Lampard urges Everton fans to keep the faith after Wolves defeat

Ah, so nothing to do with your tactics then, Frank?

Nothing to do with what you get them doing in training?

Nothing to do with the limited money you had for transfers being wasted on yet more substandard players?

Nothing to do with you at all?

Talk nonsense as much as you like but keep it your fuckin' self. We might be deluded following Everton but we're not fuckin' daft so stop taking the piss... you sound like your Uncle Harry.

You played at the highest level in an all-conquering team of its era, so you should know that more than me.

Protect your players by all means, but don't make excuses for them.

Or yourself.

In life, when we get it wrong, it is always best to come out, hands up, and admit it.

We want passion, commitment, full-blooded fight, you fuckwits. Wolves were snidey as fuck yesterday and all we gave them was a few handbags. One Tarkowski bone cruncher aside, I don't recall seeing any fight.

The (so-called) cultured ‘play it back, go across the back, try other wing, repeat, rinse….' bollocks football is predictable and is why other teams are beating us.

Play to win, like Liverpool and Brentford do, or just be the nastiest toughest fuckers about. Anything else is just not acceptable.

Do one, ye wet lettuce.

I watch young boys and girls every week, most of all being encouraged, taught, told to enjoy themselves. But if one of them were to stupidly shove an opponent in the back as Patterson did yesterday, they would instantly have been subbed for stupidity and indiscipline.

If the kids make mistakes, that's fine. But if they don't try, they don't get a game. Most of Everton's players are under insufficient pressure, not too much.

I was one of the many who was exasperated by the centre-backs passing the ball to each other with 2 minutes to go. But I was even more frustrated by the players in front of them standing like traffic cones.

And when the move broke down, in the Wolves left back position I, from the opposite side and end of the ground, said to my pal “Here's trouble”, because it was obvious that not enough would bust a gut to get back.

I'm afraid that many of these people supposedly organising our football team are just missing the obvious.

Lampard has improved the defence but lost Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin, so we concede fewer goals but don't score. No doubt that we lost to what is really a very poor side yesterday and there are far too many reasons to look on gloomy side.

In particular, Cannon should have been on at least 20 minutes earlier; he may be young but he is a presence.

The way they cantered down the pitch to score their second was just unbelievable. Our midfield is a mess and the forward line has no leader; balance wrong in both areas.

The manager's future will be called into question with two bad defeats in Manchester. I'd be quite surprised if he survives – I'm not calling for his exit as I've no idea what the alternative would be.

Supporting Everton has been a gruelling experience for far too long and it doesn't look like it is going to improve anytime soon.

The former was blatantly clear yesterday when – despite having had 6 weeks to address tactical shortcomings – we turn out producing the same garbage as before the World Cup break.

The latter was best exposed with the McNeil - Gray substitution. Despite his continuing poor form, McNeil does provide assistance to Mykolenko by taking up the space in front of him and so preventing wingers having a free run at him. In this regard to replace him with Gray was a big risk to take.

In the event, Gray did not do badly in protecting Mykolenko – but at a cost to his attacking intent, so making the change pretty meaningless from the perspective of trying to win the game.

Nor was it any coincidence that the (more experienced) opposing manager played his main cards right by waiting to see Lampard's moves before timing the introduction of Traore.

It beggars belief that Lampard expressed his fears about Traore's pace in his post-match interviews but actually made a change that heightened the likelihood of Traore inflicting damage on the break. As came to pass.

Your next-to-last paragraph was exactly as I and a few more saw it from the Upper Bullens Road stand. When that long ball was made for Traore to run onto, I thought “Here comes their winner” as it did, bringing desperation and despair with it.

The board at EFC are completely inept or blind to think that Calvert-Lewin is our future – the guy's a wreck. Yet again, Simms scores the winner for the Skunks and the eejets on the board continue to look the other way.

I am sick to death of every match turning into a nightmare, ruining my night and the next day. There was a time I could tell you every result, scorer and pretty much a story of each game going back decades; now, nothing gets remembered...

