Everton 2021-22 Accounts: Analysis, Part I

One question: how was the valuation of Sigurdsson treated? has it been written off, or it still being amortised… do you know?

Sigurdsson's contract was due to finish in June 2022 regardless of what happened elsewhere. So he was either written down in 2020-21 (most likely) or his book value amortised in the standard way to zero at the end of his contract.

If it is found that Everton mislead the Premier League and other Premier League Clubs by providing them with unaudited accounts, causing them to think that Everton was compliant with Profitability and Sustainability requirements, which proved wrong when they presented the audited accounts, what are the implications for the club?

Imagine being Farhad reading that. I mean, he doesn't even like football. He must curse the day he was wined and dined by the once penniless but now multi-millionaire Bill Kenwright.

Sometimes it's the smaller details that drive home how profligate and poorly run we are. We've a director on 𨀜k! Who in our band of fools could get anything like that elsewhere? Stunning and sickening with the mess they've made. Even the lesser paid are averaging over 𧽴k. Who else would employ them never mind pay them such extravagant amounts? No wonder they've no shame and will hang on like barnacles.

The People's Club, my arse!

This is actually an ideal time for Moshiri to dismiss them all and show the Premier League how serious he is about cleaning out the stables. I doubt if he will as he's as much a part of the problem. The buck stops with him.

In your Talking the Blues podcast last week, you seemed less worried about the punishment that the Independent Financial Review could impose:

- timing shouldn't affect this season;
- so a points deduction if applied would be next season, if it gets to that at all;
- and that Everton have kept the Premier League in the loop for the past 2 or 3 seasons and have met their targets;
- and this could be seen as Richard Masters trying to prove to the Government that the Premier League can take care of itself, and doesn't need imposed regulation.

Your major worry, it sounded to me, was the impact all this has, on attracting any investment to complete the new Everton Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock by its 2024-25 time scale.

After seeing the final accounts, have you any new or different views on both the likely punishment and effect on the new stadium?

The Premier League have been in receipt of Everton's management accounts for a considerable time as part of their monitoring process. If they're materially different, then the club could be in a similar position to Manchester City in allegedly misleading the Premier League.

Mike #6, there's nothing in the accounts that changes my view.

What you provide us supporters with is invaluable in the face of the contempt that the club and board seem to hold us in. As you say, transparency should really be a given, but it's far from it. We shouldn't have to rely upon you to provide us with this information, but you are all we have.

Do you or the Premier League have projections for the current financial year's accounts?

Obviously, depending on Premier League survival, would we fall in line with the 𧴡m limit when 2019-20 falls off the period taken into account?

For the creditability of the club, Moshiri really has to step up and take decisive action. He really needs to act this week at the latest. He really should have been acting way before this. His interview with Jazz Bal looks totally out of touch with the reality of the situation.

He clearly had the right information at hand when he mentioned the words 'Existential Crisis'. But he gave full backing to the Board, who would 'sort things out'. Where did he get such a wrong idea from? He looks very much as if he is tarred with the same brush.

Actually, your preliminary figures were pretty close to the actual final figures and you didn't have any access at all compared to Moshiri.

Thank you for your valuable insight.

I think with Covid, it is 4 years aggregate rather than 3 (unless they have changed that without me noticing). So it will be 2018-19 falling off the list, not 2019-20. The big losses were made in the latter year and the following. Of course, there are also some allowances for Covid.

Paul will correct me if I'm wrong but I reckon we would need to make a fair size profit in the current financial year to meet the cap. Somewhere between 㿊 and 70m. I have no idea if that is feasible but my suspicion is, even with the incoming on Gordon and Kean, we may have to sell Pickford or Calvert-Lewin (if anyone will pay good money for him in his current state).

Or perhaps Bill finally finds the Arteta money down the back of his manky sofa…

The promises of a new striker now seems just blatant lies as the board and owner knew they couldn't spend a penny. Honesty and transparency go a long way, just tell us the truth, tell us the situation, tell us there is no way we can spend.

