as long as they are not too costly. Moshiri's mistakes have cost him that much that he is not allowed to spend anymore money under FFP rules.

Surely there should be changes and accountability for the Everton Board? The Board with the second-highest remuneration, after Man Utd, in the Premier League. Mistakes in this case, are a fudge for outright incompetence, which Moshiri appears to be playing along with???

An acknowledgement of mistakes is an attempt to draw a line under fan protest, without substance. Ask Boris if he thinks it will work…

'Review of the Permanent Strategic Plan' and 'Smart thinking' are going to sort out everything. Lucky the stadium development appears to have unnamed managers (like Everton in the Community) who know what they are about.

So if Moshiri were to "clear out this bunch of players bar a few, and recruit quality players" how much is that going to cost?

We cannot spend our way out of the problems we have, and I reckon what you are talking about doing would cost the club at least £100 million in bought-out contracts and transfer fees – and that's assuming we get great deals and target inexpensive players that hit the ground running.

I understand the frustration but what you're suggesting is an untenable solution right now, and we need to be sensible about the players we let leave and the ones we choose to sign. Any aspiration towards a quick fix is going to end in disappointment.

Hopefully change is coming, but it has to be gradual – and I am choosing to believe that process has begun.

No heads appear to have rolled but, hopefully, lessons will have been learned and steps taken to ensure those at the top are held accountable for their actions.

I'd really like see a copy of the 'strategic review' but I'm not holding my breath.

I certainly wouldn't want my approval of Moshiri's apology to be "disheartening" to anyone, but does that mean he shouldn't have apologized? Personally I think we fans deserved it, but that's just my opinion.

The apology is "papering over the cracks"? Personally, I think it's a long-overdue acknowledgement that the cracks exist and he's ultimately responsible for them, but that's just my opinion.

The "so-called" strategic review is "meaningless" and "unbelievable" without immediate actions? Personally I think taking more actions without a strategic review of previous failures would simply guarantee more of the same failures, but that's just my opinion.

Moshiri's apology will fail because Boris's apology failed? I don't even have an opinion on that one.

In real life, the people responsible for losing these vast amounts of money would be unceremoniously sacked. If that's the board, then they should be replaced immediately. Failure to do so means either Moshiri believes the bullshit given as reasons by the board (hence the smokescreen of a 'strategic review'); or that he himself is taking full responsibility (unlikely).

So how does it change? He steps back and allows Thelwell and Lampard free rein? Sets a budget that requires a sell-before-you-buy criterion? Sets overall playing budget to achieve profitability? Separates himself from playing matters completely? Or all of the above?

Nice words but, in truth, actions to remedy are still absent.

What was missing was the findings of any strategic review, the consequences of it, the corrective action putting measures in place to prevent a repeat, and removal of the board who allowed it to happen.

Of course someone will have crafted this for him. That's how it works for senior leadership. They just sign it off. But he clearly wanted to put this out there, acknowledging the need and want to put this message out with his name against it.

Credit where due. If you make mistakes, the first step in recovering the situation is to acknowledge them. Only then can you move forward and correct them. Otherwise, you're living in denial and will continue on a downward spiral, making more of the same mistakes.

So, for me, this is a tentative step forward. Although a few years too late, as long as he has now captured those lessons (the strategic review?) and implements the necessary change, then maybe we can realise the vision and potential of moving forward with the new stadium and new beginnings to make a new history.

I don't have a problem if he wants to own the club but then have others run it for him. It's how a lot of businesses and football clubs are run.

But get the right competent people in to do that. Be ruthless. Change the culture from the one that has made our club stand still for 30 years. Not empower the cosy old guard with money that they have no idea what to do with.

And don't interfere. Let the football people look after the football side and give them time to build. Stop the managerial revolving door and give it time.

It sounds simple, but often football is.

So for me, he is expressing commitment to get us into the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock and correct the mistakes made. He gets a second chance for me.

Now take ownership, Mr Moshiri. Own it and surround yourself with competent people. Not those who have run Goodison into the ground par a facelift on the outside. Those who because we survived are probably sat there thinking all is good. Those who think the natives will quieten and be pleased with their lot.

No. We won't and we shouldn't. I'm not, I'm still waking up in the night thinking we're 2-0 down against Palace and facing Armageddon.

Everton expects success. Something should be done about it.

Don't tell us, Moshiri. Show us.

Like quite a few posters in this thread, I'm very skeptical. My biggest fear was the "strategic review" would merely conclude something like "Benitez and Brands were the problem, they are no longer here, we now have no problem."

And nothing I've seen so far contradicts that.

So once again, Moshiri. Don't tell us... Show us.

ps: Good to be back on here after a long break from football. I picked a good day for it, it seems, I only originally came on to comment on the pointlessness of the Nations League or whatever it's called. The League Cup of international football.