I even had to check the other day to see if, by chance, we were still in the League Cup and then I recalled the tragedy at Loftus Road!!!!

We knew Calvert-Lewin was injury-prone and chances of him staying fit were small but we didn't replace him.

We knew Rondon wasn't up to scratch but we didn't replace him.

As it stands, Wolves, Chelsea, and Liverpool have all announced signings ahead of the January transfer window reopening.

Lampard is still saying "We'll see, it's a difficult month, hopefully we can do something."

Total incompetence.

And the fact is, the fans and Richarlison dragged us over the line last season. Richarlison has gone, and not a chance the fans will be able to repeat the feat.

I think Frank is giving up ,to be honest.

When he came, he wouldn't say it any other way than hit straight to the point, no bollocks.

Now, he's just going down the same route as predecessors, all the same tripe getting brought out.

"Baby steps this season, playing good teams (that are bottom)."

"Fans need to be patient, it's not nice for the players."

Fuck's sake, I'm sick of Everton taking baby steps, have we ever got out of the cot?

Playing good teams that are actually worse than us?

Fans have been patient for years, year-in & year-out, and still they come back like zombies to watch the same shite.

Really?!!

So badly have Moshiri and Kenwright destroyed our club's finances with their mega-litany of disastrous signings (via the mega-litany of managers they appointed) that not only in the last two seasons, and this one, are we fooked... but for the next several seasons, minimum, too.

The dock-side White Elephant stadium is of no comfort at all to me whilst those two Charlies remain associated with our club in any way.

Blaming Lampard is completely missing the point.

If he takes us down, he's finished as a manager. It's as if he's realised it's not for him and he can go back to his luxury life in London with reputation semi-intact and jump on the pundit circuit for something to do.

Ukraine seizes $54 million worth of assets of Kremlin-linked Russian oligarch Usmanov

Another sacking for Smith, as he no doubt walks away with a few more million quid in his skyrocket.

Be afraid, Frank!

Or, as grandson Charlie has written in his match report in his new book, final sentence:

“Guess what? In the 94th we were passing the ball round at the back and they got the ball and scored the winner so we all went home with sad faces.”

I don't know whether to be proud or cry!

Frank is embarrassing himself by this cretinous babbling. He really needs to shut up and go away.

Bobby Brown Shoes to be wheeled out mid-January, it's got Kenwright's bulbous, grubby mitts all over it. Phenomenal... no, it's fuckin chronic.

This is of course cretinous babble. His strategy seems to be to survive the squad and get a few that could save him in January.

Problem is, he has already demotivated some players he needed when some of the new buys fade or get found out by defences (ie, Doucouré). We cannot let the dysfunction embed like that.

I really can't come to the defence of some of the players but to let Frank spin that one is a joke gone too far.

If I'm getting the wrong impression here, someone give me the tap on the shoulder. I tried to back him, knew I was out on a limb, and to hear this from him is really infuriating at this point.

Or am I hearing voices again?

Wake up, mate, or you'll be doing holiday and fashion items with your wife on some godforsaken telly spot.

And what we get served up is that crap. The same old sideways and backwards passing, slow ponderous play, giving the ball away in midfield far too much, misplaced places, porous defence with the odd flash of attacking intent that usually comes to nothing.

No control, no plan. Exactly the same headless-chicken, rabbit-in-the-headlights, clueless, disorganised play as before.

I so want it to work for Frank and keep the faith because I think he has got something… but at the moment, I'm really struggling to think what that something is and my mind, like many others, is turning to what comes next.... what that actually is, who knows?

“Out of the mouth of babies” – and nobody tells the truth like kids.

As to “I don't whether to be proud or cry” – a bit of both, Peter, with most of it pride!!

One day we'll give him pride.

Doucouré should have at least tried to foul the Wolves player on the edge of the penalty area, thus stopping the move. He didn't, then also half-arsed jogged back.

AIex Iwobi was jogging like a fat-arsed ponce who couldn't give a toss. We were all over the place with no movement at all up front.

Belated Christmas present, Santa: nil-nil against Man City.

