The Friedkin Group reach agreement for Everton takeover

Moshiri only wants £50M payoff, so that's £600M for a Premier League club with a new stadium in 6 weeks. It's a bargain. Why's he waiting?

It looks like The Friedkin Group are now in pole position, but as always, the news of the takeover is subject to change.

The Friedkin Group are ‘closing in' on an Everton takeover, reports suggest.

According to Bloomberg, the American firm – headed by Dan Friedkin – are at an ‘advanced stage of negotiations with Toffees majority owner Farhad Moshiri's 94.1 per cent

Friedkin pulled the plug on purchasing Everton in July after being handed a period of exclusivity. That was reportedly due to a £200 million loan provided by former prospective owners 777 Partners.

Bad news for Dyche potentially! TFG fired De Rossi at AS Roma after just 4 games this season despite handing him a new contract in June!!

I'm okay with that: too many ifs and buts or maybes with Textor.

I read something, last week, about Textor making a breakthrough with the whole 777 / Leadenhall situation and perhaps with that roadblock possibly removed, Friedkin was minded to get in touch with Moshiri and attempt to broker a deal with the Iranian?

The Roma CEO also left her position, as a result of the manager's removal. Ciao Bella!

Somewhere in the deal there will also be a payoff for Moshiri but I believe that was about £50M in previous negotiations. At the end of it, he will own the club and we will have considerably less debt.

Total non-Moshiri debt is about £600M, between Friedkin, Rights & Media, and 777 Partners. Friedkin wouldn't need to clear his own debt and 777's isn't repayable until 2026 I think. I'd assume the R&M debt would need to be cleared at a minimum.

Ultimately all debt for debt and not clear what's available for the squad in the interim.

Competitive tension at least should get Moshiri a higher price and so gone sooner.

Probably makes sense for The Friedkin Group to takeover as they have already put equity into the club. Textor still needs to sell his Crystal Palace shares.

Either way, just get this done, the saga keeps on dragging and dragging and dragging. Stabalise the club and get it moving forward.

The civil court case between Leadenhall and A-Cap/777 has become more complex now that 777 are counter-suing Leadenhall.

If the legal issues on repaying the loan and/or the risk profile of the club's commercial agreement with 777 Partnerss was the reason for Friedkin walking away, then the landscape is even more challenging.

Now that Textor has tabled a bid, those deal-breakers seem to have evaporated.

Maybe the lad in the flat in Manchester who wanted to own EFC a few years back may get exclusivity.

I know Alan Myers is normally a reliable source but in the last 6 months he has said 777 are close… and the last few weeks he said Textor was close; now back to Friedkin again.

Just as Branthwaite returns!!

I like the sound of Friedkin. Apparently Di Rossi and the Roma CEO were at each other's throats, so he sacked both of them. Only people working in tandem, to get Roma back where he believes they should be, and who can work together; otherwise, sling your hook.

Come on, Dan, get it done asap.

Any ideas or preference?

I will keep fingers, and everything else for that matter, crossed and wait impatiently for a resolution.

It must be true then!!!

I'm confident a win and some players back and everything will be rosier. just don't want to be cut adrift before that happens.

If nobody at the club is prepared to act on Dyche before then, it could be too little, too late.

You heard it on ToffeeWeb!

If loads on ToffeeWeb said it was dark, I'd have to look out the window to make sure!

Maybe they were surreptitiously managing Dyche all along to lower the price by having him make those subs and put something in Jordan Pickford's drink...

Alan Myers just saying on Sky Sports News that a deal could completed as early as this evening! 🤞🤞🤞🤞

Needs to get done quickly.

I don't like the cut of Textor's jib one bit.

Word was at the time that TFG asked Moshiri to indemnify them against that risk and he was averse to doing that. Could be some agreement now close with all parties?

Apparently, Friedkin fancies Southgate as manager.

The fact that Textor was getting close to a final agreement made the game of chicken academic. He obviously would have preferred it on his terms but Textor has upset his plans, I think.

It will be interesting to see how the deal is structured though.

Dyche will be looking at the game clock to see how long he has left...

The open-ended risk attached to the litigation mysteriously disappeared when Friedkin relalised Textor was serious about buying the club.

I would put my last penny on the fact that Moshiri will not indemnify TFG as part of the new deal, nor persuade A-Cap/777 to accept a reduction in their loan amount.

A like-for-like replacement then. Overly negative, poor use of subs, and previous for being relegated.

I would be very surprised if Southgate takes any club job.

I was just looking at a Twitter from Alan Myers when Alan Irwin said that, and I put Myers by mistake. My excuse and I'm sticking with it! 😅😅

I do now expect a deal to be done post-haste though I'm still uncertain as to the level of their investment. Whatever it is, I just hope it spells the end of Farhad Moshiri's involvement in the club.

If a 3rd bidder comes into the fold now, I'm sure Friedkin will sign anything straight away.

Myers reckons it'll be a couple of months at least

Please get it done.

Friedkin Group set to agree Everton takeover deal in next 12 hours – Sky Sports

Myers is confident, and it would be huge, and take massive pressure off the team.

I do think Alan Irwin is being a tad optimistic saying a deal could be conluded by this evening, but hey, stranger things have happened.

Jacob's ladder (in terms of Sun rays penetrating dark clouds)!?

I clicked it and it throws a 404 Page Not Found error.

Welcome to Everton!

The Friedkin Group has reached an agreement to buy Farhad Moshiri's majority 94% stake in Everton.

A young bright coach might inspire players to come but nobody decent would want to play Dycheball.

Come on!

Website down… reporting on Toffee TV.

A spokesperson for The Friedkin Group said: "We are pleased to have reached an agreement to become custodians of this iconic football club. We are focused on securing the necessary approvals to complete the transaction. We look forward to providing stability to the club, and sharing our vision for its future, including the completion of the new Everton Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock."

The beginning of the end for the Moshiri reign.

Moshiri going out in the same way that he's run the club – incompetently, chaotically, amateurishly.

The Official Everton Website has gone into a bit of a meltdown on my laptop.

I can't edit my post on here so I suspect TW is also about to go into meltdown mode!

Please, No!!!

Now we just need to pick up some points.

I think I will wait a year or two before I pass judgement, as I was over the moon when I heard Moshiri and Usmanov had bought the club, and look how that turned out.

I guess Sean Dyche and his coaches may be fearful that the first thing new owners usually do is change managers; after all, Friedkin hired and sacked Mourhino… so, if he is quite happy to sack a high profile manager like Mourhino, I guess he won't be afraid to sack anyone, mind he does seem a bit trigger happy, yet time will tell.

Or if Southgate gets the gig, he sells Jarrad and brings in Maguire and Shaw…

Aaaaarrghhhhhhhhhhhhh – I want my mummy!!!!!

I think it could be fun.

Great news.

We don't need a foreign manager who wants to play good football until we have a better squad or more confidence within the current squad. We've led in the last 3 Premier League games, just need to close them out and we are okay.

You couldn't make it up!! ;-)

However, in the last week, I predicted we'd lose on penalties, and now this!

And Dyche for Roma!

But even that may just be a stay of execution.

There are no guarantees with the new era either but there's hope.

I just hope we get full clearance before the January transfer window.

If we really did use Textor's influence to get in some additions from Lyon, then I imagine he is spitting feathers now.

Exactly my thoughts!

I'm ecstatic. The right guy at the right time. And a Jewish American! Yeah, baby.

Mazel tov, Dan. And thanks. We've been waiting a long time.

It's all just nonsense.

It's confirmed by the club. Do you think I can cancel my counselling sessions for mental abuse or maybe, just put them on hold?

Was there some morsel of truth in what Paul states? Yes, but lacking balance and alluded TFG may get Everton by default, if not being able to pay the loan owed.

Let's get the Friedkin deal done and back to footie instead of crisis management.

Fingers crossed we are run professionally and I have to say Dyche isn't the answer for our future with his dire Dycheball, regardless of keeping us up.

Upward and onward!!

I'm just wondering with Textor trying to buy the club, did he do us a favour, and The Friedkin Group have done a quick deal because of his interest?

Maybe a move elsewhere in January or summer if anyone wants him?

Bill, just hang on. It is all positive, but subject to Premier League approval and we know what they are like.

But I can't see the club and Friedkin making an announcement if it isn't going through.

Good to hear talk of looking to the future.

I do think that Dyche will remain in place, at least until the deal has passed all of the regulatory hurdles.

That was bloody quick.

The majority of the players do not have the ability and, more importantly, they do not have the confidence needed, to play, in such a way. That sort of game plan could only be introduced during next summer and with much better players.

Just saying.

Let's get some stability back into this club. No gung-ho style siginings or managerial appointments. Sensible and shrewd appointments required.

I would take a couple of mid-table or Top 10 finishes to build the club again both on and off the field whilst we settle into our new home.

That would also match the timescale that Textor had put on his possible ownership of Everton, around the end of November.

Predicting Everton lose on penalties is like predicting Dita Von Teese is gonna turn me down.

Good at a provincial club, but struggled on the big stage.

I'd rather see us be more ambitious if we do decide on a new manager.

So many things still to happen on all fronts going on past experience.

If it's completed 100% then the first priority is to get away from the bottom tier of the table and then and only then can they hope to attract better-quality player.s Then of course certain players have to be available and Everton will hopefully have better finance in place to afford them.

Like all true Blues fans, I have become skeptical of a lot of dealings over the last few years but surely there is now light at the end of the tunnel.

Also, TFG would have been my preferred choice ahead of Textor, who talked a good game without walking the walk.

However, I don't know why people are talking up Potter? What has he ever done? Ask any Brighton fan what they think of his football: pass, pass, pass without an end product, his teams don't score goals and they were bored stiff at the end.

He was also bombed out of Chelsea, apparently due to player power. Not for me. I also don't think the Goodison faithful will take too kindly to the goalkeeper and defenders having more touches than anyone else in the team?

I've advocated Thomas Frank in the past as my choice if we are to make a change; nothing has changed.

Even with his wand.

Fake news all over the place about Dyche being sacked and Potter, Southgate, Moyes etc all being lined up for the job.

Clickbait being taken to new levels regarding EFC.

I don't expect that changing the manager will be a priority and expect Dyche to turn the corner in the coming weeks. Friedkin I expect will concentrate on the commercial side of Everton, leaving the football side to run itself this season.

It would make such a difference to the club to be run properly commercially.

Regardless of the ground, until the takeover is signed on the bottom line, I don't believe any of these lazy journalists' reports who look for headlines.

I just want someone with a reputable profile to rid us of past and present bad management and have a genuine interest in taking Everton FC to what it has been known as, and that is a top Premier League club with a support that is the envy of other clubs, as they back the club not only in the bad times but in the good times.

Remember, the average investor invests to make money.

So, whilst this news sounds promising, we will just have to wait and see if the takeover happens. And if it does, can the new owner make a positive impact on the club?

Does anyone know anything about him?

Obviously, this is potentially great news but we don't want a Glazer-type outfit running up huge debts to enable ownership.

I only know that his Dortmund side lost heavily yesterday, at Stuttgart, I think.

In terms of Dyche and a possible change of manager, I've been thinking lately about whether the manager really makes a difference.

Is it not just a case that all managers (with a few exceptions) have bad runs and good runs but the deciding factor in how well a team does is the playing resources available to him?

Moyes is an example. Had some good players and did relatively well for us. Moved to Man Utd and couldn't handle their egos. Failed at Sunderland and in Spain. Had relative success at West Ham but they craved a more enterprising style of play.

They got Lopetegui who a lot of Everton fans wanted. He's getting a lot of stick off West Ham fans at the minute. Nuno Espirito Santo is currently on a decent run with Forest and managed to keep them up. He did well at Wolves but failed at Spurs.

