Moshiri — Kicking the can down the road again

Now the owner of Everton, Farhad Moshiri, must follow suit. From 1 June, his duty is to find Everton a new owner which is stable and trustworthy. After so much financial mismanagement during his tenure as Everton´s majority shareholder, he should in this takeover process at last show that he is an accountant. And that for the good of Everton, not himself. If he must take a big financial hit, then it´s self-inflicted.

Farhad Moshiri, although an instigator of our new magnificent stadium, and we thank him for that, ought to understand that his legacy in the history of Everton will be defined by how he handles and concludes this takeover issue. And if Mr Moshiri is at all a man of honour, he should in this matter respect and take into account the views of Evertonians, the core of our great club.

I cannot help feel there is far more to this than a simple loan-to-equity deal gone wrong. 777 Partners will (should) almost certainly have a fallback / get-out-of-jail clause, should they not meet a purchase price or agreement.

Whether it's a short-term loan repayable, long-term loan, or option for equity, it can only be in the detail. Otherwise, it's a mug's loan. No security? After laying down £200M+? Honestly must be something in the detail we are not privvy to.

Who would loan money to 777 Partners under those conditions? Who is backing them and continuing to back them if not A-Cap? Unless it has nothing to do with A-Cap or their normal investors. (Unless of course 777 Partners really are a bit dodgy?)

Isn't an alarm bell clanging somewhere?

Tell you what, Paul, if 777 Partners suddenly find the money from an unknown to purchase, we may wonder if the transaction was in rubles!

As the registered owner of the club, he is now plundering the club deeper and deeper into debt by using the club to gain loan after loan while he does nothing to change that situation.

Moshiri's 'kicking the can down the road' could simply be he cannot make a decision. He is a Muppet set up with all the trappings of a billionaire, but in reality he is nothing more than a messenger boy in an office, with an accountancy qualification and three passports.

From a Everton context, nothing makes sense. But as an extensive money-laundering operation, it does. But to do so, the extent of it would have to be believed, which is an enormous stretch in credibility.

All the parties involved have unknown investors, many from offshore origins. The Everton known assets are all shocked out either by charges or confidential agreements. The ownership of the 200-year lease on Bramley-Moore Dock is unknown, Everton being tenants on 40-year lease for part of it.

So where is the intrinsic value? The value is in the Everton debt which has probably been sold on as part of debt packages which has been securitized to give it as high a debt rating as possible, to be sold to investors such as offshore Investors, foreign investor groups, pension funds, crypto funds and financial trading houses.

Much of the ownership is unknown due to the institutionalized (particularly so in the baby boomer pensions industry) and offshore confidentiality or lack of government regulation. We do not live in the captial age, we live in the age of creditism. Even so-called cash can have layered credit support.

Everton is obviously not run on sound management principles and there has been no interest in doing so for years, and it is the case even now. The value was always in finding a greater fool. Football was a entertainment sideline.

On and on we go.

Having spent a considerable part of my life dealing with Blue Sky investors and overseas funding, it's clear to me that this goes way beyond what the norm is.

Many wealthy investors are happy to take a punt for a few million if the rewards are there, but, and a really big but, the debt ratios are a killer, the returns are just not there to justify the level of debt and return on investment.

Long term? That's a high risk based on us staying in the Premier League too chancy. This is more to do with the real estate and redevelopment around the dock area. Bit like Peel Holdings buying up on speculation years ago, but in this climate, spreading the risk across many just doesn't add up.

If, as 777 Partners have done previously, pension funds are raided, there is no way in heaven and earth that there will be any undue risk to pension funders! Especially US ones.

So, if the money miraculously appears to buy us, you can put money on a single wealthy investor or state who wants the club for status, wealth creation, or part of a much larger portfolio.

I suspect the money 777 Partners raised was done so outside of their normal model. When all around them is falling to pieces, they still found the cash to drop into our kitty?

Yeah, I know, its all speculation... probably all bullshit... but you know the old saying "If it walks like a duck..." Just the hairs on the back of my neck...

