Dan Carter

Mon 2 October 2023 15:10, UK

Alan Pardew has said that he believes Sean Dyche can keep Everton in the Premier League but does fear the “financial cloud” hanging over Goodison Park.

The Toffees ended a short upturn in form with a 2-1 home defeat to Luton Town on Saturday (30 September) which has led to increasing question marks over Dyche’s ability to keep the Toffees out of a third consecutive relegation battle this season.

Above the manager’s head, 777 Partners have agreed to a deal to acquire Farhad Moshiri’s 94.1 per cent stake in Everton, but the deal still needs approval by the Premier League [Sky Sports, 15 September]. On top of this, the Toffees will be attending a hearing over their alleged breach of FFP rules on 25 October, where they will find out if they could be given a points deduction [BBC Sport, 15 June].

Former Newcastle boss Pardew voiced his concerns on talkSport (1 October) saying: “The one worry I have for Everton is the ownership more so than the manager because I think the manager is experienced enough, I think there’s enough good players to stay in that division.

“But there is this financial cloud that hangs over them in terms of a new takeover, or some sort of penalty if there’s been some sort of not running of the books correctly.

“This club are not performing to the level they should be, the fans are very upset and rightly so, but that is a fantastic club to own and with the right investment it wouldn’t take much to turn that around. But it needs to be right, it needs to be the correct investment and it needs to be enough investment.

“I would guess those new owners are already looking at that team and thinking what are we going to need to spend and what will be the budget for that?”

Fear

Dyche has shown that he is capable of getting a tune out of these players in the past and while he is going to have to do it more often than he has so far at Goodison Park, he is more than capable of ensuring this team pick up enough points to remain in the Premier League.

In their wins over Aston Villa and Brentford, the Toffees looked more like a side that should be challenging for a place in the top half of the Premier League and had they been clinical in their clash with Luton they would have at least come away with a point at home.

However, if the Blues are hit with any sort of points deduction for breaking FFP rules, that could make staying in the top flight a lot harder incredibly quickly as it will serve as encouragement for the teams below the Toffees to make up the gap and pull themselves out of the relegation battle.

Everton are confident that they have not broken any of the Premier League’s rules and assuming their confidence isn’t misguided, Pardew’s fears may be completely unwarranted.

But given the other Premier League club’s fears over 777 Partners and how they could impact the reputation of the Premier League [Daily Mail, 20 September], surviving October’s FFP hearing may not be the final hurdle for Dyche’s side to jump.

In other Everton news, Sean Dyche has revealed what he told 777 Partners when he met them last week