O'Neill at Wolves was doing well but has hit a rocky patch having sold a few good players and faced a tricky start. Graham Potter is another. Good run at Brighton and was fancied by a lot of pundits to get a bigger job. Goes to Chelsea and makes a hash of it.

The manager picks the team and sets the style of play, but I'm starting to think the choice of manager is not as important as people think and, like prime ministers, nearly all management jobs end in failure.

Dyche won't make the rest of the season; if he stays, I think we might be relegated. I don't think I could cope with repeat win-less runs.

De Rossi sacked at Roma last week after losing first four games.

It's all about the quality of the players where success is concerned for me; we had a few chances to put Saturday's game to bed in the first half.

Calvert-Lewin needs to be sold if anybody wants him because he can't hit a barn door lately, he is getting chances but is poor unless the ball is in the air.

Are we going from frying pan into the fire into the brimstone of hell? I don't trust Americans. There, I said it!

Let's let it roll!

You probably said the same things last season as many on here did, and I said all along we'll be okay… We have 3 of our (already weak) back 4 missing!! Get Branthwaite, Coleman and Mykolenko back we'll be sound.

I like the fella and happen to think we play okay, but I don't like the divisiveness of the fanbase and how many of us disagree on here about him. And for that I'm willing to bin him at the start of next season for someone we can all get behind. But now ain't that time.

As with Bill and Moshiri, we won't know how The Friedkin Group will manage the club until at least a couple of years have elapsed; we can only hope they improve the internal workings of the club, with the aim of helping the playing side.

I'd liken today's development as someone switching the light on in the cellar after it's been dark in there for years; we all think we know what lurks in the cellar and what needs doing, but that is secondary until the team starts to pick up points and achieves safety in the Premier League.

I'm hoping we move to the new stadium with a great deal more optimism than we've had in recent years.

Moyes does not deserve a second chance. He was practically laughing at us when he left the meeting with Kenwright and left us in the lurch to join Man Utd.

Follow Liverpool's example get a manager who has been at the very top — it has to be Edin Terzic. He at least has been to the Champions League final. Don't hire players who were very good 10 years ago and managers with poor performance history.

Keeping us in the Premier League is not that hard if you learn from your mistakes… unlike the current manager.

Terzic has a 62% to 66% win rate. He does a lot of homework checking on other teams' players and tactics. If we could get Terzic, he would be very loyal to a club and fanbase like us.

I don't see Friedkin sacking Dyche before that.

This is my ‘remembering a great come back for an argument days later in the shower..' moment. Wish I could remember the name of the person having a pop. lol.

The Esk regularly chats absolute wham and everybody takes it as 100% infallible inside info.

On a serious note, we can't judge negatively or positively yet. We've all been there before. But we can look at track record, precedence etc: the guy is wealthy, professional and deadly serious.

But the huge difference from Moshiri is – he knows football and has done this before. Someone on here said he's had ‘relative' success at Roma. Well. I'll have a slice of that relative success, please! Up the Toffees!!!

Terzic is a really good shout but Friedkin may want him for Roma.

Some sensible club and asset management decisions please, no chucking money away at poor overrated players, and non-progressive managers.

I don't really want to see Everton trying to get into the Champions League. I just want us to be competitive in the Premier League, have some players to be proud of, and have a real chance to win a cup or two.

And on the way, have no fear of the ‘shitty six' and take their scalps on a regular basis.

UTFT! Come on, Friedkin, get it right.

🤣 Just lie down in a dark room with a large G+T whilst cuddling your comfort blanket, Bill, it works for me!

How are you, mate?

I suspect that the hard-boiled egg is not.

'So we can get someone we can all get behind'

You mean like all the other managers we have had in the last 10-11 years!

Driving the price down on purpose like that, he is the chrome dome Cromwell.

I heard on the radio earlier that the manager's sacking has gone down very badly with the Roma fanbase, some of whom have made known their displeasure in the Italian media.

Today's ownership announcement is very encouraging. All being well, the Premier League will not need to prevaricate too long on Friedkin's fitness to own the club, and the club can finally start to reset itself.

As for the Dyche, I, myself, think he needs to be given the chance to turn things around, as players come back from injury, and signings like Ndiaye and Lindstrom "bed in" to the Premier League and the playing style.

There is a lot of football still to be played… perhaps given some incomings and outgoings in January, and a bit more ambition and inventiveness in forward areas we will start to move forward.

So Dyche soldiers on until the inevitable removal and we run the risk of remaining rock bottom in the meantime. (Thank goodness it's Wolves with a "W" who are as bad as we are.)

However, if Dyche were to have a decent run of results, what then? Still a taxi, I think.

Don't count me as being in The Esk camp... he's had us sold 5 times over according to his sources.

As for the takeover... in the words of a terrible Hollywood actor:

Yippee ki ay, motherfucker!

I really love Ryan Reynolds! I think I just pee'd my pants a little.

Friedkin could buy Bernardo Silva and Dyche would leave him on the bench and start Jack Harrison.

You might regret making Dyche your nemesis. He is a tough fucker.

Realistically, given PSR is still in place, it will make little difference to the squad this season. So, from the footballing front, we need to concentrate on getting behind the current squad and staff to make sure we are in the Premier League next season and then re-assess if Dyche is the right man after May.

I'm sure that I read today that the manager and DoF at Roma were always squabbling and arguing so Friedkin sacked the two of them.

Some little-known guys can work wonders for a season or two and others flatter to deceive. We have had some big names since the Moyes era and all have failed and mostly because of money powers.

For many seasons, the managers have been trying to make a silk purse from a sow's ear at Everton but too many mediocre recruits (ie, cast-offs and misfits from other clubs) have resulted in too many poor performances.

Money talks and some of these players forget what they have been signed for – except their pay packets.

Hopefully, this will be the start of a new era to take us into the new stadium.

Seany boy gets us thru this season, then Danny can splash cash next summer (maybe Jarrad's £70M) on good players for another manager to work with.

All I'm saying… be careful what you wish for… the ball literally bounces off about half of our squad. Say Dom does his ACL the next game after a new manager signs, so he gets Beto up top to play Tiki-Taka… 🤣

Some Roma fans are saying that the sacking of Daniele De Rossi was shocking and inexplicable...

Not if he's coming to Everton, it isn't!

Calvert-Lewin to AS Roma for £450M.

We have had every different types of manager in the last 10 years and most of them haven't done any better, even though they have had a better squad of players. Until we can get away from the pressures that PSR brings, I'm not sure how much movement Everton are going to get with regard to signing new players.

I think we can all agree that our team has been playing under massive pressure since Ancelotti departed. So hopefully this news today can slowly help start releasing some of this pressure on us fans, and this might even help the players.

The Bobble today and when live, laughed off Southgate as manager on his podcast.

Dan Friedkin seems to have acquired a philosophy for bringing in mid-20s players, as it was not always like that. He also learns from his mistakes, ie Mourinho and paying Lukaku crazy wages.

I believe The Guardian previously mentioned that had TFG taken over, at that time, the manager eyed for Everton was Thomas Tuchel.

He will now do a review, according to TalkSport, and then decide the direction. It's crazy that Friedkin has the type of money to wipe away the club's debts, but also according to TalkSport, that is the plan – to go into the new stadium debt-free.

Beto would only be up top until Broja is fit and perhaps the same for Calvert-Lewin.

Our PSR position will improve immediately after the high-interest loans are paid off.

Oh sorry, 18 months and 3 managers too early.

Americans don't even trust Americans. They're as bad as us.

Get on board. We've tried the Beast from the East and he didn't dare come out of hiding behind Moshiri. I'm more than happy for our American cousins to have a shot.

BTW; I wonder who Textor will be supporting on Saturday?

Burnley had no money to buy players, but they gave Dyche time and he got them into Europe. He's never had money to spend.

Let's hope the takeover happens and The Friedkin Group turns out to be competent owners.

I'm sure Dyche himself is financially secure and isn't at Everton for the dosh. After last season's heroics, we owe him thanks and some loyalty. No more turmoil, please!

Someone said something happened at the weekend that helped unblock the deal. What was that? Something to do with 777's loan deal and whether it would create financial liability and/or be a problem with the new owner's test?

A couple of posters have suggested Moshiri is only looking to get £50M back. That would astonish me, given the equity and loans he holds is over 10 times more than that. This deal needed a haircut all round, I hadn't expected that it would be Moshiri getting a full Number 1. Is there more to it? Will he retain some of the equity? Or part of the stadium and any attached rights?

As for Friedkin and his prospects, one thing in his favour is he has a very low bar to clear. I hope the deal is structured in such a way to free us up a bit from PSR constraints. The last thing we need now is to be loaded with debt, à la the Glazers, and that deal actually would just about comply with the debt/equity rules of the owners test. We are as weak as a kitten compared to Man Utd's situation back then.

Thanks for the encouragement.

His picking of his favourites over the new lads, who have shown they are up to the task, his baffling subs, and his one-dimensional football is worn very very thin.

His man-management is baffling, his excuses even more so, and his blaming the fans for walking out comes under headlock-gate.

He's done what he's paid £5M to do and quite frankly I've had enough – watching his brand of football is mind-numbing.

I don't know who at this minute would be better but Dyche isn't the answer.

A signed deal and Premier League approval are two other things that aren't guaranteed to follow.

The FA also need to approve, I think.

The Dychosauruas lost me when he didn't take McNeil off vs Bournemouth... and I wasn't too keen on his substitutions vs Leicester City.

If there is to be a new manager, it has to be Moyes. Has to be. No one else understands the club and what is required.

All we need right now is good results and the rebuilding of our club. It's a 2- or 3-year project, get us safe and credible again, build foundations and see where we go. Moyes should be given a chance to finish the job he started. That's if he would come. Our third best manager in our history deserves another shot.

Potter isn't right for us, he would be a disaster of Walker-level proportion. As for Southgate... I'd be pulling my hair out. Why do people forget Southgate got a team relegated and then, when in the Championship, they went nowhere and he was sacked?

Let's hope we are finally on the road back.

As for third best manager in our history, how did you work that out? Carey, Catterick, Kendall, Harvey, Royle, Ancelotti to name but a few.

But a guy who was just in the Champions League Final (they outplayed Real Madrid for long stretches) will not, repeat not, be moving to the bottom of the Premier League. No chance.

Regarding Roma, they've had lots of recent managerial upheaval. The fans were furious when Mourinho was sacked in January, then got happy when De Rossi was hired, now furious again that De Rossi was sacked, even though the new manager just got them their first win of the season.

The CEO got death threats, and she promptly resigned. I would not be at all surprised if Friedkin, who hired her away from Olympiakos to run Roma, decides to bring her to Everton. Watch the news for the name Lina Souloukou.

It'll take a couple of months to tick relevant approval boxes so Dyche probably has until the November internationals to stake a claim. If he does, great for the team; if not, then he had his chance and change can be made before the January transfer window.

Glad the Moshiri saga looks like it's coming to a close but I'll reserve judgment on Friedkin until further down the line. We were all excited when Moshiri came in back in 2016….

Ideal for me would be Dyche getting some decent results and giving us mid-table safety next summer. Friedkin can bring a new manager in then to take things forward.

Happy me, even if it turns out to be short-lived. 🙏

I go with Kendall, Catterick then Moyes. Harvey was an outstanding coach, but not a good manager. While I don't doubt Ancelotti is a great manager, I can't really call him a great Everton manager.

The Board's function is where we should start. The Football Director should be an active board member. The term 'manager' in a club is archaic – we need the Football Director to appoint the coach and so on...

The way we play at the moment is someone's fault; if we cannot see who should be replaced, how can we be improved?

Friedkin is a smart man and a well-respected manager of very big businesses. 23 October 2024 is a very big day for this club.

