It has been another extremely tough week for Everton. On Monday, their financial results showed they had doubled their losses, to £89.1m, last season. On Tuesday they set a club record for winless games in the Premier League.
Their supposed number one striker, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, scored his first goal since October, 24 games ago, in that draw at Newcastle. And there, in a nutshell, is your problem. They don’t score enough goals. Only Sheffield United have scored less in the Premier League this season. Please look no further than that.
Due to my history and association with Liverpool Football Club, some might perceive that I don’t like Everton. But I assure you that nothing could be further from the truth.
I lived in that city for eight years as a player and some of my closest friends were from Everton. Of course there were jokes (there always are at Liverpool), but I would always want them to do well, as long as it wasn’t as well as Liverpool. It saddens me to see the state they are in now.
This club has given a masterclass in how not to recruit players. And why is that? Because of the scandalous way in which those at the top of the club have brought them down.
Everton have reported losses of more than £89 million, almost double last year’s deficit.
The club’s total debt now stands at £330.6m, although that does not include support packages offered by potential owners 777 Partners.
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The crisis of this club boils down to total – and I do mean total – mismanagement by those higher up the food chain. By this, of course, I mean owner Farhad Moshiri, listening to misguided so-called ‘football advisors/agents’ telling him which footballers are worthy of playing for Everton. I can’t stress enough the folly of following such bad advice. He has brought years of purgatory to one of our most distinguished clubs.
The fact that Carlo Ancelotti, one of the sport’s most successful managers, has made very little difference at Everton during his 18 months in charge since 2019, emphasizes a point about football club management that I will say until I am blue in the face. . : that recruiting good players is essential. And that may be even more important than getting the manager right.
Ancelotti subsequently received a better offer from Real Madrid. (Everton or Real Madrid? Let me think about that for a nanosecond). The coach would have a lot of say in most things in my day, but now a lot depends on the people above him doing their job correctly.
There will be a lively atmosphere again on Saturday afternoon, but how many more times can the club’s long-suffering fans be asked to provide inspiration to lift the team?
I never felt there was a wave of new managers under Sean Dyche. It’s very well conveyed in the media, but I think it’s been very difficult for him to get a new tune from those players. A lot of it comes down to trust. If you don’t score goals, you don’t win games and you get defeated, and you haven’t played well, it’s difficult to reverse it. People stop believing that they can win games.
When Everton lost at Turf Moor from a winning position two years ago, during another relegation battle, Dyche told his Burnley players at half-time that Frank Lampard’s team “don’t know how to win”. That assessment has come back to haunt him now that he manages many of those same Everton players.
Everton’s situation is the product of bad advice from president Farhad Moshiri
It is no surprise that one of the best managers in football, Carlo Ancelotti, had problems at the club.
We have a unique situation heading into the final seven weekends of the season. Everton and Nottingham Forest could potentially put together a run together and think they have done enough to survive, only to be hit by decision makers who feel they are breaking financial rules. Somehow the coaches, staff and players have to stay focused. Good luck with that.
Many old friends of mine on Merseyside will be praying for a good result against Burnley, who are on a four-match unbeaten run. For such a football-mad city, it is very important that Everton maintains its Premier League status. I think most Liverpool people would agree that they don’t want them in the Championship.
Robson’s plans to educate players
My friend and former training partner Bryan Robson is involved in a project to educate players about financial obstacles. I can certainly see the need to get the right messages across.
So-called “investment opportunities” have long been fraught with danger for players, but the large sums of money floating around in gambling are attracting a lot of the wrong guys.
When I was manager of Blackburn Rovers, a former player turned up at the training ground with a couple of Americans selling a revolutionary coffee bean. I stuck my head in the door as these guys gave a presentation on this bean that was supposed to revolutionize the coffee business.
Bryan Robson participates in a project to educate players about possible financial difficulties
‘Are you really investing?’ I asked. I was shocked to discover that a player had invested £30,000, based on the speech of these snake oil salesmen. It was a giant scam.
I was lucky when I was a young player at Middlesbrough because I met an accountant, Gordon Brooks, 20 years my senior, who became a lifelong friend and had a huge influence on me not spending beyond my means.
That said, when I was playing there weren’t the kind of influences on the edges that there are now. And we weren’t making the kind of money that these kids are making today that changes generations.
Money changes the lives of players’ children and grandchildren nowadays and that attracts some sleazy people. I wish Bryan the best in keeping players away from them.