Two observations:

1. Simms's goal was a cracker. Very creative with limited space and time.

2. Somebody needs to explain what the hell Brereton Diaz has that we want... coz I sure as hell don't see it.

He signed Maupay, McNeil, Gueye all of whom are struggling. There are other ways to play. Why are the players passing the ball backwards even in attacking positions?

Why focus on possession football when the idea is to pressure and counter as fast as possible? Why are our players not taking long shots? Why are our wingers not taking on players? Example McNeil? Simply not good enough.

We can put out a decent team. Change the formation to 4-5-1. We use the full-backs as wingbacks... Pack the midfield with Onana, Iwobi and Doucoure and give them the license to pressure and attack. Use Gray and Gordan as midfielders or wingers and use Cannon as our striker.

Maupay can't hit a barn door from 5 yards. No more bullshit slow passing football. Enough of Frank Lampard... Shape up or ship out.

Do you really think Evertonians are so stupid as to accept such tripe?

There is something seriously wrong with involving a player who was not on the pitch, with questionable credentials anyway, as an explanation for the performance of players on the pitch. How can any Evertonians get behind that?

(I've ignored any lack of match fitness in those 6 games as none of our players are fit. I could have jogged back as slowly for Wolves' second goal.)

I'd still rather we had Calvert-Lewin back but he's not the Messiah. Other goal scorers are needed, regardless of his fitness.

Never the greatest finisher in the league, let's be honest, but the athletism will be all but gone now with the injuries he's had.

Embarrassing watching Richarlison at the World Cup. We had him, we sold him and replaced him with Maupay.

Therein lies the problem at EFC. Whoever makes such decisions needs to... well, you can fill in the blanks.

I personally don't think Calvert-Lewin is the missing lynchpin of the team, although we do badly need him back and competitive, but we just as badly need to add someone who can take their bloody chances. Calvert-Lewin is not that prolific.

Paul (29),

Patterson had put in a decent shift for something over 90 minutess by the time Doucouré lost that 50-50 challenge on the edge of our area (which he contrived to turn into a 40-60, btw). Both the Wolves subs were fresh as daisies, so I'm disappointed to see you hanging Patterson out to dry.

We should have had either Tarkowski or Godfrey sat deeper at that point, but referring back to my original point, it shouldn't really have even mattered by then.

Our ineptitude up front has us chasing games down at the death leaving ourselves woefully exposed. I've lost count how often it's happened but I just knew, as soon as Doucouré lost out, it was happening again.

The players we bought all have one thing in common: they were relatively cheap and could be signed on the drip. The only player we paid a decent fee for was Onana and he spends more time waving his hands at the fans instead of concentrating on what he should be doing. When have we seen him get the ball and drive forward with it to break the lines?

There is a lot of criticism of Gana but he was our best player by a country mile and taking him off was ridiculous, as both Onana and Iwobi were both abysmal. Now Iwobi has agreed a new long-term deal, is he going to revert to the Iwobi of 6 months ago and become another member of the deadwood society?

Not sure Lampard is the right man to lead us forward but then who is? Bielsa would be my choice as he would at least ensure the players would be fit enough to prevent the sort of breakaway goal that Wolves (and Leicester) scored.

"As a Clarets fan of 50 years, it's great to see the ball finally 'moving around the grass' again!! Under Dyche (even in the Championship) it was the worst football ever seen at the Turf – yes, even with the success! Up the Clarets!"

But, let's face it, there is no point in persisting with a formation that doesn't work, nor in players who do not perform (never mind perform consistently); what can he actually do?

Ancelotti recognized the weaknesses in the squad and shut up shop. Lampard may want to play good football but he hasn't the squad to do it.

Onana is nowhere near Premier League standard.

Gordon is so inconsistent, he is heading for the substitute bench, at least he should be.

Maupay is not a target man, useless as a lone striker, no pace, no finish.

Gray is a one-trick pony... always wants to cut inside and shoot; dreadful dead-ball player.

What do we do? Throw the dice, play Mills Price, Cannon from the start. it has to give more zip, energy...

Perversely, we are on a hiding to nothing against Man City, so don't even think about it, a baptism of fire.

