The end is nigh. After 130 years, Saturday will see the final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park. After eight, it should be the last of Farhad Moshiri’s ownership, even if he is unlikely to be there to see it. It may well prove the last of Sean Dyche’s reign, too.
Wednesday’s walloping of Wolves gives Everton a distinctly unDychean pair of scorelines in the last week – 0-4, 4-0 – but leaves them five points clear of the relegation zone. After perhaps the most fraught period in their history, there is light at the end of the (Mersey) tunnel; or, more accurately, on the Liverpool waterfront.
Everton will move to their £760m new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock next season. They should have new owners by Christmas, with the Friedkin Group (TFG)’s takeover still on course to be completed.
The alternative scenarios have felt altogether worse. During Moshiri’s tenure, there were two escapes from relegation in the last Goodison game of the season, one that had Frank Lampard bouncing on the roof of executive boxes, another that a more grounded Dyche branded “a horrible day for all concerned”. A host of prospective owners have fallen by the wayside: most recently, John Textor, whose Lyon have been provisionally relegated to Ligue 2 due to their financial dealings. Before them were 777 Partners; Moshiri’s attempts to sell to the Miami-based investment fund must rank among the most misguided and potentially disastrous episodes in Everton’s existence.
The wreckage of the 777 empire is now being contested in the American courts; A-Cap, the insurance company that underwrote its spending spree, faces lawsuits. Leadenhall, an investment firm, sued 777, alleging it was guilty of a $600m fraud.
All of which could have left Everton in the position of Genoa and Vasco da Gama, clubs 777 did buy and are now imperilled in the fallout. As Moshiri stopped funding Everton and started borrowing to fund both the day-to-day running of the club and the building of the new ground, some £200m came from 777. TFG has struck a deal – reportedly of £66m – to pay off that debt and, after initially withdrawing from exclusivity talks with Moshiri after feeling issues with 777 were unresolvable, is now confident it – and Everton – has no exposure to the lawsuits and investigations into the former would-be buyers.
TFG is instead looking to a more secure future for Everton. The structure at Goodison has been hollowed out in the dog days of Moshiri’s ownership. Everton still have an interim CEO, Colin Chong, and TFG has plans to bring in a chief executive. The company run by the Texan billionaire Dan Friedkin is conscious of the feeling on Merseyside. Many of Everton’s staffers are long-serving locals and supporters: the expectation is the majority will stay.
But big decisions beckon nonetheless. Both Dyche and the director of football Kevin Thelwell are out of contract in the summer; thus far, there are no public pledges either will be retained.
There may be more reasons to keep Thelwell; Everton have a transfer-market profit in his time, as has been required following Moshiri’s earlier overspending, and if their mixed recruitment has contained some triumphs, they have also identified players on the up who they were not able to afford. That may not change immediately: after twice being given points deductions for failing financial fair play and enduring a dispute with the Premier League about where capitalisation of interest paid on debt relating to the stadium should be filed in the accounts, it is not yet apparent if PSR will impede spending in January.
In the dugout, it may be easier if Dyche saw out his contract and saw Everton to safety; he was, after all, supposed to be the great guarantee of it and, in his first 16 months, did a fine job. Yet returns have been slimmer this year and the sense is he has now gone beyond the point of no return with the fanbase: amid tone-deaf rhetoric and dismal football, Everton have failed to score in four of their last five games.
Last year, much of the anger was channelled towards the Premier League for the twin points deductions and the sense Everton were being picked on. Now Dyche, and his brand of football, rank high on the list of grievances.
Dyche has benefited from the reality that in a power vacuum, there was no one to fire him unless Moshiri acted on a whim. A pragmatist has reflected that he only got the job because of Everton’s plight, but this was a marriage of convenience. It is a question of whether a loveless affair – and some of his players are not overly fond of him – is terminated early or if that adds to the risk of relegation. Certainly, Dyche is a manager for times of attrition, not those of ambition.
Evertonians could be forgiven for worrying about events at Roma, TFG’s flagship footballing acquisition, despite heavy investment in signings and wages. The local hero Daniele de Rossi was abruptly dismissed after a mere four games of the season, his replacement Ivan Juric jettisoned following a further dozen. Roma are underachieving in 15th, their record of 13 points from 14 league games one fewer than Everton’s tally.
And yet TFG believes lessons have been learnt, that the club’s underlying position is good, with a new stadium to be built.
In the short term, Everton face the form team in Europe this season as the form side on Merseyside in the last few days. Their recent derby record is wretched; except in April when, on a rousing night, Dyche conjured their first home win over Liverpool since 2010. A repeat would be timely for a manager who has lost backing among the supporters, even if it is unlikely to alter his long-term prospects.
But finally, Everton’s are looking up. It has long been the case that they somehow had to find a way to get through an awkward period until they had new owners and a new stadium. They are almost there. Pessimism is ingrained in the Evertonian psyche but get through this season and there may be grounds for optimism. Though perhaps not in Goodison’s last derby.