The first 28 days of TFG…

TFG haven't done a Churchillian call to arms or mentioned player investment so perhaps they have a secret and cunning plan up their sleeve that will yet bring salvation and glory.

Alternatively they could be caught in the headlights just like Moshiri.

What do the kids say - "it's a little bit meh"? About right.

You raise a great point about the CEO, but it's important to note that American companies take an average of six months to hire one -- the bigger the company, the longer the process -- and the Friedkins are thoroughly American businesspeople.

Based on the same media reports you were reading, I expected Souloukou to be named quickly, but she was poached by a better offer four days after the Friedkins closed the Everton deal. (And she's overseeing not just Forest but Marinakis' entire football portfolio, including Olympiakos. Great job.)

It seems entirely logical to say that Friedkin should have had a backup teed up and ready to go, but that's not how US companies work at the CEO level. Once declined, they will almost always restart the process. And it does seem very possible that, having made their choice, the Friedkins hadn't interviewed other people. So they'd have to start now.

After Souloukou suddenly resigned at Roma under death threats from the Ultras, the Friedkins took three and a half months to replace her. Maybe that's the expectation we should have here. This is a way bigger deal than hiring a manager. The CEO will set out the entire path for the club going forward, and the Friedkins will want to get this hire absolutely right.

I just hope they do.

A couple of permanent board members and a CEO. However, the hope is that they are perhaps waiting until the summer for that CEO to be released from a business elsewhere. I guess we'll know more in June.

They are obviously good business people but owning and running football clubs is an entirely different proposition as they foiund out with Roma.

My initial view is that they cant be any worse than Kenwright or Moshiri but the proof of the pudding as they say.

This transfer window will tell us a bit more but I am also concerned about Thelwells ability to find elite players which IMO is what we need to elevate this squad.

I think you are quite right to reserve judgement about TFG. As Mike says, they moved pretty quickly to replace Dyche, but 100 days to carry out an operational review and even longer to appoint a CEO seems like too long a period to me in a fast fast-changing environment like Premier League football.

I'm sure TFG will bring much needed financial stability and governance to the club but sometimes fast action is needed to solve immediate problems.

To me, this means on-the-ground football people empowered to make swift, on-the-spot decisions, preferably with in-depth knowledge of the environment in which they are operating.

To me, this is a fundamental weakness of the ownership of football clubs by financial consortia.

Yes, they will appoint people to run the football side of the business but who is advising them who to appoint? And how close are they to the individual needs of each football club?

The main stakeholders in a football club are its supporters, not its sponsors, advertisers, media companies etc. This is a very different playing field than a car franchise or media productions. I suspect that supporters will be considered more of a critical nuisance rather than an asset. Hence the lack of top-down communications with this group.

I know I've nailed my colours to the mast numerous times regarding TFG's ownership but I just don't expect them to come to our rescue, now, in this window, when we really need it.

For Everton, it will all be over, one way or another, in 100 days!

And let’s be honest, our last CEO didn’t know how to run a tap, never mind a premier league football club, and she was only in the role because of that useless chairman, appointing his wonderful L’il Miss Dynamite!

TFG are not fans.

They don't think like fans.

They are focused on stabilising the club's finances and then making money.

They want to stay up but won't sanction any reckless spending as part of that. They won't deliberately break PSR limits.

Before acquiring the club they will have mapped out a broad range of scenarios and nothing that has happened since will have caught them by surprise.

They will be viewing success over much, much longer period than the fans. They are not expecting Moyes to achieve anything of note. That is not why they appointed him.

They will view success in commercial / profit terms - not footballing terms. Though they will recognise that footballing success can unlock increased revenues and greater profit.

They know that we've operating pretty much as though we got relegated / went bust in June 2021 - and will recognise it is extraordinary that we remain a Premier League team given extreme negative investment since then (while all of our rivals have invested extremely heavily in the same period).

They know that pretty much everything negative about Everton football club on the pitch comes down to these extreme financial conditions - and the fact that Everton has been amateur hour operationally since the Premier League began.

Hopefully we are not about to meet our Waterloo!

So once again I think we will be looking for a loanee and if possible a permanent ‘Beto style’ deal with a deferred initial payment to minimise expenditure in the current financial year.

It looks like probably Nuamah but maybe Fellows for the RW spot.

They might be working on Broja's loan deal at the moment - to see if they can create another loan space. Might be wishful thinking and will take time.