I am ecstatic!

Is this where Dyche goes to give the next team talk along the lines of?:

"This is really great news. We will be able to afford better players now."

And an unidentified voice from the back mutters: "And a better manager."

The story I read was that Soulouku and De Rossi were bickering all the time and couldn't get on so he sacked them both. I can't imagine he would bring her to Everton after that, but stranger things have happened.

The only downside to Friedkin beating Textor to the deal is we won't be able to keep Mangala at the end of the season.

We won't know how things will pan out but this change is needed so bad. Hopefully they have learned lessons from Roma and now can give us the benefits.

After all the talk and financial mess we've gone through to get the stadium built, I hope Moshiri never sees us play there!!

Dyche is a tough fucker but a dumb one. Just look at his substitutions. Dumb, dumb and dumbest.

If that means being ruthless on occasions, be ruthless.

Is not keeping Mangala really a downside?

This does seem genuine by what was said but FCA Premier League and FA approval is required. They suggested 7 or 8 weeks to complete. So hopefully a proven and successful multi-club owner.

Hopefully genuine good cheer very soon for Evertonians!

This will be the bright new start we've all craved for at long last, with the added bonus of there being no possibility whatsoever of Moyes returning.

Like Mike Gaynes, I warmly welcome an American Jewish owner.

'There's only one place to start ...

"Manchester City v Arsenal".

So much nonsense spoken about the club going into administration etc. Asset-rich companies with a positive cash flow don't go into administration, because there will always be someone wanting to make a deal.

I'm just glad we don't appear to have been sold to carpetbaggers – the guy at Palace had too much to say for himself.

At the same game, Villa fans had a walkout and protested against their absent owner Randy Lerner. Here's hoping that Friedkin can revitalise us in the same way that Villa have been.

Onwards and, fingers crossed, upwards.

We need all that dewy eyed rubbish to be binned off along with all the old songs played at games, and this insistence on tradition being the most important thing - it's a curse on Everton, a pointless harping on about the past that does nothing for the here & now.

We need a new stadium, a new identity and a new future - not one that is obsessed with how good we were briefly in the 60's and 80's. Nobody gives a damn other than our supporters and it holds us back.

Can we please finally and at last, have a modern club with a winning mentality, instead of one that based entirely on being plucky little losers.

There's a good article here, well worth a read. Hopefully Friedkin will also look to build a new version of Everton:

What Friedkin’s Everton takeover means for the new stadium, Dyche and transfers

Three decades of corruption, lies, dishonesty and ineptness on a monumental scale off the pitch (manifesting itself into a horror show on it) should never be forgotten, but held up as a dark and unsavoury lesson to the new owners. I do hope that they plan to strip out everything that is linked to or from the previous catastrophe.

I appreciate that a new regime takes time to take shape. With some luck, they already know who the new board are. Where the quick easy fixes are and a proper, decent fans liaison with a credible forum fit for purpose.

I think Dyche has done a credible job, better than so-called superior managers before him. He saved us from the drop. And he did it without a strengthened, but weakened squad. Thelwell doing him, and the club, no favours.

Get rid of him now and either bin the dreadful DoF role or, if it has to be kept, employ a name that attracts names and they can see the priorities required (right-back, left-back, wingers, strikers) all with pace and know-how to score.

Whilst our start has been woeful (woeful squad – what else can you expect), I don't believe sacking Dyche gets us anywhere. His contract expires at the end of the season. That is decision time about his future.

Good luck and good fortune to our new owners.

It is my belief that, while the current side generally lacks pace and the squad is dangerously thin, it is at least a mid-table side that is underperforming in results and pathetically boring to watch.

It is all in the wash, I know, but let's hope the first name on the manager potential list is Davide Ancelotti.

Seconded and thirded.

Surprise, surprise – with that lad having his tongue firmly embedded in the arses of the sly Big 6. Tongue-in-cheek like.

Last season's heroics? Er, we went 4 months without a win.

If that's heroic, I'd hate to see failure.

Some of our fans have set the bar so low it's astonishing.

Let's wait till the new owner is strolling and waving on the Goodison pitch!

Personally, as long as we're in no immediate chance of going down (and I don't think we will be), I'd leave Dyche in charge until the end of the season and have a complete reset. 12 or more players will leave.

Thomas Tuchel would be my Number 1 target.

I knew from the off. Why? Kenwright. Russians.

After so long dodging his way out of his promise and leading us towards the forlorn ending, Russians!!!!

Only an absolute crook would pull such a scam. Sadly, this proved to be correct. If Moshiri had sold out the club to 777 Partners, I would be issuing a similar warning of impending doom.

I do believe The Friedkin Group have our interests in their sights. Whether they can resurrect us, and lead us to past glories that have long since faded over time, only time will tell.

And after 8pm/2pm, the big thing is a long interview with some ex-red-shite footy director or something who has just published a book.

Yet he repeatedly pulls in good players for minimal outlays. He has cleared out most of the deadwood and brought in badly needed cash with his sells.

I can't wait to see what he will do for this club when he actually has money to spend and doesn't have to worry about selling players like Godfrey and Dobbin to prevent points deductions. I am certain Friedkin's CEO (whoever it is) will keep him on.

I agree with you on Dyche, although I've been disappointed with his decisions this season. I'm confident he will keep us up, which is all that matters, and any change on the touchline will happen next June, not before.

Hang on a minute……🤔

We can't survive with Moshiri at the helm and we need him gone asap. This is a fresh start.

Friedkin isn't a sugar daddy so there won't be a big spending spree – but it looks like we can expect sensible, stable, professional club management.

It should give the club a big lift and that feeds through into Dyche and the players.

Will he sack Dyche and install someone else? Not sure.

He will look at it like a businessman and not a fan. I think that means looking at performance against level of investment. By any metrics, Dyche has done an outstanding job so far and, other than boring Moyes, there aren't really any obvious candidates to keep us safe.

More than change of manager, we need a decent right-back in the January window and cover at left-back.

Next season might be another matter, but I hope we line up some deals because, with high quality full-backs, I'm excited at what we could see from Ndiaye and Lindstrom.

COYB

Everton has not been managed as a business or commercially for years. All of those who have worked in the club have not been held accountable for their performance. They will be now.

On the football side, it will be the same. I expect Dyche and Thelwell to be listened to. But they will have to produce.

I expect the performance of the team to improve, because the uncertainty of the Moshiri era is bound to have had a really negative affect on the players. The certainty of new owners, who know how to run a business with experience in club management, will have been reflected in the team's motivation.

The cheats within the club will become aware that change will come. There are always cheats in an under-performing club.

But there is a underlying core within the whole Everton family that has made survival against all odds a basis of Evertonian confidence, even during the darkest of times, that is admired by a lot of people out there.

At last, the sleeping giant is about to wake. I am so happy.

I think Thelwell has pretty much been running the club in the absence of leadership.

Forbes maintains a real-time log of the world's billionaires and their changing net worths.

Friedkin is currently listed at #383 with a net worth of $7.6 billion, roughly a billion less than Todd Boehley at Chelsea but richer than John Henry at Liverpool, and well ahead of famous folk like George Soros, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Gordon Getty and Mark Cuban.

When this deal closes, we will be in a whole new world.

It wouldn't surprise me a bit, although I have always assumed he spends lots of time in meetings with Colin Chong, grinding on those financials and figuring out how much sales money they require to avoid those deductions.

It won't be easy. PSR is a real enemy of ambitious clubs, just ask the Barcodes. They've got £billions behind them but can't seem to spend it and sold Minteh to help meet PSR limits! That's how well the Sly Six and Masters run things to keep everybody else in check.

So welcome to TFG and be prepared to meet some down right shysters, out to do you no good.

It's suggesting after the initial investment in Roma, there was limited further investment – which would leave us exactly where we are today. A team staying afloat through player sales, diminishing returns and a silent owner. Sound familiar?

I preferred the rhetoric of Textor, but will back whomever takes over as this is the way.

When this deal closes, we will be in a whole new world.

But will we really?

Massive wealth came to Newcastle but all they seem to have done is bitch that they can't spend it.

While Friedkin's record on transfer spending at Roma seems all too similar to our own parsimonious ventures in recent years!

If Everton have perfected loss-making and are balls to the wall regarding PSR, I'm curious how Friedkin's wealth is really going to help us turn this around. Unless we can find a few hotels to sell to ourselves?

Maybe that hydraulic tower is worth a fair penny now that we've repointed the brickwork?

I have no doubt that the P&S rules and their scrutiny of attempted takeovers saved the club, which had no effective self-management or leadership and the Premier League stepped in and provided as part of their regulatory role.

I would be interested in your opinion on Lyndon's article (Moshiri years might finally be over), about the criticisms of TFG from people who support Roma and others.

If not, what's the point of him?

None of us know what tomorrow brings but we can all remember yesterday. When you look at the shite that the club has endured over many seasons, it's clear to me that not many clubs would have survived with top flight status.

I don't believe we could have survived much longer (not after reading some of Robert Tressell's posts, explaining how we are getting outspent by quite a few Championship clubs) but the fact that we have survived for so long hopefully means we are going to really enjoy the good times.

There's a long road ahead of us but hopefully soon the nepotism will be gone and anyone working for Everton, will only be chosen on merit. Going back to Jerome's post, the most exciting thing is when I think about what can be achieved at a genuinely professional football club once everyone realizes they are going to be held accountable for their work.

https://www.friedkin.com/

Focus definitely on quality and look serious.

I was sitting today in Bushmills with our mutual friends Derek Knox and Peter Moore when the news came through.

All of us thought: "Mike Gaynes might be happy!"

If you're happy, Mike, that'll do!! Hope all is good. 👍

Sitting in on a lead only works against teams with a maximum 3 fitter players to bring on. Today, it doesn't work in 2024 when you can bring on half a team of fit players because teams have seen the Bournemouth game and no club will take a draw if the other team can't get forward at the end of a game.

Maybe tell Ndiaye to walk around like Messi in the last 5 minutes so we have someone that can carry the ball. Get the points first and foremost keeping the same momentum. The team already did the hard part getting a lead in the last 3 league games.

The last 3 league games is enough data to say being overly defensive is unbalanced at the end of games. The positives is that a tweak at the end of games is all is required.

As for the new owner. Not sure if there's some kind of opening ceremony at the new stadium, but Tom Cruise outdoing the Olympics or some other Hollywood celeb friend would really put Everton on the world map as a football club. Might seem wrong as Cruise has nothing to do with football or the Olympics, but then it's a very positive new era with an owner who owns a Hollywood movie business!

If change is inevitable, different football, a different image, probably glamour is coming, for some of us it's going to be interesting times to look forward to.

It would save some money anyhow?

I know it may seem churlish of me to pour cold water on the enthusiasm of many of the contributors to this thread, but I must voice caution about becoming too ecstatic about this deal.

I confess I am not a fan of the multi-club ownership model. TFG are an American financial group, their bottom line is profit, not the quality or style of football. If profits fall, there will be no hesitation in selling our most valuable assets or leveraging loans against against the stadium etc.

Friedkin has a track record of interfering in football matters – pretty good that,expert in finance and football!!

I know football ownership is going this way all over the world, either high finance or oil state control, so it's no good me bitching about it, especially when we have a chance of some financial stability which hopefully will steady the ship for a while.

I suppose the point I'm trying to make is be careful what you wish for, it may not be the perfect marriage many people on here seem to think!

I don't mean we'll be in the world of Newcastle and Chelsea, drunkenly pouring out tons of cash on ten players in a summer transfer window. I'm just saying that we'll be able to stop worrying about spiraling down the financial toilet and not being able to buy enough good players to be competitive.

