Everton is a club playing a dangerous game of chance with its Premier League status.
Last season it won. Just. This season its fate is yet to be decided. But it enters the second half of this campaign weaker than 12 months ago. It ended this January weaker than when the month started.
How, and why, are questions supporters deserve answers to. But there is no suitable explanation beyond an acceptance the club is in turmoil. And should one be offered, fans have every right to question the level of faith they can place in it.
READ MORE: Inside story of Everton's shambolic transfer window as list of January failures emerges
READ MORE: Everton Fan Advisory Board calls for 'explanation' after January transfer failures
January was a month scarred by crises. Most were avoidable, particularly the damning failure to bring a single player in during one of the most important transfer windows in the club’s history. Some were cases of genuine misfortune, such as Villarreal winger Arnaut Danjuma’s 11th hour decision to head to north London with Everton simply a registration form away from a player who scored six Champions League goals last season. All added fuel to the perception that Everton is a club in a mess.
That was most evident in the messages designed to reassure supporters desperate for a glimmer of positivity. Almost every one backfired. Majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri, midway through January, told Everton’s Fan Advisory Board: “If we need a striker, we will get one.” The club did not.
Before his departure Frank Lampard said there was a plan for the transfer window, some money was available to spend and there appeared to be a clear acceptance throughout the club that two attacking signings were required. No money was spent, even after Anthony Gordon was sold for in excess of £40m. No players arrived.
Chairman Bill Kenwright spoke of Mr Moshiri’s agreement with his own belief that new manager Sean Dyche was the right man to take the club forward. This came after Mr Moshiri’s apparent first choice for the job, Marcelo Bielsa, flew to the UK from Brazil to compete with Dyche in final interviews - and only after Bielsa seemed to present a near-impossible case for the job.
Chief executive Denise Barrett-Baxendale heralded the strategic review, the cultural reset she said had “provided a roadmap for change in our footballing operations and our approach to recruitment”. Those words were written before a transfer window that ended with no new recruits and with Dyche saying upon his arrival that he wanted to “remodel” the club.
Against this backdrop Everton claimed its directors had been advised not to attend the most recent home match, against Southampton, due to safety concerns. Merseyside Police, responding to questions from outlets including the Echo, later confirmed it was aware of the advice but had not been part of that intelligence gathering operation - nor had it received reports of any of the alleged incidents said to have been linked to the guidance. Whether the board of directors will attend the next home match remains unclear. With another peaceful protest against the running of the club planned for Saturday, questions over the presence of the board form only one of several high profile issues set to engulf the Arsenal game.
The appointment of Dyche offers an opportunity for a fresh start for fans and the team. There is no doubt support for the former Burnley manager will be vociferous. He is not to blame for Everton’s struggles and is the club’s best hope of salvation. But for those above him it is increasingly difficult to see a road to redemption. Faith and trust are important. The faith and trust of supporters has been exploited too far as Everton hurtle into a relegation battle they sleepwalked into last year.
The night the club secured survival against Crystal Palace was dramatic, emotional and memorable. That pictures of the celebrations on the Goodison Park pitch line the walls of Finch Farm is perhaps another symbol of the problems the club is beset by. They should only adorn the corridors as a reminder of the catastrophe Everton came so close to. That warning has not been heeded.
Everton, a side in need of two attacking players during January, ended the month with fewer forwards following the sale of Gordon. With that being the case it is no surprise the attention of some fans has now turned to director of football Kevin Thelwell. It is an easy connection to make. Yet few in the world of football have anything other than respect for the former Wolves sporting director. It is difficult to comprehend the month having been such a disaster without his work being impacted by forces beyond his control. And with there being such a desperate need for reinforcements perhaps some comfort can be taken from him not being sucked into the type of expensive risks that would no doubt have been dangled before him but which have underpinned much of Everton's trouble during recent years.
For this survival fight, Everton do not have the points buffer of early season success they had last year. They do not have their talismanic striker Richarlison. They no longer have their home grown starlet Gordon, whose departure weakens Dyche’s squad even if the 21-year-old’s actions made his sale inevitable.
But they do have Dyche. And he deserves every ounce of the support he will get. Once it became clear Lampard had to go, Dyche was clearly the manager best suited to the task of rallying this Everton side. That is a decision the club has got right. He is a strong character and is well versed in battling in the lower reaches of the top tier with limited resources. He will establish an identity that will give Everton a chance. And he will start with the goodwill of a fan base desperate for him to succeed and more than capable of distinguishing between support for the team and concern with the board.
Dyche will get more from this Everton squad. The question is whether the improvement he brings will overcome the improvement every one of Everton’s relegation rivals will gain from the millions and millions they have spent in January trying to avoid relegation at the expense of the Blues. That is a massive gamble by a club that, once again, has placed its precious Premier League status at risk.
READ NEXT:
- Sean Dyche has three 'wildcard' options for Everton attack after January transfer blank
- Andre Ayew and three other free agents Everton could sign after transfer deadline
- 'Taken for a ride' - Kevin Campbell slams Everton board after nightmare transfer window
- 'That is pretty obvious' - Jamie Carragher makes Farhad Moshiri Everton prediction after delivering Sean Dyche verdict
- Gary Neville speaks out on Sean Dyche decision and 'the daft thing about Everton'