If Ancellotti never changed his system and tried to get us to open up against the lesser teams, it's possible Everton might have incredibly even qualified for the Champions League?

He obviously knew the players' limitations; otherwise, we wouldn't have won so many pug-ugly games of football away from Goodison Park. But we lost 12 home points against Burnley, Newcastle, Sheffield United, and Fulham because we simply weren't good enough to play an open, aggressive game.

Maybe Kompany was fortunate that he has started his Burnley managerial career in the Championship. Who knows, we might even try and get him for ourselves if things don't change over the next 5 months!

On 27 December 1983, the family travelled down to Wolverhampton to watch Everton take on a team that hadn't won at home all season. We lost 3-0, in an abject display, witnessed by fewer than 13,000.

At the time, it was absolutely the low point of watching our club. We tried to pick the bones out of things in the pub on the way home, but failed.

In our team was Darren Hughes and Stuart Rimmer (who went on to have decent careers in the lower leagues). Then there were 2 injured has-beens, Peter Reid and Andy Gray.

And 7 “never going to make its” named Southall, Stevens, Mountfield, Ratcliffe, Irvine, Richardson and Sheedy, plus a sub, Steven.

Don't know what happened to that lot.

I might be wanting my cake and be able to eat it, even though I don't have a sweet tooth or like cakes, but I wouldn't want Dyche anywhere near our football club. A slightly more polished version of Allardyce in my opinion.

It works at clubs like Bolton and Burnley where expectation is low. But even at Everton, with our lost generation and having endured what we have, the expectation is higher and tolerance lower. Well, it fucking should be.

One in the swear box for John Senior.

I keep saying, watch Eddie Howe. I'm sure the "imagine what he could do with money and a big club" gang are out in force given the very good start he's gotten off too.

Watch that space. Some managers are good on the small stage managing smaller clubs with limited resources and players who don't have big egos. Put them on the big stage and with superstars who rightly or wrongly look down on someone and they fail.

I fear for Graham Potter. I think Chelsea was the wrong move for him. You can't knock him for turning down the opportunity as he'd probably done all he could at Brighton, but that gig will be less forgiving.

If we accept the inevitable that Lampard is on borrowed time, I wouldn't be too averse to Tuchel. He has a good pedigree.

Started at Mainz; a relatively small club, to cut his teeth not long after Klopp had departed. So understands working under constraints. Replaced Klopp at Dortmund, has managed PSG and Chelsea but currently I don't see any obvious jobs around that may tempt him.

Mathematically, we can still win this... 🤣

I think it's no coincidence that both Arteta and quite recently Kompany – both of whom spent a few years under the tutelage of Guardiola – are flourishing in their respective jobs.

I watched the highlights of the Burnley game yesterday and they play through the lines from front to back, similar to Man City, as do Arsenal.

I would love to see Kompany take over at Everton but why should he? His club will be in the Premier League next season and, given where they are, I couldn't see Kompany walking out on them.

Then we get to the front 3/4/5, take your pick. All not good enough. You don't score goals, you don't win matches. You don't win matches, you get relegated.

Have you ever seen Cannon, Mills and Price play? What have you seen in them that offers more than someone who scored 1 in 2 in the Championship and internationals for Belgium, Senegal and Nigeria?

Personally, I don't think Cannon has been better at youth level than Bassala Sambou (also often described as someone who couldn't be worse...) – and currently has 0 goals in 17 games for Crewe.

Danny #43,

Being honest, do you think Tuchel would be remotely interested in taking us on in January? I mean we'd sack Lampard and replace him with Tuchel immediately if so surely...

Any manager currently out of work is going to accept any job in the Premier League, doesn't matter who that team is or their current league position.

The biggest reason is no doubt money. Who, after all, is going to turn down a job that's going to pay him, say £50k per week, and knowing he will walk away with millions if sacked?

People may say it will damage his reputation, but if I were Tuchel, I'd be saying “Fuck to my reputation” if it means a few quid in me sky rocket, and the chance to manage in the best league in the world again.