And we'll never again find ourselves staring down the barrel of points deductions. We will, for the first time in a couple of decades, be financially stable. What a difference that will make.

Fred #206, I think Lyndon's article is a good, balanced view, although I put more weight on Marcotti's assessment than the views of the notoriously bigoted and violent Roma fan base.

I believe that, whatever TFG's imperfections, the bottom line is performance. Since Friedkin took over Roma, they have finished 7th, 6th, 6th and 6th in Serie A, won a Europa Conference title, and made a Europa League Final. They're back in Europe this year as well. Every Everton fan on the planet would take that right now.

I've been watching for you to post, mate! So glad that you were having a dram with Derek and Peter when the news came down. Wish I'd been there with you lads to share a toast to the departing Moshiri, with all the appropriate obscenities.

Here's to the dark clouds finally parting.

They where the league position we would finish regularly with Moyes. Apparently to some, that wasn't good enough.

Yes, I loved that bit. I wasn't referring to that and more about being a sportsman in the Olympics or football. However, he is allowed to do something at the ceremony as a movie star and not known for being a legendary sports person.

Hope this extended explanation makes up for my bad writing in that passage of text.

Fuck that! I am too battered to be that ambitious. For now, I would settle for getting back to when we weren't fighting relegation every year. Perhaps beating the Redshite at home and having a good run in the cup.

Being able to watch MotD again would be great. Waking up Sunday morning and feeling like having a pleasant breakfast with my missus. Ahh Bliss!

I think the idea of a perfect marriage between ownership and us mere mortals died a long long time ago. If we go back to the Moores years, he had to keep the fans onside because that was his main source of cash to keep the club going.

Today's sporting landscape doesn't really need to consider what fans think about how a club operates. Sport is more like the stock-market than it's ever been: a deal here, a deal there, helps to keep it all interesting to those who have money to invest.

Of course, from a financial and sporting perspective, many owners want to be associated with success, but if it doesn't come, they'll ship out and sell to the highest bidder.

Everton and its fans should be thankful that there is at least an interest in purchasing the club, and new ownership may help to smooth the choppy waters we have been sailing in for a long long time, but a path to success on the sporting front is going to take a great deal of money, effort, good fortune and a massive amount of time.

I'm happy to move on from the last few stressful years, but I'm under no illusion that many of the issues on the playing side will persist for quite some time. I also share your dislike for the multi-club model, despite what some say are advantages to the model, I fear our identity such as it is, might be lost.

Brian Clough would have been loathe to believe that those meddling owners and directors, which he abhorred getting involved in first-team affairs, would see their descendants eventually get to play fantasy football with real football clubs and their players.

That would make a little more sense, though the big question is, how many years at £50M? It makes me wonder if it is some form of structured buyout, ie, Moshiri retains equity for a defined period.

Brent @160,

People often say these deals need FA approval but I've not seen any evidence of that, at least for the men's team. I think it is needed for the women's set up, because that is not a Premier League matter.

However I imagine if we pass the Premier League's new, quite detailed ownership test, it would be strange indeed if the FA stopped the women's franchise. At a push, I imagine Friedkin might just settle for the men's team, and spin the rest of it off. Not likely though.

Like Mike, I don't see this a turbo boost situation with a supposedly rich owner turning us into Champions League regulars in a year or two. That ship has sailed. But it will bring a sense of stability and mean we don't face bankruptcy which I felt was a very real threat with Moshiri. Maybe some imminent bills that need paying have focussed the latter's mind at last.

All that said, I can't really see how this is going to be a debt free operation with a brand new stadium, as a few have suggested, nor do I think it will be all Friedkin's money, he will surely have external investors along with him.

Potter *taps nose.

It was in the main body of Everton's statement:

The transaction is subject to regulatory approval, including from the Premier League, the Football Association, and the Financial Conduct Authority.

Before you get carried away with Roma's 6th and 7th place finishes under Friedkin's ownership – that did not come off the back of 5 relegation battles (3 extremely serious) in the preceding 8 seasons.

In Serie A, Roma have tended to be there or thereabouts for Europe and have had fairly regular (I think) Champions League qualifications.

We need between £300M and £500M spent on the playing squad before we're realistic contenders for the Top 6 or Top 7 in the Premier League.

So, whilst I am delighted with the takeover news, there is no short term route to even the top half without some significant spending.

However, for the time being, I'd be very pleased if they just release about £20M to £30M to buy a right-back and (reserve) left-back in January.

But Mike might be pointing up the difference between the formal requirement of FA approval and the reality that they perhaps haven't got too involved.

Ditch Forever Everton at half-time and Archibald Letch, wooden seats and obstructed views and songs about candles and tanners.

Let's reinvent ourselves and be a modern team in a modern stadium.

"We need between £300M and £500M spent on the playing squad before we're realistic contenders for the top 6 or 7 in the Premier League."

Robert, that sounds an excessive amount. If we're "only" talking Top 6 or Top 7, and not Top 3, then I'd have thought 3, 4, maybe 5 top signings (I know! assuming they'd come!) would make sufficient difference.

So, £300M tops, especially if we can pull in some of the good cheap chappies you often point us to?

Slightly unfair on the British-Iranian perhaps, as he did lose a lot of dough, and did provide an opportunity, if not the cash, to build the new stadium.

So that rules out the return of Moyes.

11th with Chelsea.

It will be 2 to 3 months before the new regime is in place. By then we will have climbed the Premier League table and the new owner can take stock of where we are and where we are heading.

"The group have provided Everton with a further cash injection and would have no trouble clearing further external debt of around £400M.

An agreement has been reached with Rights and Media Funding who are owed £225m by the club, while there is also agreement over a £200m loan from 777 with financial firm A-Cap, who have seized 777's assets."

What is there not to like!

Does it mean that is the total, to acquire it debt free and get the shares? That means Moshiri gets virtually nothing and essentially Friedkin gets the club for less than the build cost of the stadium.

It's significantly less than half the total amount invested and even if you took off Friedkin's loan, pretty much exactly half by my calculations.

I've had a bearish view on our value and I am personally keen for any new owner to pay closer to our real value, the better to have funds to invest later. But even I'd say, Everton at 'half price' looks like a fair deal.

Or does that £400-500M go to Moshiri for his equity and loans and then the debt is re-paid or re-structured on top? That's not such a good deal and I think they'll be sweating the asset a fair bit, things like ticket prices etc.

If it's the former – which I think is the least likely – I would not like to be Moshiri breaking this news to his man Alisher. Better stay in Monaco and even then, hire some security…

Moshiri will get something out of it, of course (but likely not the £50M - £80M he wanted) and there are even suggestions that he might stand to benefit financially down the road if we're successful under TFG but it looks as though deals have been done with Rights & Media Funding and 777/A-Cap to substantially reduce the club's debt.

I'm not sure it makes sense for TFG any other way.

* Americans invest to make money and, while EFC may be a status symbol for Dan Friedkin for a while, ultimately he won't want to be pouring cash down a black hole.

* To get out of the stranglehold that is PSR, the club has to generate substantially more income. That will mean the enhanced facilities at the new stadium will cost you more. The poster that called for ruthlessness may not be so keen on that when his season ticket doubles in price!

* Financial stability yes, but it's not like winning the Lottery. Just ask Newcastle fans.

As he prepares his departure, for all of Moshiri's faults (and the biggest one was not getting himself fully involved and instead leaving it to Kenwright) we should always remember that he got the stadium built — and for that, if nothing much else, we should be grateful.

And finally… Those calling for Dyche and Thelwell to leave: As some others have already said, in our current position, Dyche is the man for the job. Longer term, who knows? But, you could say that about every Premier League manager or coach.

I think Thelwell has done a pretty good job with the hand he has been dealt and he certainly deserves a chance to see what he can do when not ‘looking down the back of the sofa' for finances. Imho, of course

No!

Ray Roche; fine thanks. Hope you are, too.

'Anyone for Potter?'....

Depends whether it's Graham or Harry!

Robert #226, not getting carried away at all. As somebody else pointed out, years ago we were regularly 7th. If we can just get back to that level, Blues everywhere will be delighted. And a whole lot less stressed.

Mark #236, I would wager anything that Friedkin has made a very, very good deal for himself. He's rich off selling cars, not finding oil or trading bitcoin. This is a guy who can negotiate the hair off a bear, and he's up against a desperate failure who once deliberately paid over the asking price for a player just because it made headlines. My bet is on your first scenario. Half-price sounds about right.

Ed #235, yep.

“But will we really?”.

I think we will and here are my reasons why:-

I have felt a weight has been lifted of my shoulders with this news. I am pretty sure most Evertonians will feel the same way. That being the case, surely it will have a similar impact on the players, and everyone else employed by the club.

Newcastle haven't gone through three seasons of darkness like us – we have survived that up to now and we can see the light. ;). The shackles are off.

My hope is renewed - we will be great again!

Every last one of us deserved some good news, and when we beat Palace on the weekend, we can begin the slow journey out of the depths of hell we've been living as Blues these past few years.

May the Moshiri era, the only one I've known as a die-hard fan, die a quick and sudden death.

Good news but it's not a silver bullet. We are still subject to PSR but, even if we had big money to spend, I'd say that we need to be cautious about who and how we spend it.

There's no quick fix. We need to move forward in a planned and methodical way – both on and off the pitch.

Let's hope we have many tomorrows and that they are good.

In the meantime, let's not get too excited... the deal hasn't been finalised. If Textor comes to Goodison at the weekend, it'll be interesting to see which part of the directors box he ends up in considering he assumed the club was his.

Of course, it might still become his if the Friedkin deal falls through. I hope it's a case of 'let's have a look at what you could have won'!

We all need to cool our jets and concentrate on beating Palace on Saturday, then at least a point against the Skunks next week, before another international break… baby steps.

Therefore, Robert's point is broadly right although the range might be a bit excessive. To build a Top 8 competitive squad will take north of £200 million + if you push hard. The alternative is to take a longer term strategy like Brighton and build incrementally. I think this is the basis on which the club wants to improve.

Everton's net spend over the last 5 years is £27.66 million. We have to look at Thelwell's and Dyche's performance on that basis.

Don't be saying things like that, I'm certain it's not going to fall through.

I'm sure Friedkin wouldn't have put out the statement they are taking over if the deal wasn't done.

I woke up today with a little smile on my face. Don't put a downer on it.

I don't want a repeat of the reckless and unplanned transfer strategy that is symbolic of the Moshiri era. Calling it a strategy is stretching it. Invest sensibly. There is a lot of uncovered potential out there.

We are all scarred after the last few seasons, so hopefully this is a new start. And I didn't realise he is a stunt pilot, flying a Spitfire in the film Dunkirk. I only saw that on the news this morning.

Maybe he can fly a banner over Goodison Park, or Bramley-Moore Dock… or both.

Thank you for your response. However, I disagree with you. Thelwell has not pulled in good players – let alone repeatedly.
Name the goalscorers. Name the pacey players. Trickey skilful wingers. The right-back and left-back we oh so desperately need.

He has sold players of that ilk however. He wasn't dealt a bad hand at all. He knew exactly what the hand was when he took the job offer.

The squad clearly hasn't improved hence our league position and we instantly hit rock bottom and are looking at a further relegation scrap for this season. We are arguably worse off in size and resilience.

His acquisitions are what Dyche has to mould into a winning a team. Do you think this has worked? There are many players identified by TW's on this forum who would clearly have been way better, but alas were never considered.

The deadwood has raised us £253.6M. He has spent £169M. This is a matter we will never come near to agreement over. However, we have a new owner. May this be the change of fortunes Evertonians of all opinions richly deserve.

When the news broke I actually noticed an unpleasant acidic feeling leave my chest, I think it was all stressing me more than I realised. We, the fans, deserve some grounds for optimism. If they come to a game soon, I hope 40 thousand sing their name and make them welcome.