Don't have fans sitting watching transfer deadline day in hope, while the club is scrambling around in the background, probably trying to sell Calvert-Lewin and Pickford, is just plain deceitful.

I run a business, it's small, one employee, but if I'm struggling or need help, I'd get support. This board have walked blindly into – as The Esk calls it – "a perfect storm".

What they are having to do to try and comply with the rules now the horse has left the stable will have considerable consequences for a long time, even if we avoid relegation.
We no longer have a positive image for investors, sponsors players, young players, managers, coaches… even the tea lady is probably looking elsewhere.

It's been a significant gamble that has failed miserably, the chase to get into Europe and thereby significantly increase revenue by appointing high-paid managers and players, has been a disaster of cataclysmic magnitude. The cost legacy resounding over the last 5 years to the point of almost no return.

At this point, we are a bad investment and, unless the costs are cut, there is a material change in replacing the board, and a continuation of shareholder backing, this crisis will take a minimum of 3 to 4 years to recover from. The obvious and glaring spanner is insolvency. I believe this is now far more a threat to the club than any breach of P&S.

I suspect the club, minus the stadium subsidiary, will be sold for whatever Moshiri can get for his shares, thus removing the drain on his resources going forward and leaving him with the real estate of Bramley-Moore Dock. I believe this was always the jewel in the crown and the reason for his purchase in the first place.

The running costs of the club become someone else's problem and, given the enormity of the task, it will not be pleasant. Avoidance of relegation is critical so any transgressions leading to points deductions or worse must be avoided. Unfortunately, this does not appear to be the case.

The threat to our continued existence is sadly very real and we are now in dire need of a board of directors capable of recovery. With the possible exception of Kevin Thelwell, the rest of the senior management team must be replaced immediately. There is absolutely no possible way the current Chairman and CEO and Financial Director can remain if we are to survive.

The delicate balance of cost-cutting whilst remaining in the Premier League is an enormous task; in Sean Dyche, they probably have a manager capable of making a fist of it, but the short-term operational consequences may be too much. Senior players like Pickford, Gray, Onana, Holgate, Calvert-Lewin, Maupay etc would all need to be sold to reduce cost and generate income. We will be effectively reduced to playing a mix of journeymen, unknowns and youngsters. Unless something fundamental changes, I cannot see alternatives.

The club will survive even if we drop to The Championship but not if the current management is allowed to remain. It's really that simple.

Moshiri could literally save himself a couple of million per year at a stroke by just reducing their pay and they'd be going nowhere as no-one else would take them. The CEO, Sharp etc are on the best money they'll ever get and are on Easy Street.

The present board, in its entirety, is untenable. However, the present board give the appearance that they are not only untouchable but also that they are doing a good job in the face of unnecessary pressure from the Premier League and supporters.

At this time, I cannot see any movement in the board room until the season's end at the earliest. Without exception, and I include the arsehole Sharp, they are a disgrace to Everton Football Club and themselves.

You are spot on regarding selling off anything and anyone who has value. What an embarrassment we have become!

In light of the fact we now have official confirmation via The Grauniad that we are on the precipice, how then are we going to add the cost of a 𧾦m stadium to our running costs?? I mean, the new stadium is all very nice, but in terms of the cold hard cash, it's ten thousand extra seats (which we won't fill half the time).

How the hell are we ever going to pay that off? Or will the billion-pound stadium be Farhad's parting gift, for putting us through so much shit? I'm not holding my breath on that one…

If we stay up (a big 'if' but I expect we will, but only following a topsy-turvy end of season), we will fill the new stadium because I can't see Evertonians turning their backs on the club in its hour of need.

If we go down, the anger may show itself in people deciding to stay away, and you could be right; however, clubs like Sunderland have kept a decent following, despite their falls from grace over the years.

What will guarantee the club keeps its loyal following is the removal of the current board and perhaps the owner too; if they all remain in post, regardless of which division we're in, I can see a fair few fans saying enough is enough.

Unaudited accounts are all the board could provide the Premier League with. So they won't be in trouble on that score alone.