Also, if, as some are saying, Lampard is given the boot if we are turned over by Man City on Saturday, Tuchel is available and ready to step in, very much like he did when Lampard was sacked by Chelsea.

Tuchel went on to win the Champions League that season, with pretty much Lampard's team, so if it is to be Tuchel after Saturday, then Danny, get ready to celebrate us winning the FA Cup this season.

As a little bit of light relief, does anybody believe in “Dreams coming True”? I dreamt a couple of weeks ago, that a mate I go the home games with, his son and fiancée had a baby. Imagine to my surprise therefore, to be told on Monday that they are expecting a new baby in the summer!

Last night, I dreamt that me and the lads I go the away games with, were at an away game in Europe. The only thing is, it was an England game, but all the English fans were Evertonians. So just replace England with Everton and Europe here we come…

Providing of course, we can sign one or two strikers next month to help us make another dream come true!

He would take a look at that squad and want guarantees on backing... so, much as though I rate him, he would not be for us.

Like our requirement for a striker is an up-and-coming Lukaku, what we need as manager is an up-and-coming Graham Potter.

Frank appears to be too nice a guy finding excuses for the players' performances in the hopes of keeping confidence up and naively thinking it would be wrong to bollock them and take them to training on the sandhills at Southport.

The fans are rightly worried that we've let Forest, Leicester and Wolves leave Goodison with 7 points. These were must-win games. If they were held in April, we'd have met the team bus with blue smoke.

There aren't enough games left to get us over the line, and it seems the manager hasn't realised this yet.

Tuchel is rich beyond our comprehension already. A short stint at Everton is not going to move the dial. He could be in China or Saudi doing that if it was just about money. Or the Wolves job.

In the next few months, he could get hired by really big clubs punching below their weight like Atletico Madrid or Inter Milan. He'll therefore probably bide his time.

Where is the motivation in joining Everton unless there is a transfer kitty to accompany the big wage?

The media will be all over it. It's that simple. It's not against Everton, it's against the cancer that is slowly killing the club.

Enough of Kenwright.
Enough of second best.
Enough of making up the numbers.
We demand better.
We demand change.
Everton aren't we?

Without change, this football club is heading for the abyss. I promise you. Be brave.

5th to 7th wasn't good enough because it was a plucky little Everton; now, we'd take plucky little Everton in a heartbeat; which is why I would take David Moyes, restricted or not.

Or we could take a chance on an up-and-coming manager, like Potter was, because – let's be honest – there were more against making that move than for it on here.

Evertonians, we're never more depressed than when we have nothing to really be depressed about, and now we really do.

If we are starting with what we don't want, that would be a good deselection criteria?

And there are 22 games left in the season to secure the wins we need.

This isn't the first time you've called for some sort of boycott.

I'm just curious: Are you a match-going Evertonian?

You also missed Moyes off your relegation list. My brother-in-law is a Mackem, we have an agreement that his name isn't mentioned.

Any suggestion to bring back someone who has already been here must be okay with a damaged reputation because that would be a humiliation, even if it was Silva.

He's learnt from one of the best coaches in the world and he and his family still live in Manchester. The question is: Would he come here?

Well, we could probably pay him more than Burnley and probably offer him a bigger transfer budget. We are also arguably a “bigger “ club than Burnley with an exciting new stadium on the way, so I think we could have a few bargaining chips to bring to the table.

Could we get him in time to make a difference this season and could he do a better job than Lampard? I'm afraid I don't have an answer to those questions but anything has to be better than the turgid rubbish we are being served up, week-in & week-out at the moment!

I watched the Blackburn - Wigan game earlier in the season and Brereton Diaz looked no better than Nathan Broadhead.

I agree with you that Simms looks better on current form.

Stick with Lampard then, but who do we go with next season? Steve Cooper, David Unsworth or even big Dunc?

Nah, let's just get Deschamps...

If you do not mind me answering the question of what have you seen in them, here are my thoughts:

Yes, I have seen all three and all be it for the Under-23s and briefly on the US tour, what I see is Price in the middle who can play a forward pass, is comfortable on the ball and able to link up play.

