There was good news for storied English club Everton this week regarding the long-running saga over its ownership.
The proposed takeover by Texas-based Friedkin Group is back on, it was announced, giving hope to the club’s long-suffering fans that more stable times lie ahead after such a turbulent period in its history.
“There is a long way to go to get everything to a final point, but the early signs look favourable,” manager Sean Dyche said on Thursday.
Turmoil has also marked the club’s form on the field that not even £800-million ($1.4-billion) of recent spending has solved. And by the time a takeover deal is finally completed Everton’s prospects could look even more perilous.
Only goal difference separates the nine-time English champion from last-placed Wolves, after collecting just one point from five games in the Premier League.
Yet again, Everton looks like it faces a battle to preserve its place in England’s top flight and extend a proud run that dates to 1954.
At least it has experience of pulling off escape acts, most recently last season when Dyche steered the club to safety despite two separate deductions of a combined eight points for breaches of league financial rules. Against the odds, Dyche led the team to 15th and 14 points clear of the relegation zone.
But any optimism that provided for the new campaign has been blown away by a chastening start this season that has also seen the team already knocked out of the League Cup.
On Saturday, Everton hosts Crystal Palace at Goodison Park, the famous old stadium that it will vacate at the end of the season to relocate to a new 52,888-capacity venue. But there’s danger signs again that Everton’s new state-of-the-art home could be hosting second-tier soccer if Dyche cannot turn around his club’s fortunes, again.
Everton has battled relegation for the last three seasons, while financial concerns and uncertainty over the ownership have added to the unease.
“It [the club] has been on unsettled ground for some time now, with varying situations and opinions on what was and what is and what should be,” Dyche said of the takeover. “Certainly in its initial spell, should it get over the line, I imagine it will bring the feeling of stability after an up-and-down period for many different reasons.”
Everton fans may still greet the news with caution.
Friedkin Group owns Italian soccer team Roma among companies that cover the worlds of automotive, entertainment, hospitality, sports and adventure. It reached an agreement in principle in June to buy the 94-per-cent stake of Everton’s majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri. But talks were then called off.
That followed the collapse of a proposed takeover by 777 Partners. And until this week’s announcement it was thought Everton was in exclusive negotiations with American businessman John Textor.
The saga keeps producing twists, and Dyche is waiting for his own; a first league win of the season.
“Until I know more about [the takeover talks] then my situation doesn’t change,” he said. “I keep working hard, as I have been doing with the staff and players, to change the current situation.
“There has been a lot of good change but the current situation needs changing as we need to get back to winning games.”