It's as Paul says: if the final accounts show something different and whether the Independent Commission feel that the Club deliberately misled the Premier League.

I'm not in the Colin & Dave group that's he's crap and acknowledge the Sam & Robert group that he's more creative than anyone else. But the bar is low. We are comparing him to Tom Davies who's had about five goal involvements in his whole career.

The only reasons I can see for bumping up someone's pay is if either they exceed expectations or because we are trying to fend off interest from other clubs. Neither of these apply to Iwobi. Also, we still have the liability of huge wages for Gomes, Gbamin and Alli – none of whom are even playing for us this season.

We are apparently toying with extending Doucoure's contract with the optional year at 6 figures per week on the back of two half-decent performances. Does no-one smell a rat – he suddenly raised his game as the writing was on the wall?

No doubt we will triple Simms's wages on account of his one goal and toss Lonergan a few quid to stick around as he gets old enough to collect his bus pass.

I think it very unlikley that the loss of USM income could be classified as an exceptional loss. USM is not a sanctioned company, we parted company because of the potential toxicity of the brand and the desire of Moshiri to put as much distance as he could between himself and Usmanov for obvious reasons.

You touch on two very pertinent points amongst the detailed financial analysis, Paul, although I'll be honest – much of which goes above my head.

Ultimately it comes down to success on the pitch. We are a football club. We are judged, succeed and fail, by what we do on the football pitch. Not what we do in the community, as genuinely admirable as that work is.

And Marketing… ours is shocking. Has been for as long as I can remember. No disrespect to the natives, but we are Everton from L4. We buy our tickets and go to the local drinking holes before and after the match. I'm guilty; the money doesn't go to Everton. Maybe buy a sausage roll and pint at half-time. If you can manage to get served at the inadequate, stuck-in-the-1970s facilities.

There is another club in L4 (just, L5 if you cross the road from the Kop) that has built a global brand and generates significantly more revenue due to success on the pitch and marketing. Daytrippers spending money in the shop and in the ground.

This is why the new Everton Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock is so important to us. It's an opportunity. As much as we love Goodison and dread the heartbreaking moment we have to walk away forever, once we carry her over the line, we have to move on as a club.

Take our history and heritage with us, but don't live in the past. Carry it into the future and build a new one. Drop "if yer know yer History" and People's Club tag that makes me cringe and think of plucky little Everton.

Even if that phrase is stuck in the Moyes-Kenwright era of low expectation, they can't claim it anymore, They have alienated themselves from pretty much all of the fanbase.

I'm still torn. Are we taking Dixie and the Holy Trinity with us? Or do we leave them as a legacy to the hallowed turf they graced? I think over the next 18 months, I'm going to experience a range of emotions. I think I could describe it as an Evertonian menopause.

If that board is still in place by the start of next season, then I will be amazed as much as I will be angry. I don't really care about now, because my emotional efforts are on the team and with the manager.

They need to do the decent thing. If not, Moshiri, if he's staying and seeing the stadium through, needs to get rid of a failed regime. There will be no shortage of volunteers to prod them in the back as they walk the plank.

The one that disappoints me the most is Sharp. In his position and given the fondness by which he is held as the player by a generation, why has he not walked and spoken out?

Meanwhile, I'm hurting. We are hurting. Yet tomorrow 37,000 will show up to another sell-out, followed by 3,000 or so taking the full allocation at Old Trafford on Saturday. We put the hurt and anger aside and get behind the team.

Crystal Palace away and Newcastle Utd home are already sold out. No other club in the circumstances. I watched Mam City v Liverpool yesterday and noted the empty seats even before many started departing 15 minutes before the end.

I don't expect them to have the same passion for our club that only those who have lived and breathed it from the cradle. But they could at least try rather than treat it as a self-serving entity.

It's Sunday and I don't want to go to confession, so I'll keep the language clean.

It was reported in the Daily Mail that the Premier League's explanation for their statements last summer of Everton being compliant was that the account information they received was different than the final audited accounts.