In Cannon, I see a striker who is hitting the net regularly, is getting into goal-scoring positions, and full of confidence

In Mills, I see a player with a footballing brain, who can dribble, go past players, look up and play a pass – and can score goals.

So yes, these kids might not be ready to make the step up, but they are certainly playing with confidence and doing what is required. Can they really be any worse than Maupay, McNeil and Doucoure???

I've liked what I've seen of Mills and I've followed Warrington, who I do rate.

Like all young players, the question or challenge will be if they can make the step up.

We are playing players not much older than all three, so why on earth can't they be given a chance?

Lack of first team action is probably the answer, so when if any, will they be given that chance to make the step up? But please Frank, don't throw them all in against Man Utd in the FA Cup.

I think the straw is down to its last fibres.

If... in a parallel world, I could pick our next boss to manage this bunch of wasters, I'd pick Simeone.

That would be a fireworks display.

Expecting top trophies is an irrational problem only suffered by the fans of a tiny minority of top clubs. I'm a 60-year duration Blue and I neither expect nor demand trophies.

Suppose it won't hurt them to play in a cup game at Old Trafford, in front of 9,400 travelling blues. Now that would really lift them and inspire them to show what wearing the blue shirt means!

And personally I'd have tried Cannon and Maupay together as a duo against Wolves. I think they'd have helped each other.

However, none of the three have any youth international recognition to speak of (Cannon is not even capped at Ireland U21 level despite an absolute paucity of any quality) – and none have loan experience. Real scouts passing judgement do not rate them very highly.

I get that Jeffers and Ball and a few others came straight in previously but these had both been with England since they were in the U16s.

It would be madness to start these 3 players together because they absolutely can be worse than the likes of McNeil, Maupay and Doucoure etc.

Sorry, I just woke up to the new day and saw your post. In response, I can only make the following comments:

No, I have not seen them all together against Premier League teams, which in a way is exactly my point; neither has any of the opposition!

Are they good enough? Well, they are in the first-team squad, so one would think they are there or thereabouts and, at some point, we will find out.

My point was two-fold: firstly, you say they can be a lot worse than Maupay, or Gray, etc. Take your pick of several, but it's patently obvious that the current line-up is nowhere near good enough either.

Secondly, we are throwing the "unknown" factor into play; opposition teams know and study how individual opponents play… what they can or cannot do, in such detail they probably know what they had for breakfast.

But with Cannon, Mills and Price, we are introducing the unknown against opposition who won't know what to expect.
If they aren't good enough, they shouldn't be in the squad... and therein lies our biggest issue, the first 11 are nowhere near good enough, let alone the rest.

Can it go horribly wrong? It may not work but we are gambling because the odds are against us in every game as it is. We can always change it around with 5 subs anyway...

I did see all 3 of them in Sydney. Only Price caught my eye really, and as we know, that was against decidedly average opposition.

I thought Cannon was slow and ponderous although I didn't see enough of him to be certain of that. Simms is an all-round better bet up front if we had him available.

Benitez spent approx £100,000 in his first transfer window. He pulled in some favours from older players and some has-beens with intial success. He allowed Allan to continue as a similar signing by Ancelotti.

He basically appeared to consider Brands a waste of space, who fell on his sword. In the January transfer window, interest in Patterson was resurrected and we got him as part of a Digne exchange deal, with the unknown Mykolenko.

All of these latter players seem to have been brought with no manager or a Director of Football involvement as neither existed at that stage. Frank started in the last weekend of the transfer window.

On to the Summer transfer window and our new Director of Football sourced players that Frank needed, but none of these players had previous connections with Frank as far as I can see and his role was more approval than any say in how the budget would be spent.

There was a decision taken not to source a replacement or back-up for Calvert-Lewin. Rondon was thought sufficient. There is also what appears to be a policy to cash in on players of perceived value: Richarlison and Gordon, the latter being a debacle.

According to recent reports, representatives of Pickford are saying that the delay in Pickford signing a new contract is because of a hold-up at Board level. Suitors are lining up.

