Friedkin group score an own goal

Everton succeeded in achieving the one thing no club wants from a transfer window. On many different levels, they have ended up weaker than when the window opened.   Squad numbers alone indicate that is the case with manager David Moyes having 22 outfield players last season only to find himself left with just 18 now. Thierno Barry is his only recognised striker. 

The Friedkin Group (TFG), who have inflicted immeasurable damage on themselves by presiding over the entire farce which started with them pushing for the sale of homegrown midfielder Harrison Armstrong to Nottingham Forest for £35million only to then pull-out amid the prospect of a supporter uprising. 

Certainly, this is not how matters were supposed to play out in January when club officials stressed that funds were being stockpiled for the summer when phase two of Everton’s rebuild would be implemented. 

TFG’s entire ambition for the club is being scrutinised 20 months into its reign and Everton supporter Paul Quinn (otherwise known as The Esk) summarised it as such in a forensic overview of affairs.  “The Friedkin Group is aiming for a club that is cheap to run, compliant by construction, and worth materially more than it cost,” he wrote in a lengthy analysis available on X. “Competitive ambition (if any) is being funded out of efficiency, not out of equity.”

Doubts over TFG’s appetite for the long haul now swirl, but there was a capital raise of £13.8million from them on July 27 which is for projects related to Hill Dickinson Stadium, the training ground at Finch Farm and Goodison Park, which is now home to the women’s team. 

There was also a £40million transfer over the summer to cover the compensation payment awarded to Burnley, who successfully sued Everton over a breach of the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules for the 2021-22 season in a landmark case. 

TFG believed the end of last season was a “failure’, CEO Angus Kinnear said recently, as Everton dropped out of European contention when winless in the final seven matches as injuries and patchy form took their toll.  How Europe should now be the target when Moyes’s squad has been left depleted is something of a mystery. His role is manager, not miracle worker.

Overall, Moyes cannot afford injuries and will be relying on Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to continue to inspire and Jarrad Branthwaite to stay fit.  The rise to prominence of England youth international Armstrong over the past week is also interesting as the 19-year-old will need to be carefully managed. He has become an emblem for supporters, the academy prospect who could make good, but the plan going into the season was not for him to start 40 games. Should he do so, then everyone’s hopes for Armstrong will be closer to being realised.

As ever, the past week has emphasised just how quickly football can change. Moyes found his ambition questioned by fans last Tuesday when, before the Carabao Cup tie with Preston North End, he asked whether the yearning for silverware was more important than Premier League survival. That was perceived as being overly negative. 

Yet the Scot has tried to tread a fine line and maybe he knew more than he could say freely.   His quote — “the manager is an Evertonian” — at the height of the drama around Armstrong was a brilliant line and a reminder to some of where his priorities have always been. He is a driving force behind trying to raise standards, which is often overlooked amid the familiarity of his second coming and yet is hamstrung by those above.

Moyes is in the final year of his contract and an extension should be forthcoming providing, of course, he wants to prolong his association with this executive group. His standing has been strengthened but it speaks volumes that he will not feel that way as he surveys a mess that is hard to fathom.

With a great new stadium and the prime minister as supporter, Everton have never looked so fashionable.   What fans want is performance on the pitch – and the clouds can lift very quickly in football.

Whenever I write about Everton I remember my old friend Bill Tupman who was a lifelong Toffee.