Frank Lampard began his first press conference as Everton manager last February delivering a sentence that could easily have applied to a succession of his predecessors.
It is even more prescient now.
"We know we're in a position the club doesn't want to be in," Lampard said.
At the time that position was 16th, four points clear of the relegation places.
Now Everton sit in 19th before visiting West Ham, the team immediately above them, on Saturday afternoon. In a collision between two clubs in full-blown crisis mode, toxicity is guaranteed at London Stadium.
The anger has been simmering for some time among Everton fans but now it is threatening to boil over. The greatest problem is that a clear path out of trouble is unclear - unless there are wholesale changes at board and ownership level.
Questions continue to mount over all aspects of the club: from the team on the pitch to the absent Farhad Moshiri, the 94% owner who was last seen at Goodison Park in October 2021.
And yet most of the opprobrium right now is being reserved for the board of directors, led by chairman Bill Kenwright (who retains a 1% stake) and backed up by chief executive Denise Barrett-Baxendale.
That is why the Everton Shareholders Association, a group of about 6,000 who own the remaining 5% of the club, has this week called for a vote of no confidence in the board, citing an “all-time low relationship” between the hierarchy and supporters.
It is also why a spokesman for the NSNOW coalition of supporters groups behind the #AllTogetherNow protests tells Mirror Football the club is staring a potential “catastrophe” in the face.
“We’re not happy with how the club is being run, how much money has been spent or decisions that are being made at executive level,” the spokesman says. “That’s the only message we want to put across - we want change. We want a certain type of people running our football club. It’s one of the oldest clubs in the country with a proud reputation.”
NSNOW plans to host further sit-ins before future home games, including Arsenal ’s visit on February 4, after thousands stayed behind for half an hour on Saturday.
But in an example of the level of distrust that exists between club and fans, the spokesman has asked not to be named because there is a fear among supporters of reprisals with rumours of dissenting voices having tickets revoked. That follows cult hero Alan Stubbs recently saying Kenwright had effectively banned him from attending games “because I've basically said the truth in terms of wanting change.”
That Lampard, who is at risk of the sack, has avoided the harshest of the criticism is indicative.
Not least when the shortcomings of his tenure at Chelsea remain there for all to see. Basic lapses in concentration from players when defending and a glaring culpability when being counterattacked hurt him repeatedly at Stamford Bridge. Everton’s performances suggest solutions have not been found.
The group behind the protest movement are following a “back the team, replace the regime“ motto but, with the owner and now board absent, it was the players who had to absorb the fury from a minority last weekend.
Most notably Anthony Gordon was subjected to some vile abuse from a group of young men when driving away from the ground. Yerry Mina stepped out of his car to address another angry group. NSNOW quickly condemned the behaviour and made it clear that it was in no way linked with their protests.
Those exchanges came at the end of an afternoon that began with Everton releasing a statement that the board would not be attending the game because of a “real and credible threat to their safety and security.” No evidence was provided.
It was then reported that chief executive Barrett-Baxendale was put into a headlock by a supporter on the day of their previous home game, a defeat to Brighton. That is assault. And yet, for reasons unknown, a complaint has not been filed with police.
“Any threats reported to Merseyside Police would be assessed and investigated as a matter of course, and any appropriate safety measures implemented,” the force said on Monday afternoon, confirming that they were not looking into the concerns publicised by the club.
It adds another layer of confusion to a story where many blanks are yet to be filled at a club where confusion is reigning supreme.
Right now there is no prospect of communication between the board and fans reopening. The level of acrimony and distrust has increased to a level that is untenable. It remains unclear if the board will return for the next home game, against Arsenal on February 4, when fans will again stage a peaceful sit-in protest.
Another sign of how deep the disconnect is and how dysfunctional things have become surrounds the simple act of selling merchandise. Some supporters who had ordered clothing online as Christmas presents found that the goods were damaged and in a couple of instances stained. Fans who attempted to contact the club with complaints about the quality have been met with silence.
Then there is the new stadium at Bramley-Moore dock. Construction continues at pace but there are fresh doubts around the rising costs.
Last year Barrett-Baxendale said £500m of funding was ring fenced but Moshiri recently said in a radio interview that building costs have climbed to more than £700m. It is unclear where the additional £200m will be sourced from and the financial impact of relegation could prove catastrophic.
The cancellation of a £30m naming rights deal with Alisher Usmanov when he was sanctioned by the government over his Russian links and a separate sponsorship agreement around the Finch Farm training ground have been significant blows.
Moshiri and Usmanov are former business partners and had shares together in Arsenal.
The Russian oligarch has always been described as an Everton sponsor only but a recent report in the Guardian alleged a number of previous managerial candidates said he sat in on their interviews and there was an implication that he was part of the ownership.
Lampard previously stated that Usmanov was present on a Zoom call along with Moshiri before he was appointed but said the Russian was “not part” of the interview itself.
Everton refute all claims of Usmanov having an additional role behind the scenes, with a statement saying: “This is and has always been [Moshiri’s] investment alone, and any suggestion to the contrary is incorrect, irresponsible and not supported by any evidence.”
Separately, Usmanov’s nephew Sarvar Ismailov was appointed to the Everton board in July 2021 despite having no clear previous experience of working as a football executive. He lasted four months and is now also on the UK sanctions list.
Most of the playing contracts do not have relegation clauses included, according to sources, meaning that the wage bill could be astronomical for a Championship club should they be relegated.
Their most recent accounts showed that the wage bill increased to a record £182.6m, which equalled 95% of their turnover. Strip away broadcasting money and without agreements in place to reduce players’ salary, the club will be reliant on a firesale to steer away from grave financial trouble.
There are fears of the club “becoming the next Sunderland,” NSNOW’s spokesman says, “or in the stadium’s case end up like Coventry City” should it end up being owned by another party and leased back to the club.
Earlier this week the financial giants Deloitte published their annual football Money League, a ranking based on revenue that clubs often use as a tool to boast.
Everton placed 19th there too - in all of Europe. Curiously, still ahead of Newcastle as it considered the most recent publicly available accounts. But also in front of Champions League clubs such as Eintracht Frankfurt, Benfica and Ajax.
Yet it is almost all reliant upon the financial rewards of merely being a Premier League team.
“It’s clear that it’s a club with big ambition, huge history, huge fanbase and a joint desire throughout it to improve - towards the new stadium, towards being a Premier League club fighting towards the top half of the table,” Lampard said later in that unveiling almost a year ago.
Yet he is now on the cusp of being sacked again having surely realised that joined-up thinking is sadly absent. Should West Ham win on Saturday, in turn keeping David Moyes employed in East London, firing Lampard would be a move that surprises no one.
But for the growing number of disgruntled fans it would merely be another short-term decision while the primary issue remains unsolved.