I don't know how true this is, but if true, it could leave the Premier League open to legal action from teams that were relegated last season, especially Burnley.

In Everton's case, a simply stated charge of breaching Profitability and Sustainability Rules investigated by the Independent Commission and a points deduction ensuring relegation may be sufficient to deal with such a problem. That is if no legal action is taken or more likely an in-house settlement can be worked out. It may be we will never know the actual situation.

As Paul states, it is similar to Man City in content, but in practise it would be quite different due to the different financial and Premier League standing of both the clubs

I can't see the Football League not having an input even though it is the Premier League that have referred Everton to the Independent Commission.

Really decisive action is needed by Moshiri. How he let Kenwright as Chairman attempt to control the narrative in his statements in the Annual Report and Accounts regarding the referral, tells me he does not realise how fatal Kenwright is to outcomes, and to Everton as a going concern. Kenwright's credibility is well shot with the fans, other Premier League Clubs and the football authorities.

Matt @13, it's obviously why they are all keeping their mouths shut now, and especially Sharp, who must be on a lot more money now than he was when he was helping Everton become Champions of England.

Can you imagine Moshiri leaving us the new Everton Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock as a parting gift, Kevin? I hope your imagination is correct because, like Barry says, if changes are not made soon at the very top, I can see quite a few Evertonians no longer being prepared to carry on whilst we are being run by inept nepotistic phonies.

It's difficult to know what will happen to our support at the new stadium if we are relegated.

New stadium effect alone can give a major short-term boost to attendances. A lot might depend on how near we are to already fulfilling natural demand at 39k-capacity Goodison Park.

We've had relatively low-priced tickets for years. That, and limited supply (unobstructed view capacity) has kept those season ticket holders renewing, and we are told has built up a healthy waiting list of 15-20k (last I heard). Whether or not that number and renewals will be maintained at higher prices and in a lower league is yet to be tested.

Hopefully, there is sufficient latent support and enough new corporate business to help offset those costs.

Yes, Sunderland have maintained a healthy support, but their ticket prices are less than ours and they're in a one-team city. By comparison, our support has been eroding for years because we share our city with one of the biggest clubs on the planet.

I can be quite cynical by nature, so the way Iwobi has been talking about Bill Kenwright during the international break definitely gives me a bad feeling, probably in a similar way that Moshiri pulling away from USM – even though it's not a sanctioned company (something I've only just learned from Paul) has been left with regards his obvious partnership with Usmanov.

Like so many of us, I have supported the Club all my life, I am 77 now and quite frankly I cannot remember when the situation was so dire. What makes matters worse is we seem to have no business plan of any sort, and apparent management personnel with any clear idea of running the business.

It's clear that our core business of running a Premier League Football Club has failed, after so many years of mismanagement and a total lack of accountability. To make matters worse, we have begun the process of building a new ground apparently without all the funding secured and in place.

We have expanded Everton in the Community until it has become a huge business which will inevitably become a further drain on the club's inadequate personnel and financial resources. And we have followed the trend and created the Women's football section, yet another loss-making diversion.

It's all so depressing. To think I used to enjoy going to games just to watch the football, and to watch a team that was mine and one I could be proud to be part of. Sadly, what have we become? We are afloat on the ocean, without a captain and crew and maybe not even enough fuel to get us home. It will take a miracle to sort this lot out, God help us.

The Premier League are terrified of legal actions by possibly eight of our current relegation rivals and maybe Burnley too. It will go down to a point or goal difference this season with hundreds of millions at stake. Any Premier League decision has to be watertight – I'm thinking our referral is motivated by the League covering all bases. They are acting proactively because they know what is coming at them.

A tenuous positive is that the Premier League may give some reasons to the Independent Commission for their decision that we were just about complying in their assessment (before the fully audited accounts). This coupled with our ‘robust defence' will carry some weight and influence the proceedings.

There will be heated debate as to the interpretations from the Premier League and Everton with regards to the flexibility of the rules. But aren't those parameters up to the Premier League itself to decide? The Independent Commission may well decide that they've been too lenient with us. But will take into account the mitigating circumstances and the league's interpretations.