The International Media interest is built on the underlying financial story aspect regarding Everton. A new Everton owner is pie in the sky, it will take corporate recovery experts negotiating haircuts and restructuring, something Paul The Eek asked for 2 years ago.

The Premier League is powerless and government regulation will be on the never never. Budgetary control at Everton is being dictated by PSR, inclusive of administration; otherwise, Everton is not interested in budgetary control.

There is a underlying "tuff it out" attitude. Much of the money put in largely does not matter, having original questionable value, it is the money that can be got out. That is where the value is. Everton has been run this way for over 30 years.

Reasonable solutions will be put forward but all facts are unknown, even by the protagonists themselves.

Hopefully someone is working on evaporating the fatberg (I've heard many times that there is) but those high=interest loans are not only killing us, they are also lining the pockets of others, so my guess is that not everyone will be wanting this to suddenly en.

You can possibly understand why Moshiri put Brands on the board now but, when you're only a frontman and not really around much, then the mice just reproduce and get along fine without you!

Usmanov is going to lose another fortune at a time when the sanctions must be causing him massive headaches and loads of anger. He must be fuming, but hopefully he realizes that “most” Evertonians are good people and loads of them were tucked-in by the same fella, meaning we have got a lot in common really!!

The Premier League must also surely be getting ready to call time on this charade between Moshiri and 777 Partners? (Possibly not…)

I think we have all definitely had enough of this daily medication time so hopefully Usmanov takes his haircut and decides it's time to let everyone move on.

The fans did not write this script, as all we ever wanted was to be solvent and successful, as a club and a team, and yet the fans find themselves witnessing the demise of the club, and potentially, the sale of some of our better players. Yet another backward step, and the story doesn't finish here.

We have 777 Partners as potential buyers, but they can't get the show on the road, for various business and financial escapades, and then John Textor appears on the scene, maybe with an investment? Of what size or proportion is anybody's guess?

I would rather see 777 Partners fail in their attempt to buy Everton, and Textor may play a part as an investor?

Talk about last-minute com, we have a few days to stave off interest in our better players, and a few weeks for any other bids to emerge.

The drama and saga continues.

I can't help but joke. The whole thing is way beyond serious and scary. The Esk is spot on. There is no positive answer staring the club in the face. We owe the most money of any club. However, a vast chunk of that debt is the new stadium.

We are being punished by the Premier League for improving its appeal, for which no other club who did the same were held accountable for, let alone tarnished with points deductions. That huge debt is the responsibility of the present incumbent and those recently departed from its board. In one case, literally.

I truly believe that all of that person's borrowed fake Faberge eggs were placed in the one basket. No Plan B after the golden goose was exiled.

It does say something that Moshiri has kept the stadium build going under unbelievable financial strain. Furthermore, he has managed to get numerous parties to part with hundreds of millions. The club too.

The sale is a complete head spinner. Like "What the Fuck?" In a global financial storm, we are akin to Oliver Twist. We owe almost as much as Arsenal, Liverpool and Man Utd combined (source: Onefootball Club Debt 2024) but have had the worst ride in terms of footballing success ever to get to this all-time low.

What is going to happen to us in future terms bewilders the experts. Crowd-funding, anyone???

As you say, on one level, Moshiri's antics are inexplicable: which shows something very dodgy is going on.

If we could get away with selling Onana (and giving Maupay away to a circus) we will have done well.

On a related matter, what do you make of this Textor guy? Who has been very disrespectful to Palace — that's for sure.

If, as Paul suggests, the only way forward includes creditors taking massive haircuts, then I suspect we may need to teeter right over the edge of administration before they are forced into losses. Perhaps we are there already?

It sounds as though there are at least committed Evertonians like Andy Bell and George Downing working behind the scenes now to try and facilitate an outcome that serves the club as much as the vultures.

Such a shame that the great work of Dyche and the players will have only managed to buy us an inch of breathing space rather than a solid platform on which to build. Selling our best players just to service the debt is really an indictment on what has transpired at Everton over Moshiri's tenure.