The stars are aligning for my other prediction (please ratify this soon Premier Legue!) which is for the FA to not have the balls to employ Carsley and he comes home to us ready for the transfer window.

Thelwell absolutely deserves a chance to shine, I believe he is one of the few staffing assets we actually have. 100% agree, Danny, that spending must be done cautiously and add only a few players each year. I hope they go for the slow plan personally.

New contracts for Dom and Jarrad on the table before the window opens. A right-back, a back-up left-back, a top drawer central midfielder (well, the best who would come to us right now) and another striker. Is that a flicker of light in the distance? COYB.

Now that would be something; however, Thelwell deserves his shot.

Why do we need to make this point? It has nothing at all to do with football or what type of person you are.

The need for Everton to become more 'ruthless' as a club and organisation in a number of ways is, whether we like it or not, the only way they're going to compete both on the field and commercially (a necessary consideration unfortunately). I also think it may help shake off the losing 'mentality' which is so obviously endemic within the club and change the perception of the club from the outside. For example:

Don't extend the contracts of ageing players clearly beyond their sell-by date.

No more 'bring a Blue home' sentiment-based purchases (a past-it Rooney)..

No more fat contracts or over-the-top transfer fees for middling level players.

Sell high.

Employ the best person(s) for the role, ie, no longer 'jobs for the boys and girls'.

Place a (literally) higher value (shirt and sleeve sponsorships etc) on partnering with the club.

As Jerome (198) states, there has been insufficient accountability throughout the club for a long time which has helped fuel an acceptance of low standards and no expectation of success on the pitch.

With regard to season ticket prices at the new stadium, whether Everton is owned by a rich incompetent or rich hard-nosed professionals, price hikes are coming regardless. Partly because that's what owners do, partly to accommodate the requirements of the 'Top 6' placating bullsh!t that is PSR.

Football has long since gone 'through the looking glass' when it comes to complacency towards fans – and it isn't coming back.

My corner shop is very well run – they can't do enough for you – is open 24/7 and stocks everything from tinned butter beans to American candy and 6 types of slushies. It also has a whole wall dedicated to Vape products.

It has the iconic name 'Mr Blue' and it's lighting is so bright and vibrant it can be seen from Mars. Boy Pen Bill thought he was the OG Mr Blue, but this guy knocks him out the park.

I know things have changed… but we are fucking Everton – or at least we used to be until Kenwright got his hands on the club.

Want Moyes back? Listen to him eulogizing in the television studio the other day about his time at Everton and talking about his squad of players.

They won nothing, got to one cup final in eleven seasons, and couldn't win an away game against any of the Top 4 teams in over 44 attempts.

This might be okay for a club like Stoke City but we used to be fucking Everton!!!

I stand by that £300M to £500M assessment. Due to our very low spending since Moshiri pulled the plug in 2021, I think people have lost track of Premier League spending levels.

Brighton spent £220M just this summer – more than we have spent on our entire squad. Man Utd are struggling to make the Top 6 with absolutely astonishing year-on-year spending.

Before we can crack the Top 6 or Top 7, we need to catch up with the likes of Bournemouth, Brentford, Forest and Palace whom we have fallen behind. All of these clubs have invested between £200M and £350M more than us in their squads in the past 4 years.

It is not just the first XI (which is weak), it is the squad depth (which is absolutely pitiful). This will become very acute next summer when we lose Calvert-Lewin, Doucoure, Gueye, Keane, Coleman, Young and Virginia to free transfers.

If you want to catch up with a club like Spurs, then take a look at their bench when they played us. Only Pickford, Calvert-Lewin and Branthwaite would get on their bench. Even Branthwaite wouldn't start because they have Van der Ven.

We need to get to the point where the bench is stocked with players of the standard of Garner and McNeil and better.

The Moshiri era has been a disaster and absolutely wrecked the playing squad. So nothing will change overnight. Indeed, even if Friedkin has the money (which he doesn't), PSR would prevent us from spending this in one go.

So it has to be continued sensible recruitment of talented cast-offs like Ndiaye and Lindstrom, a few cheap steady eddies like Tarkowski, and youth development of players like Calvert-Lewin and Branthwaite.

Phew!!!!!

We are Everton and we have expectation because we know where we can be.

I don't want to live in the past with Moyes. I know for many of a certain generation, 7th was acceptable.

Not for me. With proper management of this club and with its fantastic support base, we can challenge.

It is only Tuesday and feels like a long way to go until Saturday.

I just don't get this hankering for Dour Dave's (thanks Eugene) return.

He bottled it in the big games regularly.

Too many people seem to think the fact that we are being bought by a billionaire is like finding the magic money tree and we will have unrestricted spending.

Whilst this will be a massive benefit to the club as a whole and will lift the threat of administration on the playing front, there are still challenges. This season, we are still subject to PSR, so I can't see January being an active window for us.

Next season, new controls based on revenue are being brought in. So there will still be restrictions on what can be spent on the squad.
This is where we will start to see the benefit of the move to the new stadium with the increase in revenue due to increased attendance, prices (yes, we are going to have to pay more) and commercial activity.

Whilst initially that will definitely not put us in the same league as the top revenue earners, it will allow us to be competitive with the likes of Newcastle, Villa but means it will take a few years to build a renewed quality squad.

The one thing that may change that picture significantly is if Man City win their case around associated parties funding clubs that would then release Friedkin to add significant investment at the club, although that would also apply to Newcastle etc.

He may have been a divisive character but he could certainly talk all things Blue and draw the listener in.

We need Friedkin to buy in (in so many ways) to our club and we seemingly no longer possess that kind of character to wax lyrical about what makes our club so special and unique.

I hope Dan goes on, in time, to 'get us'.

(I'm not forgetting Bill's negatives, just missing his positives.)

He's the main reason we are in this feckin mess, bringing in the greatest billionaire ever!!

To Farhad Moshiri, thanks for a world class football stadium. As far as football goes, it’s been a disaster.

Good luck for the future.

Modern football clubs are professional organisations, and we're still playing catch-up.

The new owners won't give a toss about the Boys Pen or the cheesy songs constantly played at Goodison. As Nick says, it's held us back.

And no, we don't want Unsworth, Ferguson or now Naismith as manager, it's bad enough having Dyche.

I have read, with interest, the many and varied posts, some adding to my understanding of the position we are in; thanks.

Right now, I just want to be in my seat at Goodison throwing my weight behind the team and the club and hoping that this really does herald a new dawn. COYB!

Get rid of all the stupid old-fashioned songs, bin off all the matchday shite around Grand Old Team and all that, along with this obsession with players and managers who 'get us' as a club.

Nobody gives a shit whether we were good for a couple of years in the '60s and '80s (as I've said before). Literally only Evertonians care, it's such inward thinking and really holds us back.

Change it all, scrap all the old songs, move forward, grow, modernise… and maybe, just maybe we can progress, become a 21st Century football club with forward thinking people running the show, instead of old fuddy duddy's stuck in the past who think our 'istory is what will make us win things. It won't.

Tradition is merely stuff that dead people once did. Move on.

Onwards and upwards.

I totally understand where you are coming from, but isn't what you want tantamount to throwing the baby out with the bathwater?

Where would we stop if we got rid of all of the traditions? Orange kits at home? Change our name to New Everton? Not all of the old-stuff is detrimental to how the club performs on the pitch.

Forward-thinking leadership is what we need, not a complete change of identity, it's bad enough that we may play second fiddle to an Italian club.

What we can spend on the squad will still be limited by PSR (or new squad cost ratio rules), so I hope for incremental steps up the Premier League table, and can't see there being giant leaps.

Saying "We are Everton" is all well and good on the terraces — but does little else for us otherwise.

Hope it's not true.

How would you actually get rid of all the '60s and '70s songs etc?

Let the former chairman have all the credit he deserves for the theatre business he built over the years and let him be known as the phoney bastard he was when it came to running Everton FC.

He made sure he did very well out of Everton while the club and us fans suffered under his ownership and being guardian of the club.

Would you like to buy a seagull, mate?

They have a separate case where they are challenging the Premier League about “associated parties” and their ability to pump money into a club.

On a related theme, we should think about how much cash is actually available to put into the club after he has spent £500M to buy us. Friedkin may be worth north of $6B but how much of that is assets rather than cash?

Clearly he has more resources than Moshiri was able or willing to provide, although his ownership is likely to have cost him several hundred million pounds, but to put big sums of money into the club, would he have to sell other assets or raise loans?

Everton have been driving us mad but I'm sure most people will agree with Colin Bell's last paragraph @271, and Goodison will hopefully be a lot happier place to be on Saturday.

I get that, Brent, but surely you would sacrifice a few positions in the Premier League table if we started winning the odd cup?

Apologies if it's already been noted, but massive kudos to the poster (on a previous thread), who was convinced Freidkin would 're-ignite' his interest in taking over; well done, Sir.

(Has that joke been done yet?)

From what I read about the deal, he is taking on the debt, not paying it off, so while we can be thankful that the days of Farhad appear to be over, we should be cautiously – not wildly – optimistic.

We have been here before with Kenwright, then Moshiri, so we need to make them earn our trust, not just give it away.

Brighton were able to spend a huge amount this summer due to their recuitment strategy in previous years. Their net transfer spending is 17th in total over the last 5 years, but they are 7th in the table.

So there is a model there, but I agree it to be incremental improvement over the next several years with TFG.

Mr Thellwell, Blind Pew could see that Everton have been desperate for a right- and a left-back for the last few seasons.

Why have you not been able to find any from the lower divisions or out-of-contract players?

Who would take the Everton job if Mr Dyche was sacked? Brighton managed to find a 31-year-old who's doing okay.

Carlos Corberan has been mooted, assistant to Bielsa and now Manager at West Brom. Playing decent stuff and used to a tight budget.

I think any half decent manager could get Everton playing with a pattern and a shape. Lots of people out there – just need to cast the net wide and do due diligence.

Although we have not forgotten the shit Moshiri led us to footy-wise, we can respect him for getting us the ground we've needed for years.

As for The World's Greatest Evertonian… well, he should be erased from the history of Everton Football Club.

Brighton, Brentford and our delightful neighbours all use the same model. Time for us to modernise and join the club. Nothing will change until we do.

I'm not talking about things like changing kit colours, but I would certainly advocate modernising our kit designs – along the lines of the sort of thing you see Chelsea or Juventus wearing for example. Older fans might not like such things, but we need to appeal to a younger, wider, worldwide audience – the Premier League is a world product, not just a local or scouse one.

We've been too inward, too locally focused for too long and we've been left behind. Looking at our new sponsor announced this morning, Corpay, loads of people online complaining, saying why do we need this sort of sponsor? More short-sighted fan support.

We need to broaden our appeal, especially with a new stadium, and things like foreign exchange partners are a great way of allowing Everton as a brand into the world marketplace.

Brent @279,

You get rid of the old songs by not playing them over the tannoy at games. They're embarrassing.

But never forget who you are, and where you come from.

Who will write the songs that make the whole world sing (no, please, not him!)? What will be the emotive element in those songs? "Yer know yer recent shit 'istory, but the future's not a big mystery". To the tune of??

I'm not talking about fans singing them. I'm talking exclusively about them being played by the club before and after games.

It's old-hat. The fans can sing what they like, nobody can control that.

I agree other teams would have not survived in the Premier League as Everton have done. I know it is hard to see, but there is something that has had Everton survive against the odds, though Robert did show that challenging teams were able to out-spend Everton.

But this takeover should cast off the yoke that has kept Everton back for years, through wanton mismanagement that has the club on its knees.

That alone is a good thing.

Debussy – Prelude to an Afternoon of a Faun?

Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata?