Hopefully we have a case where we can escape without punishment, but failing that at best we will get a suspended sentence involving points deduction for any future transgression. At worst, a points deduction this season, but the more likely worst-case scenario I think is a two-window incoming transfer embargo. Which in itself could reasonably equate to a 6-9 points hit to us in squad strength, as compared to our opponents strengthening as necessary.

With Garner like a new signing, Doucoure's contract extension activated, Simms, Branthwaite, (Calvert-Lewin's return!), very promising other youngsters like Cannon, Stan Mills. I'd take our chances with the embargo rather than the points deduction.

I hope Mr Moshiri doesn't spare the horses on our legal team. We need Man City quality to fight over every dotted “I” and crossed “t”.

Then make sure that those legal fees don't go toward P&S rules!

The new stadium is often seen as a potential step change to cure all ills, and that could well be the case. However, the numbers do still have to stack up, otherwise the ensuing debt could have the completely opposite effect. Historically, many clubs have suffered after major capital investment has stifled finances.

We were originally told that the stadium was costing 𧺬m. This was to be paid for partly by the owner, plus a club loan, with (USM) naming rights helping to cover those costs and balance the whole viability equation. No loan finance has yet been secured (even half way through the build). We're now being told the cost may have increased to 𧾦m and USM (who were prepared to sponsor fresh air to clear our books) are out of the equation. So the goal posts (pardon the pun) have shifted quite dramatically. Thus far, the owner has had to pay for the lot, as the club generates no surplus funds and he is now either looking for investment or to sell. The stadium is increasingly looking like (very expensive) packaging for that sale. So, unless he's prepared to take that hit in the ultimate philanthropic act, at some point the club/new-owner might have to absorb some or all of that debt. Alternatively, he may split the sale and keep the stadium a separate entity that we rent. Either way, it's not quite what we were being promised.

Interestingly, the far wealthier crowd on the other side of L4 have not been deterred by their surroundings and poor facilities. They adopted a completely different approach and will reach 61k, with over double our corporate for a tiny fraction of our outlay. In doing so, they will be able to fully fund those developments in house with no effect on team investment and ROI measured in just a few seasons. So perhaps living in the past, with a bit of "make-do and mend" has its advantages too.

Tottenham done similar in retaining the White Hart Lane footprint, albeit rotating the stadium from its original sitting.

Liverpool, Aston Villa, Manchester United and Chelsea all built on what they already had. Even Fulham are at it as we speak.

Our chance to do that or do a Tottenham went by years ago. We could have done, but we didn't.

For every Sunderland and Derby, there is a Manchester City and Arsenal. Even Brentford and Brighton.

Goodison is gone. It's done. The lack of investment has arguably seen it become the worst ground in the Premier League – even if the most loveable and infectious.

We are going to Bramley-Moore Dock and need to do so with positivity to make the most of the opportunity it presents.

I remember one of them was calling Lampard a Tory, and when I happened to bring this up, their reply was that it was years ago!

Sorry for going off thread and bringing something completely irrelevant to this discussion up, but that's all some of us have got left now, whilst facing the daily battle of torment from gleeful Liverpudlians, and it's only having the memory of an elephant that stops the rewriting of history by our neighbours becoming fact.

I haven't got proof that Kenwright was a Liverpudlian, but another fact is that he's helped to destroy Everton in a way that even the bitterest of Liverpudlians couldn't have envisaged.

I was thinking along similar lines, and getting more agitated by the arrant nonsense being presented as fact in some of these posts.

For as long as I've listened to him and read his pieces, Paul has been the arch portender of impending doom for a long long time, with his litany of 'solutions' proposed but that have never been implemented.

Yes, in part you could say that is exactly why we are where we are but I think he trieds to apply standard business rules to a business that has proven itself to be well beyond those rules, and indeed makes up rules for itself.

Thank you for presenting what is I believe a more lucid picture of what is really going on here.

They have been getting earache from other clubs. They have already indicated that they want the independent commission's findings before the season's end. I fear the worst.

