Jamie Carragher reveals how ex-Everton chief Denise Barrett-Baxendale called him after what he said
Jamie Carragher has revealed that former Everton chief executive Denise Barrett-Baxendale called him after he criticised how the club was being run.
Carragher wrote a column last year calling Everton “the worst-run club in England” – a comment Barret-Baxendale took exception to.
That led to a phone call between her and the former Liverpool defender in which Barret-Baxendale explained her position.
Carragher, writing in a column for the Telegraph (3 May), said: “Last year, I wrote a column accusing Everton of being the worst-run club in England. A day later, I received a phone call from one of the club’s board members.
“Then chief executive, Denise Barrett-Baxendale, took exception to my comments. It was a cordial conversation in which I held my ground, while Barrett-Baxendale explained the challenges facing the club.
“My overall impression was of an Everton board working in fear. Fear of potential relegation as the team was becoming increasingly worse.
“Fear of the supporters’ backlash to the on-field problems, with much of the focus at that time on the position of Barrett-Baxendale herself and former chairman Bill Kenwright.
“And most of all, fear of Moshiri pulling the plug on his financial backing, Everton unable to sustain its huge wage bill or pay for a £500 million stadium if the owner walked away.”
Everton have continued to be run badly in the last year
Barrett-Baxendale may have been offended by the strength of Carragher’s criticism, but the events of the last year have done little to prove him wrong.
Financial mismanagement has seen Everton charged not once, but twice with breaches of the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), leading to a 10-point deduction that was reduced to six points on appeal and a two-point deduction that is still being appealed.
As a result, the team was plunged into a relegation scrap it would otherwise have avoided, had they been operating with their full complement of points – though their 1-0 victory over Brentford on 27 April has now mathematically secured their safety, moving them 11 points clear of 18th-placed Luton Town with three games remaining.
However, that does not seem to be the end of their troubles, with talk surfacing of the club potentially facing administration – though that fate appears more likely to befall them next season rather than this season, along with the threat of yet another points deduction – nine points, on this occasion.
In addition, the attempted takeover by Miami-based firm 777 Partners rumbles on behind the scenes, though their persistent failure to produce the funds necessary to gain approval from the Premier League continues to generate misgivings about their suitability as owners.
Everton fans will hope the picture around their club looks very different this time next season.
In other Everton news, the club could yet be relegated with administration a “big worry” at Goodison Park.
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