Everton takeover: Jamie Carragher slams ‘AWOL’ Farhad Moshiri live on Sky Sports before Chelsea
Jamie Carragher has slammed “AWOL” Everton owner Farhad Moshiri for his lack of involvement as the takeover situation has dragged on without resolution.
The Sky Sports pundit spoke live on the broadcaster’s pre-match coverage of the Premier League clash with Chelsea on 15 April to criticise the majority shareholder at Goodison Park for disappearing while 777 Partners prop up the club with regular loans.
He indicated it was a head-scratcher as to why the bid had still not gone through seven months after the deal was announced in September, calling on those covering the points deduction situations, which he admitted he had made himself unpopular with Evertonians over, to push for answers on the far more important takeover instead.
Carragher said (6.42pm): “I think this is much more important, the takeover and who the owners will be in the future of Everton because I know I’m not the most popular at the moment with the Everton fans in terms of how they see the points deduction. I put most of that blame at the club’s feet, in terms of what the ownership have done…
“The reason Everton find themselves where they are is because of poor ownership. They’ve got an owner right now who’s basically gone AWOL. Moshiri’s gone, it’s almost like he’s not in charge at the club, and there’s a group, 777 Partners, who are basically propping up the club paying £20million-£25m a month to keep the club afloat.”
He added with regard to the 15 September announcement: “Seven months to the day you’re still sort of scratching your head, ‘Why has this not happened?'”
He finished: “This for me, not the points deduction, that’ll be over at the end of the season and I think Everton will stay up, but the new ownership is much more important than a points deduction, and this needs to be sorted out right away. People who are getting involved in the points deductions need to be getting involved in this as well, to find out what is going on and why an owner’s gone AWOL.”
Farhad Moshiri blamed as 777 Partners prop up Everton
With mere hours left ahead of the deadline 777 face to pay back MSP Sports Capital or risk their takeover bid falling through Moshiri has reportedly jumped into belated action.
But it is seemingly too little too late with more than 30 weeks having passed since his sale agreement was announced and still no definitive answers over to the long-term future of the club.
He may argue that he has retained complete faith in 777 throughout, which is roughly what he intimated to the club’s Fan Advisory Board in a recent letter.
But given the Premier League and various investigations have suggested that such faith is misguided since the deal still hasn’t gone through he should probably have been leaning on the Miami-based firm more heavily to get it together before now in order to land approval.
Carragher isn’t alone in pointing the finger of blame at Moshiri for the vacuum of leadership in recent months at Goodison Park, although there is an argument that things were hardly much better when he was still in place and funding operations.
Administration continues to be raised as a potential consequence of 777’s takeover failing, if that now happens, and while it has been claimed that Moshiri will step in to prevent that plenty will feel he shouldn’t have let it get this far in the first place.
In other Everton news, Toffees legal action has been tipped by a politician after potential unfair treatement.
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