Imitators at best. F*@k the Tories?

There is a very poignant picture of Crazy Horse and Bob Paisley either side of Margret Thatcher smiling.

The irony.

Not like them to airbrush history mind.

Dyche is keeping our heads just above water on sheer willpower and bloody mindedness alone but for how long? We all know how mentally weak and limited (skill wise) our players are. Every game is a cup final so can they maintain the intensity and drive? I have my doubts.

As for Moshiri and Chairman Bill well, the former is unreachable in his Monte Carlo tax haven surrounded, no doubt, by FSB guards while the latter can be found scrounging money outside Euston station, “a penny for the poor, guv”.

We should get Bill extradited from London and frogmarch him from Goodison to the Pier Head, with DBB screeching “shame” every 10 seconds, as an act of retribution. His crimes against Everton are unforgivable but this could begin our healing process. So him walking the plank into the Mersey is small change imo.

Twats.

Now I've been triggered and I've broken my Sunday vow.

70% of their matchday going fanbase chanting that makes me feel sick. Let's wait for the outrage to pour out and the ignoring of what they have done in the past.

All about Everton tomorrow. I'll take my pills.

I'm not suggesting that it is reversible (or even that I'd want it to be) it's a one way ticket and we're already on the train. but even at this progressed stage it still represents a worrying leap of faith with numerous unknowns.

Yes, GP was allowed to fall behind due to the serial failings of our board who delivered nothing for decades and essentially have only ever wanted the proverbial freeby.
The redevelopment opportunity has always been purposely ignored for that reason. The same incumbents (some of whom who also attempted destination Kirkby) who have presided over the basketcase financials and dealings that have put us in our current worse-than-fragile state. No amount of positivity (or negativity) will have any effect on those facts and figures. They are what they are, and the same decisions-makers have repeatedly been found wanting with their scattergun, money-no-object economics. Does the same apply to BMD? Thankfully capital investment can be a different animsl but unfortunately, like our accounts, we'll probably have to wait till it all comes out in the wash, because transparency has been at a minimum.

The majority of bigger clubs have redeveloped (not relocated) precisely because of cost, which rises almost exponentially with capacity. The big 2 London clubs were almost able to back fund their builds with the massive new corporate tiers alone. BMD has significantly less boxes and corporate and IMO was probably entirely dependent on USM sponsorship to be close to balancing the books (at £500m, nevermind £750m costs).

So yes, we're on the ride and we're all marveling at its exciting splendour. However, there's very little to inspire confidence in many of their decisions to date and let's be clear, that amount of debt has the potential to sink even a healthy well run club without trace.

To add something, which might well have been mentioned previously, I see the Premier League as trying to mount a defence against DCMS interference; so it's now, belatedly, looking to be proactive and in control by appointing an "independent" commission.

My guess is that the Premier League would want that "independent" commisssion to confirm the validity of the league's stance to date on Everton's Profitability and sustainability (first aim), thus helping to keep DCMS at arm's length (second aim).

If not, Leicester or Brighton away?

Be good to catch up. You can knock some of your sense and wisdom not me!!

You're usually a much better calibre of poster to be suggesting that stadium costs have increased from 𧺬 million to 𧾦 million.

You have even previously posted on other threads the reason for the difference in the figures.

I don't disagree with your assessment regards the "other crowd" generally, but we would also have to accept that Everton FC did similar first when expanding the Gwladys Street Stand and again much later at the Park End.

Tbh, Compulsory Purchase Orders have been used all over the city, demolishing thousands of properties over recent years, so there's nothing unusual in that approach. They did leave a blight for years while making their minds up, but would also argue that they remunerated the homeowners and landlords and are a major international institution and asset to the city that adds many £millions to the local economy every year.

If we were relativity successful on the pitch, nobody would bat an eye at the commercial aspect of the club. City and Chelsea must also be close to breaking the rules.

If we did indeed meet the 70% criteria of players' wages vs turnover, then we would well and truly be making up the numbers. At least Moshiri has put his money into the club and tried to succeed. It highlights the mess underneath him.