However the worry for me was around the strategic review carried out by the board. There's the problem as the board are hardly going to recommend replacing themselves are they?

Actions speak louder than words and we really need to see changes. There have been some already – but don't expect any at board level as that just ain't gonna happen, I am afraid.

It needed an outside body or panel to carry it out for it to have any meaning. I'm afraid it's more of the same...

As others have said, these are nice words from Mr Moshiri but actions speak louder than words and re-instating the shareholders AGM would be a good start.

I'll say one thing in his favour though – he's delivering on the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.

Is it not possible to learn from mistakes? Genuine question.

We have a new season coming up and one transfer window with no fresh cash to prepare for it. I'm positive, though; I believe that the current squad didn't perform as well as the sum of the parts and that it can form the basis of a good side if we can get a couple of good bargains, not necessarily superstars.

I believe that Frank Lampard knows exactly what is needed and that patience and support are needed from us as we make incremental improvement. The appointments of Lampard and Thelwell have hopefully marked the start of the changes needed to improve our fortunes.

I would be very happy to get the basis of the team and tactics sorted out and see some decent performances with a Top 10 position. A very decent side and success, if it ever comes, is almost certainly a minimum of 2-3 years away.

We have a number of players out of contract and leaving the club. We have some fringe players that we can move on, maybe to Championship clubs, raising money and freeing the wages bill up. What we cannot do is reward players at Everton who got us into last season's predicament. They must be moved on and fresh players recruited.

Like other clubs in the Premier League, Everton will have forensic accountants who will analyse every option through critical path analysis, which I hope will provide the manager with options for regenerating our squad.

Forgive me if I'm wrong but isn't this what the board should be doing on a virtually day to day basis – looking at performance, identifying weaknesses, underpinning strengths and seeking to optimise prospects and performance?

For me the letter apologising for failures was broadly well-received, but sounded a bit hollow if I'm honest and verging on a PPB.

A metaphor for Everton since Moshiri took over is a little like comparing us to the guy who buys a pretty expensive classic car, enjoys using it for a while and, when it starts to squeak and stutter tries to keep it in top order by using "mates" and not-so-cheap second rate mechanics to keep it going, who duly persuade the owner to buy expensive, sometime unnecessary and sometime duplicated parts. The car gradually spends more time off the road until the guy thinks "Sod it, I've had enough of this – I'm getting rid".

But he's started to build a new state of the art storage and maintenance unit for his vehicle so he bites the bullet, gets a half-decent and yet unproven but respected mechanic who has worked with some prestigious marques in to slowly work on rebuilding his pride and joy, but tells the guy he has to use initiative rather than money to the benefit of the car.

The outcome remains to be seen... he either ends up with a classic which he is proud to own and show, or he ends up with an expensive pile of scrap, and a garage unit to sell to the highest bidder.

Summer and next season are going to be a mighty interesting watch. Make no mistake – the clubs around us are not standing still so we need to be quicker off the mark and maintain a stamina to get and remain competitive.

Returning to my original point that the board should, by definition, be carrying out some version of a strategic review virtually daily, they have clearly been slovenly in this regard, and should be taken to task for this.

Thank you for the platitudes, Farhad – much appreciated – but please grow a pair and start implementing the overdue review by rebuilding your project from the very top, down.

That's about right, isn't it?

He's actually become a bigger problem than Bill but just happens to have a bit more money. Have we not suffered enough of this absolute crap from these idiots who put the club's future into so much jeopardy?

We know the new ground is what keeps him here because it's going to be worth a fortune but It won't be if we are relegated next season due to past and continued incompetence by the owner and board.

Say something useful, you prick!

My thoughts exactly!

Significant change, sufficient to achieve success, will not happen until a professional board and CEO with the requisite experience are appointed. There's no evidence that is going to happen.

Maybe if he had admitted his own failures that might have been a start, no promise to let the footballing people he has employed being allowed to make the decisions without his interference.

No mention of him going against 90% of the fanbase in appointing Evertons most toxic manager, and sticking by him which almost proved a fatal mistake.

He talks about the part the fans played but fails to say why he wasn't there in the trenches with us while battling relegation, instead choosing to stay in his apartment in Monaco.

He goes on to say that he is committed to the financing and building of the new stadium, but we all know that he and his business partner would stand to lose millions if he tried to sell the club without a new stadium.

Talking of his boss and mentor, not one word about him, has he completely severed all ties with his boss now that he has been sanctioned?

No mention of negotiations with prospective shirt sponsors or how will he be able to bring in sponsors to replace Usmanov's money.

I have absolutely no confidence that Moshiri will change, and he will let his manager in conjunction with his DOF be in sole charge of player buys and sales.

