Friedkins told lessons they can learn after what’s happened at Everton
The Esk has encouraged the Friedkin Group to engage further with supporters going forward in their ownership of the club after praising their start to life as owners of Everton.
The new owners made the decision to part ways with Sean Dyche on Thursday (9 January) as the Toffees find themselves sitting two points above the relegation zone.
Everton expert the Esk, writing on his blog (10 January), stated he had no qualms with the decision to dismiss Dyche and is encouraged by the financial decisions TFG have made thus far.
But he hopes that the new owners can learn lessons, including engaging clearly with supporters moving forward.
He wrote under a sub-heading titled ‘Lessons for the Friedkins’: “As an organisation they [The Friedkin Group] are recognised as not communicating a great deal – as private business owners I recognise that point. However, football is not a private business. It may be in a strict, technical, legal definition, but as I’ve tried to express here, it’s far from that.
“What is more, from a business perspective, it’s a better business for communicating but also for listening – it has the most knowledgeable customer-base in the world. A customer-base with only one agenda – a better football club – a club that wins trophies.
“The Friedkins have, in my opinion, made an excellent start to their tenure as legal custodians of Everton Football Club.
“As in the case presented in this article, that start and the future will be enhanced by recognising the value (not the challenge) of fan activism, communications, listening and acting in our aligned interests.
“For us fans, we should be encouraged to be more active, more questioning of the club, its owners and associated parties including when necessary the media.
“Our interests are simple and we offer a willing resource to achieving that: a successful Everton.”
The Friedkin Group make their first big Everton call
With pressure mounting on Dyche at Goodison Park throughout the campaign so far, TFG made the decision to part ways with the boss, which wasn’t a massive shock given the side’s position even with the questionable timing.
The pressure now is on making the right appointment in the hope of starting a new era at Goodison Park now and ending the current campaign in a comfortable position rather than getting sucked into a relegation fight until the very end.
David Moyes has been linked with a return to his former club with Ben Jacobs reporting (10 January) there are talks between the two parties already with the view of taking over at the club until the end of the term which certainly wouldn’t be a bad appointment for the Blues.
The Esk points out that this decision from TFG has come days after refinancing and restructuring the finances at the club which could explain the reasoning behind Dyche’s swift departure with the new owners now looking ahead with a long-term plan.
In other Everton news, TFG have been accused of taking the club back to the days of Farhad Moshiri already.
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