Everton FC: First priorities for the Friedkin Group ahead of takeover

A look at what Everton’s new owners have got to change when they come in.

Transcript

00:00We've discussed Everton's takeover for so, so long, it just seems like it's been going

00:11on and on and on. Obviously, the freaking group have made already inroads with paying

00:16off numerous debts already before actually formally getting the keys to the club. They

00:23obviously have the stadium takeover in the new year and that's going to be interesting

00:27for next season. What's the first priority that the freaking group are going to do if

00:32they haven't already paid these debts off and they're trying to create a new business

00:37model and a new era for Everton? How do they come in straight away, fresh, and approach

00:44this incredibly tough job?

00:46Well, first of all, it's the hierarchy of the club. I think Everton haven't had enough

00:54expertise at boardroom level. They've had an interim CEO for the past 18 months, Colin

01:01Cheong, who's the club's chief stadium development officer. So that clearly implies his skill

01:11set is to do with the new stadium and he's had to be filling in in an interim role. He

01:16deserves a lot of credit for that. But Everton need a proper board in place, proper CEO in

01:23place who can drive the club forward, give the club leadership and bring it to the next

01:30level because I think a lot of supporters will think that there's a lot of untapped

01:38potential in Everton commercially. Are they where they should be as a Premier League club?

01:45Now, of course, the stadium, the move to the stadium will drive revenue significantly,

01:50but is there more to be done in terms of off the fields? How can they drive revenues

01:57up as well? I've seen in Roma with the Frican group that they've brokered deals with Adidas

02:04to manufacture the kit and Riazis, and it's their front shared sponsor. So I think that

02:11will be a big one for the Fricans, but more shorter term, they've got to look at the position

02:17of Sean Dyche and director of football, Kevin Fellowell as well. Both are out of contract

02:22at the end of the season. What do they do there? Do they make an immediate decision

02:27on Dyche? I would suspect not. I'd suspect that if they're confident Sean Dyche can keep

02:32Everton in the Premier League, then they're not going to pay him out. It might be a case

02:39of getting to the end of the season. Thanks very much for keeping us in the Premier League,

02:42but we're going to go in a different direction. And Kevin Fellowell's an interesting one

02:47because, as we've discussed before, his hands have been tied somewhat at the club, but there

02:53has been some scrutiny on some of the buys that he's made.