No comment on how he viewed going forward with FFP restrictions, and how long it will be before FFP stops being a major factor in our spending.

Also, since the plans for the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock were produced, most fans wanted a 60,000 seater and with what we are told about a growing waiting list, why haven't they looked at increasing the capacity? This wouldn't take any radical change as many clubs next season have applied for standing areas which have been approved.

We were told even in the design of the new stadium, we had the ability if standing areas were approved to increase the capacity to 60,000.

Surely in these economic times, shouldn't a club in a deprived area like Liverpool be applying for a standing area to allow fans to use this area for cheaper seats?

As I said at the beginning, empty words and empty promises.

We aren't going to be competitive whilst those 2 are involved nevermind challenging for stuff.

I just hope he has done a half decent job with the new ground. I have no faith in them whatsoever.

If bk was half the blue he says he is he would have stepped aside years ago acknowledging his failures, instead he is clinging on whilst making himself wealthier year on year.

You're right in a sense that Kenwright is the 'face of the club' as Chairman – any game coverage will show you that when the cameras pan across to the Directors Box.

He's been in that role continuously for years (since 2004) and I think everyone accepted it was his role to be in full control of all football matters, financial, business decisions, transfers – even if they had grown to dislike him and his cacophony of lies over the many long years of his presence.

So my question to you would be "When did that change?"

It certainly didn't change when Moshiri came on board in 2016. I believe both men wanted the comfortable arrangement they agreed upon, which was that Kenwright would carry on as Chairman, while Moshiri would provide the much-needed funds – but crucially would spend "less than 5% of his time" looking after club matters.

You might think and expect that the CEO would have taken more responsibility for these things in the new regime but I don't think there's any evidence for that. Perhaps even the opposite if you suspect she was a rather odd appointment that still wreaks of virtue signalling for someone who may well be a very good Office Manager...

Certainly not either of the first two Directors of Football, which appear to have been given very restricted roles that were then persistently interfered with and countermanded from above – despite Brands being appointed to the Management Committee (aka 'Board of Directors'… headed by Kenwright. Still headed by Kenwright.

I suspect this is why many people seem to still see him as being far far more than just a mascot who gets a free ticket to every match.

I'm willing to give these words a chance. Providing he acts on them. I don't expect full disclosure of behind the scenes stuff, but if he is coming out with language like this, action is needed to back it up. And I think the popular vote knows what that action needs to be. So act on your eventual acknowledgement of failure and mistakes. Don't just talk about them, do something about it Mr Moshiri. I feel positive on the footballing and coaching side. But rid this club of it's rotten and out of date core.

Very interesting point on the standing area Brian. Sorry to bore everyone with my Schalke connections, but the Veltins capacity for international or European seated only is around 54,000. They have flexibility to introduce safe standing for league fixtures which gives them a capacity of 62,000. Same stadium, but you can increase the capacity if designed in the right way.

Nice to hear from you. Hope all is well with you.

As for your email, you say:

“I am committed to securing the future success of the Club by delivering a fully funded stadium that will underpin our status as a leading Club."

Could you explain precisely what you mean by "I am committed to… delivering a fully funded stadium"?

We were told at the club AGM in January 2021 that "the latest guidance" on the cost of the stadium was "in excess of £500million", and "the majority of that, if not all, will be funded by the club… and that will be funded by a combination of debt and equity".

As I understand things, so much money (through equity) has been put up to start construction, to do a limited amount of construction. Everton FC still needs more funding in order to complete the stadium and that funding is not yet in place.

I guess it is because this funding will be borrowing and it isn't the best time to arrange loans. The bottom line for me is: What debt repayments will Everton FC be committed to for the next 25 years?

Also, you refer to "our status as a leading club". Sorry, Farhad, but I don't think we have been a leading club for 30 years. That is "museum" thinking.

I think the starting point for any re-evaluation should be that we were a 20th-Century great which is now a 21st-Century also-ran.

Regards,
Mike

Whilst we have suffered as the team struggles on and off the pitch got to crisis point last season our problems pale into insignificance to those Mr Moshiri has inflicted on himself. We can only hope that he has learnt from his mistakes, and we see a noticeable change in the management of the Club.

However maybe the penny has finally dropped and we will see changes for the better and I"m hoping that this moment that things are going to change for the better.

I also realise as you say that improvements are more likely to be of a gradual nature rather than a massive leap into the top six straight away.

Still a bit on the fence regarding Frank but am fully behind him and Thelwell.

Can't wait for next season.

Our club must be getting ran by an absent owner, if Mr Kenwright is just a figure-head, and how come Denise still hasn't found alternative employment?

Now, it's time for action after those words. Make the necessary changes and let's move forward.

