Tough times ahead for the Everton Board
With the impending departure of David Moyes to Manchester United, the Everton board could be facing the biggest few months of their reign. This summer was always likely to be a momentus summer for the club and recent events may light the touch paper.
Last night the Everton shareholders announced that they had gained enough votes to call an extraordinary general meeting, which would be the first of its kind since the Everton board put a stop to AGM’s 5 years ago. It’s understood that the shareholders will look for an explanation on finances over the last 5 years, reasons why they put a stop to AGM’s, future plans and to ensure that AGM’s are reinstated. This is likely to happen in July, once proof is given that the amount needed was reached. The shareholders have a right to ask the questions and as fans they will have a proper view of the direction they want the club to go.
The board are also facing a fans backlash over a potential new club badge which was registered with the patent office in February. It hasn’t been confirmed if this is the official kit badge yet or just for merchandise, but if as expected, it is released as the club badge, then rightly so, Everton fans will show their disgust as it looks like it has been designed by someone on paint.
Mystery Man Robert Earl, so called director of Everton enjoying lifes pleasures (probably in the Caymen Islands)
Following Sir Alex Fergusons decision to quit Manchester United this morning, it looks likely that the board will have to appoint a new manager for Everton, with David Moyes being the bookies favourite to take over at the red devils. Moyes has transformed the Everton team from relegation battlers to a top 6 side without having the funds to take the club further. The board will have to make the right decision for new manager with Roberto Martinez, Vitor Periera and Roberto Martinez amongst the favourites to take over.
One thing is certain is that the new manager will need to be given the funds to improve Everton and will need to be able to pull off transfer masterstrokes. If Moyes does join United, it’s likely that Marouane Fellaini and Leighton Baines will follow which could lead to a full rebuild for the manager. Surely any transfer budget should be net of these figures.
Finances are always a sore point for Evertonians and the perceived lack of a financial plan is worrying. The Tesco stadium move fell through and the club didn’t feel a Plan B was warranted. Since that happened, Man United signed a £150m sponsorship deal for their training ground and yesterday Arsenal announced a whopping £170m kit deal. As a Premier League powerhouse, we can’t expect these kinds of numbers, but surely we should be aiming a lot higher than what we currently get as a member of the premier league’s elite group of teams.
The pressure is building on the board and answers are needed to a number of questions but can they provide them?
Difficult times are ahead for the current custodians and it could be that they will need to become more transparent as Evertonian’s seek answers; Lets hope they have their 5 year financial plan in place.
A list of directors can be found here: http://www.evertonfc.com/club/club-directors.html
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