Now that's an anthem!

But I think we have to be realistic: for us to finish 7th for the next few seasons would be a marked improvement over the last couple of years.

I think we should remember that, since 1939, we have won the league 4 times, the FA Cup 3 times and 1 European trophy, and of course promotion back in 1954. That's 8 trophies in 80 years, leaving aside the war years.

So if the takeover gets us to 7th for a couple of seasons, that for me is progress, and that would give us something to build on.

Thats what Wigan Rugby come out to and they don't do too bad.

I remember being at Allison's night club and Brook Benton was entertaining, not going down very well, having an off night.

Half-way though his act, he asked the audience if they wanted a favourite song for him to sing? Most people were fed up with him, my mate shouted out “Give us Fuckin' Roll out the Barrell”! He never did, maybe he didn't know it, but the audience did and had a good laugh at the shout-out.

That's the sort of song we need — loads of fun with a nice bawdy song like that!

But I'm not him, but if I could dream, it would be slipping into qualification for Europe this season. What an end for the old lady and what a start for "The Dock" (my nickname for the new stadium).

Of course that is a 100-to-1 shot… but you never know, hope will return!

I remember, as a lad, Worcester City used to use it most effectively.

Doubt any owner could make us title challengers or Champions League regulars, given the PSR rules. A bit of stability and a fighting chance would be a welcome change after a decade of utter tripe.

What needs to happen with the Premier League are some rule changes that level up the competition, at least a little bit. I admit I haven't a clue how you can do it but it needs doing.

Problem is, the fat cats are sitting pretty with squads valued at way more than the rest and they won't be keen to relinquish that advantage.

Given the ordinance they had to pull out of the dock, any team faces that defiance, pride and its history will surely fail.

Yes, 'The Dock" is a fortress to defend and a place others will dread.

I asked one of the ‘bouncers' “What's up with him (Brook Benton)? Why's he so crap? He's not really having a go is he?

The ‘bouncer' said “He agreed a certain fee for his appearance but when he got here he asked for more but was refused, so he's got to sing or he gets fuck all and a bad reputation; that's why he's acting up.”

A couple of weeks later he was on a show on TV “ Classic Singers” or some other name, he sang A Rainy Night in Georgia absolutely perfect, but anyone who saw him that night in Allinson's would always remember how poor he was and how he let himself down. It never stopped me appreciating how good he was though.

"To our incredible fans, we acknowledge the immense responsibility we bear in leading this historic club. Your unwavering loyalty fuels us as we continue building for the future. We value your voices and want you to know — we hear you. You are the soul of this club, and we are determined to make you proud. Forza Roma." Friedkin Group statement earlier today.

I do wonder what their statement would be to Everton FC, "we'll do everything to retain your historic place in the top-flight". We'll keep spending under control, and refuse to pay too much in players salaries". "Our aim is to buy low and sell high in order to keep the club solvent." All tongue in cheek on my behalf.

If in 2 years time, we aren't at least aiming for European football, I'd be pretty disappointed… that's of course, if we do enough to retain our Premier League status this season.

As tumultuous and stressful as the last 5 years have been, I don't think we should allow those 5 years to define us as a club or overly restrict our ambitions as supporters.

Did you park at Allsion's that night? There was apparently a scam going on at Allison's: park at the back; your wheels / tyres would be changed for inferior ones but you'd drive away unaware, and only realise some time later – not knowing when or where it happened.

There weren't many Reliant Robins around at the time and the scammers couldn't easily find worn-down replacement tyres. So I was safe.

As it is, the injury crisis and failure to sign a RIGHT-BACK (which was surely a priority) means that we are in a relegation fight again already anyway. But there are more than 30 games left and we're only 6 points off Man Utd and Spurs. Very early days.

Sadly, the idea that we might finish 6th to 7th because Roma do is a bit daft. It's like expecting Girona to romp to the title in La Liga ahead of Real because they're owned by Man City.

First things first: we need to consolidate our position as a Premier League club – then claw our way back into the top 10 ahead of some well-run and well-resourced clubs – and then see if we can force our way into contention for Europe ahead of a few clubs in what is now the Rich 8.

This is going to take a few years even if it all goes well.

But that really shouldn't take the shine off what a big development this is.

My biggest worry now is the manager's position. Would you keep with Dyche at least for the time being?

I'm not Dyche's biggest fan. Like you say, not signing a right-back or someone who can play left- and right-back is very poor. With a fully fit squad, I am hoping we will be okay but we nosedive with injuries.

To be fair on Dyche, the Bournemouth game seemed to show that he does eventually want us to play some decent football. But in the meantime, our constant lack of possession is very worrying.

But what I'm leading to is, if the new owners sack Dyche and then make a bad appointment, we could end up in freefall. I feel we need someone who won't try to make too many changes to the team too quickly and make us even more disjointed. Someone who knows a completely new system is sorted in a pre-season – not mid-season.

Her full name is Francesca Bella, ironically loosely name after Francesco Totti, as we followed Roma when we lived in Italia.

Why not have a pre-season against Roma at the Everton Stadium?

At some point recently, Friedkin got a legal opinion for the risk and liability posed, whilst Textor hadn't realised his Everton dream was over before he finished his well-intended sentiment in his interview to Alan Myers of Sky Sports.

Friedkin is so efficient and sharp, like the speed of light: you see it done before it's announced.

Ah, maybe that's why my Reliant kept tipping over!

I agree with you, we can't run before we can walk, and I have previously stated how much work needs to be done, before we will see tangible improvement on the pitch. However, my last post was one about fans' ambitions and not expectations, and those ambitions have nothing whatsoever to do with what Roma does or doesn't do.

I see throughout many sites, Evertonians saying how we should be prepared for a few years, ranging from 3 to 5, of being happy with lower-half placings and get some stability etc. That's all well and good, and totally understandable, given what we've endured in the last few years, but I would hope for a bit better than that, with at least the target of regaining European football being set in a couple of years.

All I really want is for Everton to be taken seriously by our opponents and for our club to perform to its maximum on and off the pitch, with an ambition to do as well as it can.

Setting our own ceiling on our ambitions as fans, seems to me as settling for too little.

Post match, we used to head back to my friend's dad's Italian restaurant "Bucca di Bacos". I can't name the street, but just off Matthew Street.

We didn't eat, just drank and debated the match. Here is another tune as it always got played and reminds me of that time.

The Whole Of The Moon. Even I used to sing to it and I'm a terrible singer, even at Everton matches!!

I agree with you, why shouldn't we set our sights on a target higher than mid-table?

Look at Newcastle when they got taken over. They were bottom or near as bottom when the Saudis took them over. Following season, they finished 4th.

Jeez, if they can do it then so can we!

But either way, it's just nice to finally be thinking positively, mate.

Positivity at last to put us out of what we have endured.

Credit to all blues for seeing it through. Thick and thin.

Cradle to grave and as Christine said, they are our Everton and always will be, regardless of owners or manager.

If Goodison is going to get the farewell party it deserves, then my own view is that Everton have got to win the FA Cup and parade it around the famous old stadium before it closes forever.

Made the coffee - French press only, every day.

Fired up ToffeeWeb to see if anything was up.

I am absolutely thrilled with this news. This is the owner I'd hoped for, and when they backed out, I was really disappointed.

The club will be run professionally. We will not overspend. We will operate within our means. We will, if we can simply survive this season, climb the table again to a position where Everton "belongs."

This is arguably the best thing to happen to Everton since I was "born" in 2007.

UTFT! The sun shines, and God smiles.

The University of South Carolina football team run onto the field to the opening bars of Thus Spake Zarathustra as in the opening of 2001 A Space Odyssey. It is really dramatic.

Jamie where did you expect to wake up?

Have you been kidnapped and transported?

Have to say I'm also over the moon, and this may not be a majority opinion, our ownership has shifted from dodgy Russian (let's be real here) to American-owned.

Our cultures are similar, it's a better fit, and "soccer" grows in popularity here and it can only help grow with American ownership in the end.

TFG isn't an outfit that will pump cash for results on the pitch. It'll be done slowly over time, I'd bet, focusing on the financial health of the club.

And anyone getting impatient with that or questioning that? I'd say to them it's the right way to do it. We need to seriously get our financial house in order, stay up, and grow over time. We've tried the 'splash the cash' way – it's dangerous and if it doesn't work you find yourself battling for survival three / four years in a row. Not worth it.

This news broke over 24 hours ago! 😁😁

Evertonians need a bit of good news.

I'm logging in for news only about once a week!

Super busy at work and in an honest moment, there's not been a hellava lot of happy reading these days!

So my time on TW has been measured and limited. I'm "out of the loop" for sure. But thrilled today!

Danny (323), I saw The Whole Of The Moon, that was like the National Anthem in Partners, a pub in London Road, 2:00 am finish and the DJ would say “ Right, last song of the night” around 2:10am and play something, no one would move out until he played The Whole Of The Moon then the pub would erupt with fellas lifting their girlfriends onto their shoulders and dancing all over the place and finish up in the street still dancing. After all, the song was about whatever fix they were smoking or snorting, my fix was always pints of brown bitter followed by a few gins!

If not, George Formby has a good repertoire.

Remind me to send you any significant positive news.

I heard this Sunday night as I was going to bed and got my thrice daily update of Everton news USA.

I am with you as I think Friedkin will give us the professionalism we need. They seem to be big on managing properly something Moshiri didn't grasp and, judging John Textor's emotional utterances, he might let his emotions get in the way of good governance.

Hit me up positive stuff!

I should add my sister, her husband, her daughter my niece, an aunt, another aunt and uncle, and a cousin all descended on my house Friday night and through the weekend. Busy, but fun, time. So I've been seriously occupied as of late.

And yes you and I are in agreement. We have a low-key, non-attention seeking, competent and professional ownership group now that is exactly what the doctor ordered.

Hope you're well m'man.

Haaland won't be available but certainly there has to be others who can do better than what Everton have at present.

Ndiaye knows where the net is but he needs more support.

If things look very bleak after, say, another 3 games then it might be time for a change. I expect that is how the new (fingers crossed) owners are looking at it too.

In the meantime they probably are sounding out options like Moyes, Potter and (FFS) Southgate - because why wouldn't you when you're running the club as a business and millions are at stake? They may also test the water with more exciting options like Terzic - and even in-house options like Baines (although that would really surprise me).

But if we pick up between 4 and 7 points from the next three games then the pressure will really ease.

Down By The Docks | TBT | Thomas & Friends

Don't give us that, Ian, it's your favourite song isn't it! 😁😁😁

Glad you had a good family weekend.

I'm just bracing for this hurricane (Helene) that's headed our way.
Poor old Cedar Key had a major fire at the weekend that burned down most of the seafront after suffering from last year's hurricane and is now in the eye of this one.

Just like Everton when you're down you just keep getting kicked. Just hope everyone stays safe.

I just hope that finally we really do have owners who know what they are doing.

Lee Carsley is the latest name added to the clickbait cowboy's list.

Although I'm not at all happy with Dyche, I do think we need to give him more time unless we continue losing games.

So,” Change it all, scrap all the old songs, move forward, grow, modernise, and maybe, just maybe we can progress, become a 21st-Century football club”

And your suggestion for a run out tune was written by a guy born in 1770. Yep, that works. That's modern…

Z-Cars isn't Goodison, it's Everton. Leave it alone. Put your headphones in and doze off to Beethoven and keep your selections to yourself, eh?

I think it will take at least two years if not longer. I had also bedded in for the long haul, since I had no confidence in Textor. It was always apparent that The Friedkin Group were in poll position in comparison to his perceived interest, even when The Friedkin Group was nowhere to be seen.

The maxim that it takes the same time to sort a problem as to get into it springs to mind. Though I am trying to put that to the back of my mind.

