The vision that was planted in my brain still remains…

Now this may be uncomfortable reading but I don't think you're going to get many answers – at least not from TFG. That post from the Roma guy says as much.

I understand the desire to know what's going on, what's going to happen… but I think this is now time to roll out what I always say in this situation: We are just going to have to wait and see.

ps: Your missives are probably better in this form, as one big dollop, rather than putting up your very long postsas comments on the threads, if you don't mind me saying. Hang on in there, Simon!

pps: Oh, and one last request: I see you are writing these in Microsoft Word. I wonder if, when you paste the text in to ToffeeWeb, you could press Ctrl-Shift-V — this strips off all the ugly formatting code. Many Thanks!

Ruthlessly pragmatic but naive in their understanding of the game, the best candidate on paper is not always the best fit in the management team.

This is a club like no other, its history, location, fans, pride and expectations will ensure they will quickly realize that we are not Roma, that because of our recent history of ownership, we are hurt, angry and unforgiving.

We are broken and in need of fixing but we are still Everton. I hope they get it… and soon.

Good article, Simon, timely too.

The three most important points in my view are 1) that the Friedkins made near-bankrupt Roma instantly financially stable, 2) that they recognize they are not football people and bring in experienced CEOs and DoFs to run things (which I heartily endorse), and 3) that they say nothing, ever. They make official announcements and that's it.

And that should not be cause for you or any other Everton fan to worry. After all, we never knew they came back in for Everton after walking away... until we heard their money hit the table. (I predicted they'd be back in because they used that same strategy to buy Roma.) These are business people. They are in this for the success, not personal publicity, and every business venture they've built previously remains tremendously successful.

I think every Blue should take great comfort in that, frustrated though we may be by the lack of communication. We can only hope for a more sociable pattern from the CEO.

Good work!

● They are not mugs, but they have made some strange decisions at Roma.

● They will obviously be looking very seriously at replacing Dyche, but need a decent replacement – whilst we will be attractive to many, we may not be attractive to candidates we really want.

● They will have a shortlist of preferred candidates already and will have spoken to them direct or via agents. Those candidates will be looking at other options too, not just us and not just now.

● They will obviously be looking at recruitment of players too but have PSR to contend with (and as at Roma, they are trying to stabilise the finances – not incur heavier liabilities).

● They are not going to go on a big spending spree and probably can't even if they wanted to.

● They are not fans – they are absolutely not aligned with what the fans want and expect. We are not by any stretch now set up for a rosy future - but we are much better placed than the inevitable oblivion under Moshiri.

● They know full well we have a relegation risk with Dyche. I doubt they will share the view of many fans that relegation is inevitable under Dyche – and I also doubt they think our chances are definitely improved by appointing any new manager. We are fed up and often emotional in our thinking. They are not.

I know Davey said he wasn't interested, but I think that was cos he's expecting 6 months and no more. I'd get him in for 30 months. After that, we'd hopefully be in a West Ham situation and that point would be ready to recruit more ambitiously.

The only strange decision I've seen from them at Roma was hiring Juric, which looked a clunker from the moment it was announced, but at least they corrected their mistake quickly. Re-re-hiring Ranieri was a big surprise, but the club has responded to it.

Kevin, I think you can be absolutely certain that Moyes is nowhere in the picture for Friedkin.

He fits the profile of uninspiring options at Roma like Juric and (recently retired) Ranieri?

And here's me thinking the words of the prophets were written on the subway wall…

I agree with the points you make and think Mike G tends to over-egg the pudding with regards to their in-depth knowledge of Everton's footballing needs.

He admits they are financial people and hire football experts to run that side of things, but who do they use to identify the right personnel?

It seems to me there is a lot of room for getting things wrong, God knows we've got it wrong as a club many times over the last few years and we were allegedly in the know!

No, sorry to disappoint the TFG disciples, but they are not the Messiah, they are just American financiers looking to make a profit and I think they see the new stadium as the pot of gold.

We will no doubt be better run and financially stable but I have yet to see any evidence of outside-the-box football thinking. Ranieri… for God's sake!

Generally speaking, however, I don't expect to see out-of-the-box football thinking from them.

Robert, you do have a point about Juric. We can only hope they learned from that one.

Thanks for the feedback, and yes it is a lost of questions, and as of yet no answers, but patience will out I'm sure.

Just to address your second PS, or PPS, I've re drafted the document and resubmitted it (with edits and corrections) so if you could, please could you slide that one in and remove this one, but add the comments?

Sorry about the original formatting.

However, I would like some sort of interplay with the fans, even if it is something as simple as "We are doing our best within false financial constraints, brought on by the current PSRs, to try and freshen, and add to the squad in this window. We will announce any confirmed news as soon as we have it, thank you."
Marc Watts (or insert name of whomever here).

Communication, not answers... It does(? - would) help the club-fan relationship immensely, imho.

However, it is just observations made by my not fully comprehending what it takes to run a football club mind. Hardly insightful, other than the content from AS_Roma_Fan from the GOT.

Your paragraph here;

Ruthlessly pragmatic but naive in their understanding of the game, the best candidate on paper is not always the best fit in the management team.

Immediately brought to mind an old work colleague's remark made about executive management once (which I'll paraphrase here);

"It's like they're flat-pack addicts, however, instead of reading the instructions, and getting it right first time. Their enjoyment is derived from trying to assemble the furniture without reference to the instructions and finding things don't fit, pieces which are essential are left over, there's various screws and bits left over, and the whole thing is unstable and wobbly, leading to it needing to be dismantled and building again, this time referring to the instructions. So why not just read the instructions, take your time and get it right first time, oh and ask for help if you need it!"

