Television presenter Richard Keys has defended Everton chairman Bill Kenwright in an online post which has seen him admit Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher was right about Blues transfers.
Everton find themselves just above the relegation zone and recently sacked manager Rafa Benitez after a disappointing six months in charge.
Ex-Toffees striker Duncan Ferguson has been placed in temporary charge and lost his first game against Aston Villa 1-0 last weekend, leaving the club four points from safety.
Following the defeat over the weekend, a cluster of fans confronted Kenwright after the game and called for his resignation.
Buy Keys has called on supporters to direct their blame away from Kenwright and focus on owner Farhad Moshiri - and Alisher Usmanov.
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"Please - leave Bill Kenwright alone. The mess the club are currently in really isn’t anything to do with him," Keys wrote on his online personal blog.
"I understand the frustration. I get it. With all the money that’s been spent these past few years Everton shouldn’t be anywhere near a relegation scrap. It’s a scandal that they are. And make no mistake - they are."
Everton's recruitment process under Moshiri has been "scatter gun" according to Keys.
Keys added that while he disagreed with Carragher questioning some of the Blues' signings in the summer of 2017, the Sky Sports pundit ended up being right.
Everton signed Jordan Pickford, Davy Klaassen, Henry Onyekuru and Sandro Ramirez at the time of the defender's tweet, adding Michael Keane just hours later, and Carragher pointed out that none would get into Liverpool's team.
"There’s been too many changes - both in the managers’ office and elsewhere," said Keys. "Buying has been a scatter gun process. I remember the day they signed seven and Jamie Carragher laughed out loud on Twitter saying that not one of them would get into Liverpool’s team. That really annoyed me and I disagreed. Sadly - he was right.
"The point is - Bill hasn’t been anywhere near the decision making process ever since Farhad Moshiri and Alisher Usmanov arrived. Nowhere near it. He’s simply a figure head in the Boardroom.
"Bill has blue blood. He’s an Evertonian first - before anything else. He’s also a lovely man. I challenge anyone who’s done business with Bill - or worked with and for him - to find me somebody who’s got a bad word to say about him. You won’t."
Kia Joorabchian was seen at Goodison Park last weekend, and Keys went on to warn over the dangers of placing too much trust in agents.
He said: "It was put to me this week by a legendary blue (not Andy Gray!) that Everton has become an agents’ paradise - with the club paying extra-ordinary fees for ordinary players. I couldn’t have put it better myself.
"The most important thing in football is recruitment, recruitment, recruitment. Everton’s has been shocking."
