Everton press office now considered ‘toxic’ amid ‘breakdown of trust’ as late-night challenge of finance expert revealed
Everton contacted finance expert Kieran Maguire in a late-night exchange to challenge his reporting on their auditor situation, he has revealed.
The University of Liverpool lecturer had highlighted the fact that the club’s most recent set of accounts, released last Friday (31 March), showed that the club had moved onto a third set of auditors in four years, despite having denied a Guardian report on 12 October that this was set to happen, only to then be contacted in the early hours as a result.
This comes amid a situation where members of the press have come to see the Everton press office as “toxic” over statements which prove not to be correct, a senior journalist told Maguire.
Maguire said on The Price of Football podcast on Thursday (6 April, 17m 55s) of the auditor discovery, after giving his opinion on the circumstances in which this would happen: “I put this out on social media on then train, on the way home from London to Brighton.
“I got home, and it was gone midnight, and all of a sudden Everton get in contact with me,” before he paraphrased the exchange.
Everton: “What are you doing? Why are you saying that?”
Maguire: “Because that’s what’s happened.”
Everton: “Firms of auditors change all the time.”
Maguire: “Well, I’ve not said there’s anything behind it.”
“The reaction was that I was trying to stir things, and I’m not… There is a broader issue, this isn’t the first time that I’ve fallen out with Everton. I want Everton to do well because I work in the city of Liverpool – a successful Everton is good for the city. I think there is a broader issue that the club does appear to have quite a few issues.”
Maguire then explained a conversation with a “senior journalist” who described the Toffees press office as “toxic” in terms of its relationship with the press who feel they are “misled” by statements which prove not to be accurate.
“It’s a sad situation that we’re in that there’s been a breakdown of trust between the media and one of our most senior football clubs, and also there’s been a breakdown in terms of the relationship between the auditors.”
Picking fights
Clearly, with a Premier League charge hanging over the club, amidst the second of consecutive relegation battles, it is difficult for the Toffees hierarchy to argue that all is right at Goodison Park.
Nothing has been proven and the independent commission may find in favour of the club – fans will be hoping beyond hope that they do.
And, giving the board a charitable assessment, Farhad Moshiri has spent a lot of money on Everton which other clubs’ supporters can only dream of, and it may well be true that they all want the best for the club.
But that isn’t what is happening, and unfortunately the word “toxic” is too often appropriate when it comes to their relationships, so when they are the common denominator in breakdowns with the fans, the media, the previous auditors, and apparently now the Premier League, there comes a point when it might be sensible to show some introspection rather than going on the offensive.
Perhaps Moshiri, Bill Kenwright, Denise Barrett-Baxendale and company are incredibly unlucky with how they are publicly perceived.
But if the club’s press office under their watch has now gained a reputation for being misleading it is a poor reflection on the goings on at Everton, and given the club has briefed the media with serious allegations against the supporters over threats to the safety of the board and assault of Barrett-Baxendale [Liverpool Echo, 14 January] it is an extremely unhealthy situation all round.