They are probably also seeing what sort of money we can get for the likes of DCL, Beto, Doucoure, Patterson and, sadly, Branthwaite - to swell the coffers a bit.

Although it's painfully slow for us, there's been very, very little transfer activity for Prem Clubs this Jan.

Villa have Donyell Malen.

Relegation rivals Ipswich have Philogene and Wolves have Agbadou - each for €20m (+). These are decent signings.

Otherwise it is pretty much all talented youth players age 21 and below - some of whom may get minutes, some of who will have to wait.

So it looks like there will be quite a bit of late business when selling clubs, agents, players and buying clubs know where they stand.

The CEO I'd such an important role,at such an important time for us that I'm happy they are taking their time.
At least it means they are not just looking for the cheapest easiest option.
They get how vital the ceo is !

But they also should be able to see tge priority of staying in the PL requires urgent attention, urgent investment to give us a clean fresh slate for a ceo come the summer with all the opportunity the move to BMD can bring.

Saying we need goals is stating the obvious but I think perhaps the team’s greatest need is a player that can spread the ball around a bit. AKA a midfield general. Someone who can find the space in midfield from which to build an attack.

Barry Rathbone suggested maybe we should go for a couple of old stagers like when we took Barry from Manchester City. I suggested half jokingly Christian Eriksen.

I like Mangala and Garner, both good players but Eriksen even at 33 would transform our midfield. His contract ends in July and I don’t think they will be offering him an extension. If so we could probably buy him for £5 or £6 million. Worth a cheeky approach in my opinion.

As such, it’s no surprise to see these positions unfilled and summer is a likely time for us to see plenty of action on this front.

I just hope we can get a couple of players in this month, it won’t be easy to get anybody half decent though.

Only time will tell if we’ve jumped from the frying pan into the fire. In the meantime, we are heading towards a relegation battle with four other teams.

Moyes spent a fortune on him for West Ham which was viewed as another of his poor signings there but although he is quite similar to Garner he may just be what we need at this time. His coolness, experience, quality and set piece prowess could be crucial plus he has an eye for a goal which our midfield are lacking.

If there's any realistic prospect of signing Eriksen, Ward-Prowse, Toney and others that will already be known.

Some of these may be available - but just not to us because they are out of our budget on the basis that (variously) we can't afford the overall fee, we can't afford the upfront instalment on the fee or we can't afford the wages.

Since Ivan Toney is on £400,000 per week in Saudi, I think we can safely assume he's out of reach. Eriksen is on £170,000 per week - substantially more than our current highest earners. That would make it a difficult deal to pull off.

Someone like Roman Esse might have been within wage and fee budget but just wasn't interested. In all honesty, a kid like that from Millwall probably sees Palace as a much better fit, given how they've developed Olise and Eze, and because his wage there would be at least as good as what we would pay him (their overall wage bill is higher than ours).

There is absolutely no option for Moyes to turn up and say - get me this player or that player Thelwell. It is more a case of Thelwell saying to Moyes, these are the players that are being made available within budget - and thinking through who might genuinely improve the squad. Moyes will know and understand this.

Where there is a bit of flex is the budget. If we do offload say, Beto, in January - then there might be a realistic chance to sign Ferguson on a permanent deal. But it could come right down to the wire before we know.

If we don't sell Beto, then we might be looking at much riskier / speculative options like Yuri Alberto the Brazilian who is being hawked about to clubs all over Europe during the Brazilian close season.

I expect both Thelwell and Moyes see the likes of Nuamah and Fellows (linked before Moyes arrived) as very interesting options because they add a different dimension to the (abysmal) right flank. Neither will be under any illusion that they are signing the new Giggs or Beckham here. They are looking for upgrades within budget, not superstars.

I know he's had injuries but at 27, at least we know what we'd be getting.

To hear American business practices being cited as evidence of good governance surprises me on account of a certain multi-bankrupted, criminal business failure fart of a man now being given by the American populous the most powerful job in the world, where he can twist so-called governance according to his odious criminal whim. Hmm…

I wonder who Friedkin voted for given that he's more or less immediately sacked a manager in favour of an other dour TV personality (as Trump has) who nobody else seemingly wanted back in football management, then immediately undermined publicly the position of a moderately successful DoF (given the depth of the pit of the shit he inherited), have signed no players (and I know the Trump-esque Premier League have only just relieved us of further PSR infringement) and have yet to put together a boardroom with credentials throughout.

