Dan Friedkin and the new Everton Stadium
Dan Friedkin and the new Everton Stadium
Everton’s prospective new owners look set to be granted control of the club and with an end to the ownership saga in sight - and with the Blues about to get the keys to their new home - all of a sudden life supporting them feels that bit better.
We have been here before - Everton have had false dawns and new eras have delivered the same old problems, or collapsed before they even came into being. This feels different though and after years of frustration and anxiety over where this great club is heading it is nice to feel genuinely positive.
For all of the hope of better days to come no-one - including The Friedkin Group - should be complacent. Change does not always bring success as we have seen under the reign of Farhad Moshiri. When he came in eight years ago it looked as though the days of dreaming Everton could act like other clubs in the transfer window were over and that we would have the resources to properly challenge those who had moved above us.
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Unfortunately, while there were flurries of big deals, those dreams fell to pieces and I think they did so because there did not appear to be a sensible plan in place. Managers changed, directors of football changed and the squad became a mesh of players signed for different projects.
We have seen the harsh consequences of that in recent years of relegation battles, points deductions and tough transfer windows but the Friedkins appear to be sensible people and I can only hope they have a credible plan.
There is still hard work to do this season even though this has been a good start to what had the appearance of a tough December. I was relieved with the win over Wolverhampton Wanderers but pleased over how emphatic it was. At Arsenal at the weekend I saw many of the traits in the Everton players that I had spent weeks calling for as the side struggled through the opening months of the season.
The reasons those early stages of the campaign were tough will remain even after the takeover, there is only so much that can be done in the immediate future and Everton must be careful - they are only three points from trouble and Wolves, Southampton and Leicester City have all now opted to make changes in the dugout.
But while the Friedkins adapt to life on Merseyside I really hope their arrival can provide a boost that will help push the club on over the coming weeks, during which there will be some testing challenges.
For several years the players have had to work through the club’s problems off the pitch but good news could give them fresh inspiration to take out onto the pitch. There is a bright new future on the horizon for Everton and if players want to be part of that journey, they need to make sure they are proving themselves over the coming months. Competition for places should help and all of a sudden there is a bit more of that - Armando Broja’s first appearances have been promising and Dominic Calvert-Lewin has stepped up his game with the arrival of that threat to his place.
The Friedkins will want to look at all levels of the club and they will find areas for improvement. As well as Everton’s past, they need to draw on some of the lessons they have learned at Roma too, particularly from recent months, where that club has had its own issues. If they have done their learning the hard way then Everton should be the beneficiary of their experience in Italy.
Ultimately, Everton should not be in relegation battles and hopefully they will become a thing of the past. After years of uncertainty what we want more than anything is for Everton to be a football club that is secured for generations to come - hopefully we will now get it.