Wonder how many clubs meet the 70% rule in the Premier League?

That's why I said the cost MAY have risen to 𧾦m.

It was Moshiri himself who said they have. Beyond that, and in the absence of a full breakdown, I am unable to explain the difference definitively.

Unless your turnover is huge, you are never going to be able to afford the better players. It ensures the success of the already wealthy teams and makes it harder for any team wishing to break the new amour-plated glass ceiling.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/22/sports/soccer/uefa-salary-cap.html">Soccer's Richest Clubs Sidestep Salary Caps in New Cost Controls – New York Times, 22 March 2022

Uefa's new financial regulations will tie spending to club revenues, entrenching the advantages wealthy clubs already enjoy in the market for talent.

Given this article, teams with large payrolls, like Paris St-Germain, which employs Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi, will avoid a fixed salary cap in Fifa's new. regulations

Tom, I concur totally with your comments on the stadium which increasingly is looking like a vanity project given the current status and finances of the club.

I can't think of any relevant precedence for that. The three that spring to mind are Portsmouth, who were docked points during the season, but they had entered administration and were doomed regardless.

Middlesborough were docked 3 points halfway through the 1996-97 season but had time to respond on the pitch to that (but didn't) and it was a different case, them postponing a match.

Then you have West Ham and the Tevez affair. They were not docked points but were fined and later successfully sued by Sheffield United, the club that went down in their place – or at least it forced an agreed financial compensation between the clubs.

One could imagine the latter being potentially relevant to us, albeit not around the specific circumstances.

If I was him, I'd have several scenarios in my mind about what happens if we go down. No way does the stadium get owned by the club, no way. What, and risk the players using that as collateral for when they want their gold-plated contracts paid up?

No, he'll make sure the stadium is not club owned if we go into administration. It's difficult to see from here what he does with it if we do go down; I suppose there are other things he can turn it in to, à la Kings Dock, but he'd be looking at some hefty losses.

So, the bottom line is we must not go down. But that's now out of our hands thanks to the 'independent commission'. Even if we manage to stay up, how do we service the costs on a 𧾦M stadium, which is only giving us 10,000 extra seats, half of which may not get used most of the time?

Simple answer, there's no way we can. So then the only solution is a sale. So, in order for Moshiri to break even, Everton go on sale for a billion pounds. Hmmm, there's going to be some pain for someone somewhere at some point.

Normally you'd say, 'The club will fold', but that means Moshiri loses big time too. He'll want to keep us floating til the wind changes. So I reckon limbo is the medium-term future. Stuck with Moshiri, hoping we stay up and for an even bigger plonker to emerge to give him some of his money back.

The Esk's second part of his analysis is out now, and he concludes:

I stress each of the above are options in the event of relegation, the calling in of debt and Moshiri's inability or unwillingness to provide further funding – administration whilst highlighted in the annual report and accounts is not a given – there would be options, albeit deeply unpalatable options. One hopes we never get to this position as the prospects for the club would be bleak, on and off the pitch.

As I concluded in Part I, the stark reality is that the club does face an existential threat. Absurdly as an ever present in the Premier League, as a club in receipt of £750 million of shareholder funding since 2016, as a club that has to sell its best players to have a hope of remaining compliant, we find ourselves in this position.

I cannot consider in any other business that the board and executive could survive having brought such peril to a business. Moshiri's greatest failing to date has been his inability or unwillingness to bring professional business people in to run his club, oversee and invest his largess wisely. He must act immediately or sell the business to those that can do so. If he doesn't the decision could be taken away from him in administration.

That would be at even greater cost to not only himself but to everyone associated with this venerable organisation. He has a duty (as do the directors) to protect our beloved club from the peril it faces. Changing nothing – directors, executives or ownership will see the warnings within the accounts materialise. The threat can be no clearer, nor can the solution.

Esk Part Two

I'm hoping that the good ship Everton doesn't go down, however, the captain and his motley crew can be left in the water to rot, as far as I'm concerned.