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Sean Dyche shows up to every Everton press conference in training gear. One wonders if combat gear would be more appropriate.
“Never a dull moment” could be his catchphrase as he prepares to field a host of questions about the latest pointless distractions off the pitch. It’s been 21 years since Liverpool-based soap opera Brookside was cancelled, but Everton Football Club have been so good at filling the void that it’s surprising that the show’s creator Phil Redmond hasn’t been approached to make a bid for Farhad Moshiri’s shares.
Five minutes before Dyche was due to speak about his final must-see Premier League game – Everton’s trip to Aston Villa on Saturday – the club’s media team arrived to announce there would be a 15-minute delay. They then issued a statement in response to comments from the club’s final bidder, John Textor, who highlighted the growing sense that what Moshiri is praying for – a swift resolution to the sale process – is more wishful thinking than reality.
The seemingly desperate attempts by the majority shareholder to sell the club appear to have encouraged Textor to make a public bid for control. Because his comments were so outspoken and led – according to Everton – to misguided optimism about the imminence of a takeover, some on Merseyside had no choice but to issue a correction. It is not the first time that these people have felt they have had to clean up the debris of a proposed takeover bid.
Textor’s interview on Sky Sports, broadcast on Wednesday night, caused consternation among Everton’s interim board. The club’s carefully crafted 119-word statement on behalf of interim chief executive Colin Chong was all the more remarkable because he felt compelled to issue it, the implication being that the Crystal Palace shareholder’s comments about his proximity to a deal were premature at best and damaging at worst.
It appears that Moshiri authorised the release of the statement distancing the club from Textor’s comments – particularly those suggesting the sale is close to completion – but the owner’s name was noticeably absent from it. That did nothing to diminish the perception that Moshiri and those charged with running the club are not always on the same page.
“There is still work to be done to finalise the deal,” Chong said. Others at Everton suggest it is a matter of diplomacy and that it is “far from done”. Textor has not yet sold his stake in Palace, while Everton know from recent history how long the Premier League’s due diligence can take to establish whether the funds are really there to run the club sustainably and eliminate financial risks.
According to Everton’s statement, Textor’s further comments about Dyche’s managerial profile and whether it was wise for the club to get a £500m stadium should be taken as representing his “personal view”. That’s just as well, because Everton have staked their future on a new arena that will transform their city as much as the club.
In an attempt to win the hearts and minds of Evertonians, Textor and whoever provides him with PR advice may well scour social media and believe they have achieved the desired result, given that many supporters appear to have welcomed his observations. Other fans are not so sure, applying the golden rule that the shrewdest and wisest owners are those who save their advice until after the contracts are signed.
The fact that his remarks were nipped in the bud 24 hours after they were made certainly doesn’t send the most reassuring signal. Much like the ill-fated 777 Partners bid, the latest move in the Everton ownership saga appears to have accomplished the impossible by raising red flags at Goodison Park.