It has been often said on ToffeeWeb that Everton needs changes from top to bottom and a complete clear-out so that the culture of the club can change. I am sure that The Friedkin Group know the importance of imposing their culture on the Everton organisation.

This will have little effect on the fanbase as customer care will be the priority and this will be helped by the move to the new stadium. But it will have a big impact on the staff who are currently employed by Everton. The Friedkin Group will impose accountability and performance targets.

Next is sorting out the financial mess of the Kenwright & Moshiri legacy. This is immediately brought to mind by Everton's performance in relation to the P&S Rules. I expect firstly for The Friedkin Group to come clean regarding any hidden irregularities, as the new owners of Chelsea did. The Premier League will be doing all that they can to facilitate The Friedkin Group. The road back from financial improbity will be a slow one.

Dealing with existing lenders will be protracted. They have already come to a satisfactory arrangement with the US authorities involved in the 777/A-CAP debacle, but this will inevitably take years to sort out. Dealing with other lenders will be routine, except R&MF whose loans will have to be renegotiated.

The stadium development will be a priority since it is the quickest way to add value to The Friedkin Group's investment in Everton.

As for Moshiri & Co interests, they are being negotiated as we speak. Hopefully Moshiri is getting the two pigs he deserves and they are not fat ones. It will be interesting to see what The Friedkin Group will do with the Liver Building lease, part of one of Moshiri's failed investments.

The football organisation side I would expect to benefit from The Friedkin Group's experiences of their investment in Roma and AC Cannes. The development of the team will be heavily influenced by the P&S Rules as it is now. Progress will be following the existing lines.

The Friedkin Group at Roma had a policy of purchasing young promising players. They will be demanding performance-wise. I expect both Thewell and Dyche to continue till their contracts end. Everton will survive relegation mainly helped by the prospect of stability and the beneficial effects of that on team performance.

I expect Evertonians to be tolerant and supportive of the new owners, already tempered by their built-in residence for the long haul, having the DNA that Kenwright claimed, but never had.

At long last, the hope of generations of Evertonians will be slowly but eventually realised and the big club that Everton is and even being known as in its darkest day will emerge from its story like no other in English football history.

I don't expect anything like the Roma fan protests, though those impatient for progress will express their opinions.

Their 'success' has been in winning a 3rd tier European trophy with a side that 4 years earlier was getting to the semi-finals of the Champions League. A cup that David Moyes has also managed to win. It can't be that hard.

Unai Emery did not improve Arsenal but he is doing very well at Villa. It all depends on the starting position.

Friedkin will be an order of magnitude better than Moshiri.

But the most important thing is securing 3 points on Saturday and putting on a show for the home faithful!

COYB

Didn't they (Roma) write hot checks to get there? I believe they were a financial mess when TFG took them over? Hell, anyone can just spunk ghost money and buy a team and win! Except Moshri of course.

Jerome -

Agree with everything you say. Patience will be a virtue, but we'll get there. I like your prognosticatory road map.

Jay -

Stay safe m'man. Didn't even know that about Cedar Key? This one I believe is supposed to skirt us on the eastern side, but we'll bo largely unaffected. Again, stay safe. If ya gotta leave, leave. It's like my Uncle Bob says - "Only idiots die in hurricanes." You know when they're coming and you might sit in traffic but you can get out of the way. Of course, as people love to dissect posts, a brash comment not fully encompassing as there's elderly, infirm, etc. that often can't be evacuated. But you catch my drift. Stay safe.

The main thing this club needs is financial stability and to be run in a professional manner. The ownership change should hopefully provide this. But, and its a big ‘but’, for the club to start regularly challenging top half, never mind Top 4, there needs to be a lot of change in the playing squad.

Real quality and pace needs to be brought in and this will take time. Even if there was a large financial outlay on new players, these need to be found, brought in, and given time to settle – you can't overhaul a whole club in a few months.

I actually think Dyche and Thelwell have done a fantastic job given the circumstances. The priority was simply to avoid relegation. Yes, we'd like more but that was the absolute priority so the club could be sold (and not go bust).

The squad today is far from perfect but a lot better than 12-24 months ago. The glaring holes being at right-back and any meaningful depth beyond the first XI. However, with some funds, these can hopefully start to be addressed in the January transfer window – depending on the manager situation, I guess. (Any decent roght-backs available for loan at Roma?)

I sincerely hope Friedkin isn't tempted to play football manager and lets Dyche and Thelwell get on with things whilst his team first focus on cleaning up the mess behind the scenes. Assuming we start getting points in the next few games, there's no need to cause more disruption getting rid of the manager. With the ownership situation taken care of, hopefully everyone tied to the club can look forward – including the players.

The Palace game takes on another dimension now.

I hope that Southgate is not in the frame to take over from Dyche – another perennial loser and defensive coach.

Please, let's start now – don't let TFG make a massive mistake. My choice for what it's worth is Lee Carsley. I'll never forget the pileup on photo I had on my wall. COYBS

So far no mandatory evacuation so I guess I'll hide under the mattress with a bottle of Buffalo Trace if things get bad.

Hope it misses you completely. Let's look forward to some positive vibes now as George McKane would say.

I don't know if it's the years of false dawns, the scars of our last billionaire takeover, the knowledge that it takes 100s of millions spent to get to that Top 5 or Top 6 of the Premier League – and time too.

If we've learnt anything from the Moshiri years, and I hope there'll be people around to point out the mistakes of his reign, it's that money won't solve all our problems.

People, good people who are top of their profession, is what we need, be that in recruitment, sponsorships, merchandise, scouting, revenue – and a top CEO is an absolute must.

I've said before why when we've spent £20 - 30M on an average player who's had little impact, wouldn't you give a top CEO that £20M to transform the club on and off the pitch?

The off-field improvements we need are going to be vital to enable us to spend above our current limits.

Stuff like Grand Old Team makes me cringe, and I am not young…

Those who want us to completely disregard our history are those who think footie started in 1992 IMO. You don't just drop your history.

Modernise by all means but you don't just forget tradition and become a fucking Facebook club.

I've heard lots of suggestions about music etc for BMD, but I've yet to hear John Cage 4'33".

But please stop that spend our tanners put the candle out shite! Grinds my gears that does.

Worst nonsensical lyrics since “Sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengetiiiiiii”

UTFT

Maybe this could be wired up to work again, to let people still outside on the plaza know that the teams are on their way out, and then when the siren finishes, Z-Cars can begin inside stadium.

The siren would also let the whole of Merseyside know that the Mighty Blues will soon be in action!

Well said mate, as for our history it's all that's kept us relevant for years, at least we now can have some hope for the future.👍🏻

That Grand Old Team is fucking cringe worthy, sung by that professional scouser Billy Marr... aka... remember when you could leave your front door open, no arse in your trousers...etc.

I salute you mate keep the common sense coming. City belt out Oasis at half time (Manc's I grant you) but how many people relate to them and worship their music?

We pump out over the tannoy, Forever fuvkin Everton. Sounds like an old Parlaphone number cracking away, it's cringe.

It is uplifting, a link to our history and a bond with everyone who has watched us win or lose.

Spirit Of The Blues gets right on my wick.

The Whole Of The Moon was always played at the end of the night in the State, late '80s, and was a real change in time from the early dance music that was taking over the city back then.

Btw the next full moon is 17 October and apparently TFG are superstitious and want it wrapped up by then.

Man City also belt out Hey Jude before kick-off. Ironic given their disdain of scousers. Mind, Oasis wouldn't exist if it weren't for the Beatles.

Only alternative to Z-Cars for me is We Shall Not Be Moved!

I might've mentioned this but it's only very recently I realised it's not “the team” but “the tree” that's standing by the waterside. I'd always thought the song was written for us!

If we wish to get away from people making disparaging remarks about us coming on to the pitch to the tune of a 1960s television police drama, let's start calling the tune, Johnny Todd.

Ah Paul, I was too old for the State, but I think Tony went to that Gaff, it was the place to go to for young people then. I'd be in the Cabaret or some other club in town.

Nevertheless, you didn't have to be young to appreciate the Waterboys singing that timeless song, the whole record was brilliant and will never run out of people listening to it, never!

Get a good football bathroom team, find them and let them develop a team while he sorts out the finances, marketing, sponsorship and gets rid of those sponging sentimentalists out of our club. That will do for me.

But I'm fine with keeping Z-Cars / Johnny Todd.

It was a joke about Beethoven. Jesus.

I don't think the song was about drugs either, Dave, but more that Ecstasy had suddenly appeared and everyone was suddenly off their heads singing and dancing to this tune.

The Old Bank on Scotland Road used to shake when they put this song on, and everyone knows how thick they used to make the walls in a bank.

Generation XTC.

I do believe the club ARE thinking of changing the Z-Cars theme.

Front runner is the Britney Spears song Oops!… I Did It Again! 🤣

One of my favourite songs when I look back over my life is definitely because of that famous banner at Wembley, the day I finally got to see my team win the cup.

Sorry Elton, because I never really used to like that song, but it has always reminded me of that special day and is definitely a song I have always associated with Everton ever since.

What a loss.

We can't play Forever Everton anymore, it's embarrassing.

A man with impeccable musical taste sir!

Beats a lot of the suggestions and everyone can sing/play it!

I was at Manchester Uni in the ‘60s and would get over the homesick blues by seeing The Spinners at the student union singing Johnny Todd, In My Liverpool Home, Maggie May and other nostalgic classics.

And now, living in Watford, I'm always telling the neighbours that the tune their team runs out to is ours!

From what I've read, Friedkin put Roma on a dramatically more stable financial footing without budget-cutting them halfway down the league table. They're still playing in Europe every year and their balance sheet is no longer setting off fire alarms.

So yeah, from an overall perspective, he has improved Roma significantly.

If we have to change Z-Cars, then it's got to be ELO (the greatest band ever) and Mr Blue Sky

Agree on both counts.

But let's not go down the road of an anthem that gets sung along to. That stuff makes me cringe.

Our red cousins doing their karaoke "war-ork arrr-arrr-arrr-on" bit springs to mind.

I have posted many times (to the point where I probably sound like a broken record) about the weight of past expectations burdening us in the present, let's not let it cloud our future anymore.

This is a golden opportunity, if executed sensibly, to wipe the slate, realign standards and expectations across the board. Culture, attitude, expectations, accountability. New stadium, new owners, new hope.

I had a wry smile reading some of the comments "7th next season, top 4 the next" etc. Laughable. Our past glory is a part of our present sickness at the club, its so obvious. I am not trying to forget history, we are right to celebrate it and enjoy it.

However, we have to truly get our heads around what we are, a poorly performing shit show of a club and have been for years. An embarrassment. Booing our own, manager after manager, relegation fight after relegation fight, no cash...when we did have it we went on the most ill-advised, poorly executed spending spree in PL history.

If there is money to spend after the stadium is opened, it needs to be invested wisely. A few quality and pricier range loans (Roma have adopted this model) and 2-3 quality additions a season only. Slow, steady integration and an execution of a vision. Club, players and fans aligned.

Like it or loathe it, personally I plan to really get behind the multi-club model, I am going to adopt Roma as my second team. I hope we get up to speed and start using our future brothers in Italy to move players around (Calvert-Lewin to Roma in January for £25M, for example).

We should play them in a pre-season friendly to open the stadium and we should cheer their supporters, the team and our owners like they are our own.

Keep Z-Cars for me all day long, the comment above about wiring up the old air raid siren on the hydraulic tower is fucking brilliant. Have it start low key 10 minutes before kick-off, gradually getting louder and louder announcing to the city who we are until the players burst onto the pitch to Z-Cars... goosebumps!

I think too a lot of the old songs are cringeworthy, the new owners should have a poll for matchday songs, put it to the fans.