A) We're still in the top league and whilst we stay there are guaranteed a minimum of £130M a year in TV money alone,

B) We will have a brand new amazing stadium open in 12 months time, which will also be able to generate income above and beyond the usual match day receipts.

C) We have a few players who are worth well over £50M (Branthwaite, Calvert-Lewin, Obana etc …apparently!)

The debt mountain is unsustainable but surely there is a way to consolidate some of it against the stadium (once complete) and refinance at a much lower interest rate. The current all-in cost in interest is eyewateringly high (and the lenders are no doubt happy to keep getting paid).

There's no magic bullet. First, the debt needs to be managed then work gradually to reduce it and increase revenues on the other side, ie, run the club professionally, which has not been the case for several years.

What no one on here has any idea about is what is really happening behind the scenes. Who are the real holders of the debt (not just the corporate fronts)? To what extent is Usmanov still involved? (I'd be very surprised if he's not in touch with some or all the lenders — he may well be one of them!)

Lots in the shadows which may never come to light but we'll still be here when the new stadium opens.

He is recorded as saying it is great that Everton is outside London and a fallen giant, it would be great to see rise again.

If I was a Palace fan, I would take exception to that.

What is being achieved football-wise in all fronts, and is continuing, is remarkable by any standards and it is the most likely aspect that will win through in the end, no matter what happens off the pitch.

As for the rest, we can do little but try to know more, which in itself will keep us going. The financial world is marvelling at this aspect. The team needs Evertonian support more than ever.

Prophecy is an affliction of the articulate, and probably the inarticulate in my case, but out of frustration and despair, both transient things, Evertonians will be reborn with new words and new power. This is something that we all can have confidence in.

I suppose I still take exception to Margaret Thatcher, and her plans for a managed decline of our wonderful city!

The only rationale for new investors is a return on their capital. It's hard to see where any profit can be made on new investment, given the Club's existing debts far exceed its assets. Future earnings are uncertain and depend largely on staying in the Premier League.

Our ability to do that is being increasingly compromised by the debt burden, forcing player sales and further increasing debt. We will eventually run out of road to kick the can down. The investors can't play chicken forever. Administration is the next stop.

Who would have chanced lending the crooks that run 777 Partners over £200M with no security or assets required?

Quite clear who is lending them the money in order to try and get back as much as is possible from their initial investment.

Seems there is no hurry to get a deal done as is exemplified by the many months kicking the can down the road.

Moshiri and his dosh or Usmnv's dosh is safe as houses whilst waiting for the deal to be agreed, hence no other parties involved in genuinely trying to scupper the gentleman's agreement they have with Josh and his dodgy mates.

Recovering as much as is possible is simply a waiting game for those who control the purse strings and who care nothing about our club.

I mentioned that, looking at their respective track records over the past 8 months or so, that everything was possible. It was partially said tongue-in-cheek, although given their past records, anything was possible.

Will it – won't it? Not long to wait now, Hope not, fingers crossed

777 Partners are being prosecuted for overstating their assets, that is how they fraudulently got their loans from insurance companies.

Trump was successfully prosecuted for similar actions in New York.

I read they look at stats, data, players, teams. That's all very good, but we won against Forest, Liverpool, Brentford?? That wasn't in the stats. Nor was Man Utd beating Man City at Wembley.

Well we won nowt the old fashioned way… maybe his football club can bring back glory, success. Just get rid of Moshiri, the creditors, debt, give us a decent squad, and have stability for a few seasons.

No stress, mid table above, win 12 home games draw 4, lose 3, that would do me. Make the move, all calm and steady, good football.

Can this man deliver us into a successful modern era of football? I am praying he can.

Let's hope John Texter can lead us to new heights.

If we manage to survive, we can at least thank him for a great new stadium. Sure he's made some strange and bad decisions but hes been let down by most of the football 'experts' he has employed.

He and/or Usmanov gambled big time but the gamble has not paid off, unfortunately; it happens.