Still, if that's what comfortably works for some in the USA, why should anyone in the UK have any worries right now, with less than 2 weeks to go in the "preservation-of-the-top-six-at-all-costs-regardless-of-fairness" Premier League transfer window?

And to further illustrate my take on "cross-threading", I've read the "Goin' The Game" thread and empathise fully with those UK fans who realise the game has long since gone to the dogs as a sport as I know it.

Maybe, if I totally lose my marbles, I'll resort to the American Football "World Series" tournament for enjoyment of a professional sport where any and every world team outside the American clique at the top is excluded permanently.

"Oh, hang on a minute Don!..."

Appointing Moyes, is in the eyes of TFG, with a big presumption here, just the required manager to keep us up. Then maybe, the correct man to help reconfigure the club, on the footballing side, to help propel us up the table.

I could well be wrong, but...

It might be meh! However, it has garnered us a win today, and decent upturn even in defeat against Villa.

Little steps, we've just started a new journey.

Thanks for that post. I completely agree about the alacrity with which they dispensed with Dyche and brought Moyes in. Not even a week, 5-6 days depending on which version of events you believe.

Don't forget, Alan Irvine joins the backroom team tomorrow, and apparently, Moyes is looking at several set piece coaches.

Shame Anthony Barry has left Bayern for England (The old Chelsea connections). He'd be my first choice set-piece coach all day long and tomorrow...

My concern is that TFG were being 'complacent' and thought that Ms. Souloukou would be joining them at Everton. In which case, there is no shortlist of CEO's that they have on file, despite Retexo (Home page) being involved in an advisory role; see here from I-News

""Dan Friedkin identifies advisor to help Everton takeover

The latest on Dan Friedkin’s Everton takeover comes courtesy of iNews, who have just released a comprehensive overlook on the American’s plans.

Seeking to revolutionise the Toffees, who he will surely assume control of in the coming months, it remains to be seen how exactly he planned to achieve those goals.

The report has now detailed one step the Friedkin Group plan to take soon: ‘The Friedkins may turn again to the highly-rated football consultancy Retexo Intelligence, who help clubs identify and place backroom staff as well as evaluating club academies, sales strategies and “organisational and departmental structures.

‘i understands that Retexo founder Charles Gould – who also offers a service around mergers and acquisitions – has been a trusted advisor of the group in the past and is set to aid the Everton restructure.’

Therefore, my gripe, as it were, is that rather than assuming that Ms. Souloukou would join us, why hadn't they been doing due diligence and look for 'best in class' rather than the easy option?

It is not the way, I personally, would like to see the way appointments at the club go, I'd rather we find and appoint the very best person for each position.

As other posters have said, I'm willing to wait and see, but my first assessment comes on January 31st/1st February, then again on 31st March...

Things need to be improved now, not later.

Leaving things till the summer, without having 'conversations' with people now, or soon, may well mean we will still lag behind in terms of the staffing issues we have.

For me, you've hit the nail on the head with your post. Which Robert at [7] clarifies.

All TFG are interested in is assuring their asset isn't immediately diminished, as all their profit and loss figures will be based around being in the Premier League. Especially, after having restructured the debt that the club has. I'm damned sure that TFG won't want to invest a cent more than necessary to keep us up and running.

Oh and Rob H, I agree about Denise Barrett-Baxendale, she was 'boosted' up the slippery pole by Bill Kenwright, and then set about building her own little empire within the club, rather than doing what she was meant to do. She even tried to steal the stadium thunder from Dan Meis and Colin Chong, for fuck's sake!

And whether or not they were "complacent" the fact is she got a better offer from a guy she's known longer than Friedkin to run a much bigger and better organization.

Assuming you're right that Retexo would have headhunted other candidates and even had a list prepared, we have no idea how long it is. And it would still take time to interview them all, choose one and negotiate the new CEO's deal, job portfolio and executive team.

So not necessarily a quick process. As I said, it took several months at Roma, and this is arguably a bigger and more complex job.

BTW, no, that wasn't the particular Denis Law photo I was referring to, but thanks for researching!

I guess, the reason why I'm disappointed is because my expectations have not been met. Same as anything in life really.

Ryan [30] I know, if only they'd listen.

'Normal/commercial' business, is nothing like the Football Industry, although a lot of things about running the club efficiently do apply. It's the intangibles of the actual football that causes the 'disruption'.

Good wishes mate, and COYB!!

ps: Mike re the photo, that's all I could find regards a volley by Law.