This seems to have been 'the Everton Way' for far too long, and I hope to heavens that TFG do not go down the same path!

A Fremen saying: "Measure twice, cut once!"

Happy New Year and good wishes to you, and your family. I hope all are well (indeed, this applies to anyone and everyone, bar one).

I won't comment on your post as it would be too much repetition. However, I agree with most, other than the communication, as I feel in this age of sound-bites, social media and 24-hour rolling news, we are slowly being conditioned to being 'updated' constantly.

I'm not asking for constant updates, or even specific answers to some of the (many) questions that I raised, but just dialogue from the club indicating what is happening. Even if this is done via the Everton FAB, and then relayed.

Imho, it would definitely lead to a better ownership and club-fan relationship.

Thanks again for the kind words.

● They are not mugs, but they have made some strange decisions at Roma. — Was that just them or the appointed Board and executive? Otherwise agreed.

● They will obviously be looking very seriously about replacing Dyche, but need a decent replacement – whilst we will be attractive to many, we may not be attractive to candidates we really want. — I absolutely agree on this, and I don't think we'll see any change, unless it is absolutely essential to TFG to safeguard their investment.

● They will have a shortlist of preferred candidates already and have spoken to them direct or via agents. Those candidates will be looking at other options too, not just us and not just now. — (Yep!)

● They will obviously be looking at recruitment of players too but have PSR to contend with (and as at Roma they are trying to stabilise the finances not incur heavier liabilities). — This also ties in with the above point eg, a prospective new manager asks who are you bringing in? Answer: No-one and we might have to move on one or two players because of PSR constraints! Reply: Err, Okay?

● They are not going to go on a big spending spree and probably can't even if they wanted to. — See above.

● They are not fans – they are absolutely not aligned with wha up for a rosy future – but we are much better placed than thet the fans want and expect. We are not by any stretch now set inevitable oblivion under Moshiri. — We as fans tend to generally a) forget this, b) choose not to accept this, c) live in cloud-cuckoo land and think every owner has the clubs best interests aligned with theirs, or d) don't care, they just want to watch entertaining footy.

● They know full well we have a relegation risk with Dyche. I doubt they will share the view of many fans that relegation is inevitable under Dyche – and I also doubt they think our chances are definitely improved by appointing any new manager. We are fed up and often emotional in our thinking. They are not. — Absolutely this. While we generally emotionally knee-jerk, these guys are 'poker players' or high level financiers. Everything is based on Cost-Benefit analysis, everything!

Thanks for your comments Robert, now these are very insightful and mindful.

Good wishes mon ami, and please keep posting your threads, they are always very enjoyable to read.👍

Up until this season, I couldn't fault (majorly) Dyche or Thelwell (well I didn't think Dyche got it right in his first five months, but blood and sand, we stayed up regardless, so bygones)

I don't think anything will change other than if Thelwell doesn't fit with TFG, then he may go, but Dyche... I'm not so sure.

As for Moyes, I'd consider him for the job of head of recruitment, but that's about it.

Thanks for your comment.

Despite all news agencies claiming Lopetegui had been sacked or was about to be sacked, apparently he is at West Ham's training ground taking training.

How can you treat anybody that way? Maybe Potter isn't ready to commit and they are left dangling. I hope he turns them down – which will make Sullivan look very silly as well as incompetent.

Hardly clever really, as I said, it's just observations about the club really, and those are made by a no-mark fan anyway. I just enjoy looking at the club structure side, more than commenting on matches, as I tend to see things a lot differently than 80%+ of posters, so I don't want to get flamed all the time!

Also hardly prophetic (unless of course 'these things come to pass' hehe).

Thanks for giving me a throaty chuckle, Colin, and good wishes mon ami. 👍😄

I think there are a couple more basket-cases in the Premier League and Championship.

I think maybe the announcement came when somebody had said yes, and then rang back and said "I need to sleep on it..."?

However, as you say, that is some crass executive management and decision-making. I'm sure the West Ham players are really going to pay attention to him now and going forward.

"Everton takeover: What to expect from The Friedkin Group as exciting new Toffees era approaches"

Harry Watkinson 16 December 2024 10:52 AM (TEAMtalk)

TEAMtalk can reveal that there is no indication that Everton's prospective owners have any imminent plans to replace Sean Dyche as manager, despite reports to the contrary.

When TFG first took charge of Roma in 2020, they conducted a 100-day review into the club, a full detailed examination of the business. And it took months before a flurry of executive and manager changes occurred. TFG will take a similar approach with Everton, ensuring they review all aspects of the business thoroughly before taking major calls.

Sources have revealed to TEAMtalk that it's not ruled out that Dyche could be offered a contract extension by TFG if the remainder of the campaign goes well, with the former Burnley boss' current deal set to expire at the end of this season.

For now, Dyche is safe in his job, but TFG will naturally succession plan, a necessity given Dyche's contractual situation and the fact Everton's league position might force their hand.

Recently sacked Manchester United sporting director Dan Ashworth has been linked with Everton and so too has former Tottenham sporting director Fabio Paratici, but TFG are yet to hold any concrete talks with them. Ashworth is a name of interest, though, after becoming unexpectedly available following his Manchester United exit.

Everton's current CEO Colin Chong is only an interim potentially allowing TFG's a first big executive appointment following a transition period.

The main message from sources is that TFG are not planning to make any drastic changes to the club structure immediately, but they are well aware that additions need to be made for Everton to fit into their multi-club model with Roma and become a formidable force in the Premier League again."

Here's the link to the full article, which is still relevant in the main;

What to expect from TFG

Firstly Happy New Year and good wishes moving forward.

I meant to ask how is your health now, and are your plans for relocating back to the UK coming on?

Good wishes,

The Forgetful One!