Simon Jordan lays blame on Everton owner Farhad Moshiri for club underachievement
Simon Jordan has said that the Everton fans should stop demanding the board to be sacked with much of Bill Kenwright’s responsibility falling on owner Farhad Moshiri.
It’s becoming yet another season of underachievement at Goodison Park, after a spell of dismal results and performances in recent weeks have left them 18th place in the relegation zone, and with one win from their last 12 games.
Much of the scrutiny has indeed been left on boss Frank Lampard, however, there have plenty of unrest and calls for the club board to be sacked, especially the likes of chairman Bill Kenwright and chief executive officer Denise Barrett-Baxendale.
And after the owner, Moshiri responded to the club fan forum open letter [11 January] surrounding the club’s ownership, he also levelled some of the responsibility for managerial decisions on the fans, whilst also backing the club’s board and Frank Lampard in an interview with talkSPORT live show host Jim White [12 January].
And speaking [12 January] after the interview, Jordan stated that Moshiri has got to shoulder all of the responsibility for any mismanagement by the club board as he is the “team leader” and owner and that the money starts with him.
“They can take it out on Bill Kenwright, but Kenwright does not have the controlling influence over the football club. Farhad Moshiri does.
“And if Bill Kenwright isn’t doing things in the best interest of the football club, that’s for Farhad Moshiri to be able to correct. And if they want to make targets at Denise (Barrett-Baxendale) and other people, it’s undoubtable that the performance of the football club stems from the controls at the top.
“Team reflects leader, who’s the leader? Moshiri. When you look at those appointments, it’s playground stuff.”
Team reflects leader
Indeed, Jordan is correct in that the team does reflect the leader at the end of the day. If the board is to blame for the club’s malaise, then Moshiri bares the whole brunt of it because it’s his money and he’s responsible for appointing and firing them.
Whilst Kenwright and Barrett-Baxendale haven’t set the world alight with their own actions, they aren’t the ones with a controlling interest in the club and they also aren’t the ones pouring money into the club.
If the fans are calling for the board’s head, then Moshiri cannot shield himself away from that because much of the responsibility does indeed fall on his shoulders.
However, fans calling to sack the board or Moshiri certainly won’t change things either as much as they would want it to. He isn’t showing any signs of leaving the club or even selling up which means the club may well be stuck in this position for a long while yet.
They do have a right to voice their concerns, but at the end of the day, it’s Moshiri that is unfortunately in control of the club’s destiny as much as his own. And that doesn’t make for good reading for the Toffees faithful.