It’s possible to believe The Friedkin Group have done some very good things for Everton while still wondering if they’re the people to take the club where we all want it to go.
The financial mess they inherited was very real. Debt has been reduced, long-term financing for the Hill Dickinson has been sorted and, after the chaos of the latter Moshiri years, Everton finally have something resembling solid ground beneath their feet.
That shouldn’t be dismissed. But nor should it be the end game.
Everton need more than a stable business
What Everton desperately need now is a football operation that knows exactly what it’s trying to do.
The summer hardly helped on that score. Moyes ended it with what he called a “real small squad”, a £40m move for Folarin Balogun collapsed at the last knockings and the Fans’ Forum was left publicly questioning the club’s planning and recruitment.
Then we discovered Moyes has never spoken directly to Dan Friedkin.
There are layers of management between the two, and Moyes himself explained that Angus Kinnear and Rishi Majithia are his main points of contact. So let’s not pretend a manager needs the owner’s mobile number to pick a team on Saturday afternoon.
Even so, Moyes said himself that a successful club needs to be aligned at the top. That’s the bit that sticks.
TFG are now seeking fresh investment, although the strongest reporting points towards a significant stake rather than any confirmed sale. Whatever eventually happens, I’d hope Everton are past the stage where merely having owners who can keep the lights on feels like success.
We’ve done survival. We’ve done financial crises. We’ve done points deductions, takeover sagas and transfer windows that end with everyone refreshing their phones at 10.55pm.
Enough.
Owners who understand more than just business…
The next step has to be building a proper football club: good people making good decisions, recruitment that has a plan behind it, an academy that provides a pathway and a structure that doesn’t wobble every time one deal goes wrong.
Maybe TFG will build that. If they do, great.
But whether it’s the Friedkins, new investors alongside them or somebody else further down the line, Everton need owners who don’t just understand the value of the business.
They need people who understand the value of getting the football right.
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