The new manager choice needs to reflect our vision, our plan. Carsley or Corberan all day long for me. I admired Potter's Brighton but I believe he might be a bit of a charlatan, believes his own hype, and probably just invested a great model and set up there.

I for one am cautiously excited but also I am a realist — this is a chance for a major reset of everything and we need to grab it with both hands. COYB.

On a completely separate note, how will singing We Shall Not Be Moved work when we have moved to the new place?

:)

Agree with nearly all of that, especially this section, as referenced in earlier posts

"This is a golden opportunity, if executed sensibly, to wipe the slate, realign standards and expectations across the board. Culture, attitude, expectations, accountability"

I wll probably fall short of adopting Roma as a second team mind...

He's got an absolute bargain.

This group have experience in running football clubs, show no blind loyalty and that they are decisive.

All we need is someone to properly control the finances, and a forward-thinking manager! I think Dyche has deserved his shot at the hot seat, but he isn't the man to take us forwards.

He doesn't (quite!) deserve the sack, and should be able to see out his contract before the new stadium. We need some continuity, too much change too quickly could be very unsettling.

By their own choice, and I thought it was the right one, our last home game of the season is scheduled for Sunday 18 May, 24 hours after the FA Cup final.

What price Everton to reach, let alone win, the FA Cup Final and throw all the planning into chaos? Be assured that Masters and his team at the Premier League will do little to help other than to shift the game to the Friday night prior to the final. I'm getting £10 on it.

We'll get Man City in the 3rd Round though. Everton that.

I like Forever Everton but "Everton's the team that plays beautiful football"?

Often we could change the lyric to "we're shite in the league and we're out of the cup" before the line about being "on the up and up".

I'm afraid I don't get into arguments with strangers on the Internet, I'm 51 years old, mate.

If you don't like my opinion, by all means debate it – but baiting people into an argument or simply calling my opinion a 'joke' isn't really my thing. Have a nice day.

The opening bass guitar in Waterfront at full volume would brilliant imo.

Z-Cars will always be there.

I like Forever Everton as it takes me back to the 70s. I remember my Dad blasting it out when I was playing on a park. It inspired me. It is unique to Everton. Similarly Spirit Of The Blues, my current favourite.

I know Mark won't agree, but I also like Marching Down The Goodison Road.

The only one I would ditch is If ya know yer History. It isn't unique to Everton. Tottenham and Celtic use it.

The cost of the new stadium?

Mr Moshi-rae
Please tell us why
You stuck with 777
For so long
Sooooooo long.

I don't mind joining a debate either, and I can give you a couple of decades so don't regard me as a keyboard warrior.

The ‘joke' was relating to your desire to have old Ludwig as our run-out song; I didn't for one minute think that it was a serious suggestion but you wanting to ‘bin off all the matchday shite', Z-Cars for instance, didn't go down well here.

Change for change sake, with nothing better offered?

And I'm having a rather nice day actually, and I hope you are too.

Of all the old 'istory stuff, Z-Cars doesn't actually bother me that much, although after the first bit it all goes a bit brass band, honking saxophone/goose for my liking but I guess it keeps the over-60s entertained.

I just think it'll be a bit incongruous at our shiny new modern stadium. Maybe there'll still be a little girl chucking toffees into the crowd too? That always gets a good hearty round of applause.

Someone also said we should have at least one or two seats with a restricted view, just to make people feel at home. ;-)

I could be wrong but, when Moshiri (Usmanov) bought Everton, I think we became debt free.

But leaving Thingy in charge, we started piling those debts up again!

Quote from RV Bob from The Simpsons: "Have you ever heard a good siren".

And finally music, The Torture Never Stops. Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa.

Not to say don't try and improve it but binning Z-Cars is classic throwing the baby out with the bath water.

I know what you mean about the 'brassy' bit in Z-Cars, there is a version without that brass band section which I prefer but there you go, not up to me.

I didn't know Sunderland used it, I thought it was just us and then Watford. And 'keeps the over-60s entertained'? Harsh, young man, harsh.

Let's hope that the obligatory obstructed view seats don't cost more. They're at a premium at the moment in Goodison.

I have photos of the captain and also the mothers at Liverpool stadium, around 1973.

mred_2u@hotmail.com if you want an invite to my music photo collection on Flikr

I get all emotional when I hear it.

The Z-Cars debate reminds me of when I went to Soho in London to add to my guitar collection a few years ago.

The manager told me he was in a battle with the owner. The latter wanted posters in the window with Keith Richards's picture given pride of place. The manager explained that most of the shop's clientele now most likely hadn't even heard of Keith Richards. People would go to a shop whose window displayed a modern guitarist.

Our challenge will be deciding which customs to retain and which ones should be consigned, as the man said, to the dustbin of history, as new, younger supporters follow the club.

In the original image of our new stadium, Everton's name was shown on the south side of the stadium in white (would be better in blue); there appears now to be no naming evident. I wonder why is this, surely we need to tell the world that this is where Everton play?

It may be obvious to us but visiting tourists from other countries, not necessarily football fans, may get the idea this stadium being in Liverpool is their stadium.

Also, would it not be a great idea to have billboards along the northside to hide the treatment works, these billboards could show Everton's past with imagery similar to Goodison Road.

Your thoughts anyone?

You can bet that Toyota or whatever the ground is sponsored by will be seen.

Just to be clear: I'm not saying all foreign fans want Z-Cars binned.

I've just never heard locals even mention it.

She will be the first thing travellers see as they enter the Mersey estuary.

Loud and proud. Taking back our city.

I wonder if the prospect of a future naming rights deal is in the thinking? If it isn't, there might be a planning approval issue preventing signage or advertising.

And the error is...

The stadium design alludes to an ocean-going vessel.

"I'm Desperate Dan".

A line from Boys from the Blackstuff! Yosser to the priest at confession. Hilarious.

It should be called Everton's Toyota Stadium, or whoever sponsors us.

Can you hear me,
Can you hear me,
Redshite far away

I think Dan Meis said with his first designs he wanted roof structure to represent a wave washing over the dock, I could be wrong though.

The club needs to consult fans. For me, the top Liverpool band now are Michael Head and the Red Electric Band but nothing in their repertoire seems right. Lily The Pink, anyone?

I'd like Wah's anthemic Story Of The Blues to feature somewhere. Miles better than that shite Watford dirge I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues with its cutting footy-like lyrics: 'Laughing like children, living like lovers, rolling like thunder under the covers [dear god] and never forget I'm your man'.

I was about to type that Andrew E (412), Z-Cars is bigger than our ground and city in the sense that it is instantly recognised up and down the land as being us. Z-Cars is irreplaceable; it's one of the things that makes up our essential identity. It's always something about us that commentators mention fondly ("You know you're at Goodison Park when …"). That opening drumbeat signifies.

Paul H (398): ELO (the greatest band ever) 😂😂😂😂😂😂 Mr Blue Sky as rabble-rousing anthemic 2:58 pm electricity 😂😂😂😂😂😂

That was the best line in Blackstuff, better for me than 'Gis a job', and in confession!

I think that's the last thing we need to be reminded of now we are all suddenly thinking of a much brighter future, mate!

Of course, I agree about the dead chairman. Oh, do you mean that the lyrics bring back Kenwright thoughts?

Why not go for something that would get everyone on their feet?

I offer: You Just Might See Me Cry, by the vastly underrated Our Kid. Proper song by proper Blues.

That'd be fitting.

Okay, I will get my coat.

I never liked the song, Paul, but as I've got older and Everton stopped winning trophies, it started reminding me of one of the happiest days of my life and I can still remember the pride and joy and happiness that winning a trophy brings.

With Goodison closing, and the memories it holds for us all, then I'm suggesting In My Life by the most famous scouse band of them all.

I don't remember Cy Tucker and the Friars singing In My Life.

Andy (446),

But I do remember Our Kid, at least one member came from around Gerard Gardens, a tenament block right on the edge of town.

History is always important. It's when it slips into the syrupy sentimental shite (as loved by the West End empresario who shall not be named) that it becomes harmful.

We are not in the mess we are in because of our proud and storied history… but because of criminal mis-management. It's like saying the City of Liverpool should forget its history and not celebrate it.

It's part of who we are and whilst we need to embrace change and the future let's not forget that.

Great producer too, as evidenced by the recent Michael Head stuff.

I never knew that Our Kid were dead hard and came from tenements, Dave A.

Only songs with blue in the title should be club policy

Great taste mate.

Is Everton’s takeover saga finally over?

About 42 minutes long, but as I say, very interesting, especially the discussion on Roma…

But how about anything by Napalm Death or Carcass, let the opposition and their fans know we ain't a pushover.

Playing in Huddersfield where I unfortunately now reside!

I don't think we can sing to it but how about I Love You, You Big Dummy by Captain Beefheart. It fuckin' rocks ass maaaan!

What an album, Dennis: tracks 2 & 3.

Dennis and Liam, have you read Mick's autobiography: Ciao Ciao Bambino: A Magical Memoir – that came out last month?

Thanks for recommendation.

I hope someone from Everton has a good look at this. Would be great for the city.

But what an event that would be.

I can't see there being any lack of bidders to stage the final though.

You missed Elton John.

A few years ago, I stopped by Antelope Valley High School in Lancaster, California, and paid homage to the great man. He was definitely one of a kind.

But a song that gets me fired up is the opening of AC/DC Thunderstruck.

Everton's prospective new owners the Friedkin Group want to bring in former Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri, who left Lazio in March, as their new manager. (Corriere dello Sport - in Italian)

Fasten your seat belts!

A quick check of recent final venues and you're right, albeit with a couple around 65k mark.

Maybe the club could look at future "minor" European finals, Conference League and that crap. I'm sure with new owners, they'll be looking to sweat that asset.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=bob+dylan+johnny+todd#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:f189d495,vid:nXjd_1PxBWU,st:0

Well, Carcass do have local connections, as did Napalm Death once upon a time - 2 bands I have seen live spread over the decades - the 80s and 2020s!

How about Motörhead's Teach You How To Sing The Blues!

Ace Of Spades might fit – 'You know I'm born to lose'! … but then again.

I had a deal with one of the bouncers at the stadium. He allowed me up front between the barrier and the stage and I gave him photos.

What great memories of the Mother's at Liverpool Stadium September, 1973. Great concert featured the brilliant violinist Jean-Luc Ponty.

What stood out for me was at the end, when the audience were baying for an encore, Zappa said they'll do their encore now to save them walking off the long way to the dressing room!

As it was the old Liverpool Boxing Stadium, and the stage was the boxing ring – it certainly was a long walk back to the changing rooms!

Thanks Ed for the memory!

Elton John's I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues came on. It was something to behold in the emotion of the moment.

After his full English, he will be able to spend all day on the golf course.

https://evertonthegear.co.uk/archive-2/

Well, almost – he lived in River Oaks (backing onto the Golf Course) and I lived in Katy, just over 24 "neighbourly" miles – or, as they write in the good ole US of A – neighbor!

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/friedkin-group-step-provide-millions-30044792

With our new state of the art iconic stadium we need to be all over this type of thing. Surely a better venue than that scruffy piss stained lean-to over the park?

Hopefully the new owners will bring some expertise, but can't help but think we've missed a trick. A summer of superstar concerts would have been the perfect showpiece for BMD.

With our new state of the art iconic stadium we need to be all over this type of thing. Surely a better venue than that scruffy piss stained lean-to over the park?

Hopefully the new owners will bring some expertise, but can't help but think we've missed a trick. A summer of superstar concerts would have been the perfect showpiece for BMD.

Some might not be comfortable with change. But we are long overdue a change of culture and mentality.

Start behaving like a big club. Start behaving like Everton. As the supporters do.