Doucoure appears to be as good as gone. Other players have gone and loaning out of Academy players is at the same level as before, a continuation of Brands reducing the wages bill, leaving Everton lean in squad depth.

The remit for Frank and his backroom staff was to develop a formula of play which would be repeatedly used in training to reflect what would be played on the pitch. This is the remnants of Ancelotti's formula play, the continuation of what was Benitez's remit, with an emphasis on financial constraints and Frank's in a similar fashion.

The problem is the players have increasingly shown that they are not up to providing the ingredients for this formula. Part of the problem overlooked by many is the manager's input into the transfers of players, in and out, seems to be limited.

There are parties at Everton other than the manager that think they know best how to fulfil these requirements, figuring heavy in involvement at the time, but the evidence for years is they don't and are considered as little more than interfering.

Money appears an ugly motivation at times. Thelwell appears to be an addition to their ranks, or part of the team, as Brands was, his 26 new positions being cited as change and progress.

On top of that, the squad preparations appear to be the same as they have always been, contributing to individual underperformance, the hallmarks of what we all recognise, having seen it many times before.

Everton are prepared according to Frank and his backroom staff's system of play. The players, many of them selected by who is involved in transfers, with financial constraints as a priority or control, with the light touch of managers, are not suitable for the system. The committment to training and wanting to be selected is questionable, since many of the players appear a yard short, and some often look as if they aren't bothered.

I am not saying any of the above is 100 percent right, but it is as I honestly see it. Everton have a Chairman who, according to him, other Premier League clubs look to what Everton would do. While Everton have a Chief Executive Officer on her way to the moon with Strategic Plans, and a structure of fancy titles, with popstar-waged staff who obviously think they know what they are doing.

There appears to be a large dose of well-paid delusion throughout the club, but no-one is mentioning Top 4 status or progress in competitions. There is plenty of hype regarding the new Everton Stadium, which mercifully they seem to have nothing to do with.

The end of the road for this crap is surely soon. When I have identified such crap in previous business scenarios, it inevitability did, often to my surprise.

But the amount of money available to keep things going is something I have never seen before. Moshiri appears to be quids in still on his investment. He must still have the goose that lays golden eggs...

I think it is close to £1 billion, but it is determined by Moshiri's valuation. Some money has been recuped on player sales and deals done on contracts.

I also think he got control of the club at a discount, allowing Kenwright to stay. Whilst what he has paid out is a lot, the value of the money he put in is determined by where it came from. If he managed to invest money in Everton that he could not invest anywhere else and, once invested in Everton, got value.

Offshore is a complicated world and what appears to be a straight-forward structure which can have standard analysis, like Paul the Esk, can have a totally different perspective from an onshore investor perspective.

Everton will not go bust. They can't get relegated either, they have to maintain the agreements with the Premier League. The Football League are bastards when it comes to their rules.

I think Everton is run on those terms where they maintain Premier League status, the financial end is controlled within the Premier League Profitability and Sustainability rules, which includes the control of money going out on wages and transfers.

The manager has just a sign-off role on a transfer team that includes the Director of Football. I doubt the manager has any input into the actual deals, especially where part-exchanges are involved.Maybe Sharpy has a role…

In the meantime, the main channel for funds is the stadium development and other related investments, some we might not be aware off.

Being able to manage funds within or being able to manipulate the rules that the football authorities have in place is the key to getting funds into the project and something I think Kenwright was kept on to do.

Of course, Bill being Kenwright will try to get things in his favour as he has always done. When the stadium in completed, it is then that the legitimate value of the club can be worked out. It will be considerably more than Moshiri's outlay.

I do think that Moshiri thought the football side would have been more plain sailing, but the stadium side is well managed and will be highly profitable. The club is being run and controlled with this objective, but the interference via financial control is killing the football on the pitch.

Dealing with the fans is via PR structures and only considered when they get out of hand.

Of course, this involves the Board and Executive level at Everton and ensures their involvement and control in all decisions.

The management of the team at Everton has been relegated to providing a playing formula, and making do with the players provided.