I always hate to ask Lyndon or Michael as they go above and beyond to join us together. But how about a preseason thread?

McNulty (like him or not), calling the board out already for silence and giving themselves pats on the back for us and the players getting over the line and the sheer emotion we went through.

I just don't want to get told off Michael!!!

Where can I find the McNulty article you mention, cheers.

At least, that is if he is referring to this Tweet from McNulty, which that atrocious 'Goodison News' website reports thusly:

Phil McNulty sends warning to Everton owner Farhad Moshiri

[Okay, maybe it's just me being jealous and irritated but they are flooding NewsNow with clickbait, getting loads of Ad revenue thanks to Evertonians desperate for any snippet of 'news', and laughing all the way to the internet bank. Grrrr....]

The main story itself generates a lengthy retrospective today in The Mail (3 days later!), detailing Moshiri's missteps in gruesome detail:

Everton have blown £530MILLION on an underperforming team – including £130M on players who left for FREE... Under-fire owner Farhad Moshiri has overpaid on fees and signed injury-prone stars – it's no wonder he is apologising to fans

It reads (aside from the dreadfully poor typos) as an astounding litany of utter incompetence. Although that is mostly with the benefit of hindsight. The exception being input from data analysts at the Twenty First Group that the author references.

I did have a thought about searching out the transfer threads we had on here for each of the 31 players whose fees account for that £530M, and seeing what posters' projections were at the time... Pah! far too much effort for very little return. 'The proof of the pudding' and all that business.

But to make so many missteps, it can't just be an unhappy sequence of random unconnected events. It has to be utter incompetence.

And not all by Moshiri but mostly by the Chairman he left in place, the theatre and football man who has been the underlying constant underpinning 20+ years of almost terminal decline at Everton Football Club.

Moshiri claims he is committed to securing a fully funded stadium, but doesn't elaborate on where that funding is coming from, and considering the stadium build is making good progress, surely by now shouldn't the finances be in place?

Maybe the original plan was for Usmanov to fund the stadium and Everton would have to take out further loans to repay the debt. But that option looks very unlikely in the present climate.

Seeing Moshiri says very little, I guess we may have to wait a long time for those answers.

How much are we allowed to spend on player transactions in the next 2 seasons given our precarious position with FFP?

Will Lampard have to sell before he can buy and does that mean that no player is off-limits regarding sales?

The ones that said it's not our money, or who cares? Well, I hope they were happy with how it transpired.

We assembled a squad with no identity, no character, and no style. £500M to clear it out on top of the wages, and start again. I hope we learn from this.

Did we not buy some players worth value that are sitting in the squad now? Pickford, Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison – are they not worth £150M between them?

Yes, we wasted money and I think anyone one of us could have spent wiser but if accounting and reporting on money spent includes money recouped and value if you're reporting facts in newspapers.

Precisely.

Nearly £50M for Gueye and Lookman was good business. Despite Gueye being an outstanding player and one we have very much missed, £30M was a good price for a player of his age.

Likewise, £100M for Lukaku, Barkley and Deulofeu the previous year. Lukaku has obviously been a huge miss but Deulofeu and Barkley were replaceable.

Not to mention we have assets in Calvert-Lewin (£60M), Richarlison (£75M), Gordon (£20M), Pickford (£20M) on our books currently.

The above clearly illustrates however, that successful business can be achieved by bringing in talent at a certain price and moving them on at a profit. Lookman being a great example of this. He was given enough of an opportunity and never showed that he was going to be a top player for Everton.

Liverpool have done it remarkably well in the last few years with strong fees achieved for the likes of Jordon Ibe, Brewster, Brad Smith, Danny Ward, Solanke, Wilson, Hoever etc.

No hanging on for years waiting for these players to make their breakthrough – despite in some instances massive potential.

Clinical decisions. Opportunities given to most of those players and if they didn't seize it – sell. Big money. Lots of which has funded their club buying exactly who they want.

We should have been almost there but you and the other people on the board have been clueless and totally out of touch. Everton are seen as clueless because of you and the actions passed by the board and by not learning from previous mistakes.

Things don't seem to have changed if the rumours about Richarlison going to Spurs for £51M are true. Clueless, yet again, clueless.

Liverpool, Tommy @94, after a strong start may, I think, have drawn a bad one in Diaz who was shut down completely by Carvajal, have certainly done so in Keita and may well be about to do so in Nunez. Jota looks like he's going off too. Every club fucks up, though I accept we have done so more than most.

Of course, it isn't about Moshiri, it's still about Usmanov. Those Russians, they bide their time and keep on and on and on for the long prize. He won't have given up on the Atlantic-facing fruits of BMD, Uncle Alisher and his sponsors.

Money, luck and toughness of mind count, in that order. Luck, though, that's the thing I want for us.