Everton shareholder criticizes Farhad Moshiri for the club’s ‘blinking disaster,’ while Bill Kenwright is honored as the ‘greatest Evertonian.’
According to Mike Parry, Bill Kenwright is the “greatest Evertonian” in the history of Everton Football Club and should never have sold to Farhad Moshiri.
On September 16, the Toffees shareholder posted a series of tweets on his personal Twitter account decrying the club’s “basket case” status since the chairman caved in to “loud and angry fans” who “demanded” he sell to a billionaire, apparently holding Farhad Moshiri directly responsible for the “blinking disaster” now in place.
The TV and radio host also responded to a fan’s criticism by claiming that he has “put my money on the table to back us” while wondering what others have done.
Moshiri has agreed to sell his whole majority interest to 777 Partners, according to an official declaration from the club on 15 September, but sources say it will be impossible.
Blind trust?
The amount of Toffees supporters who believe Kenwright is culpable for the club’s downfall since Moshiri took control is likely to be minimal, and certainly not vociferous.
It’s not as if there hasn’t been enough criticism for the club’s decline from perennial European challengers to trying to stay in the top division amid persistent financial difficulties.
There could be an argument that if it wasn’t broken when the club was consistently finishing as the best of the rest a decade or so ago, there was no need to fix it.
But, if Moshiri is the issue, Kenwright, despite his claims at the time [Guardian], has discovered the wrong man.
As there was no shortage of spending at Goodison Park in the early years of the Moshiri era, the money that was hoped for did arrive, at least until ties with Alisher Usmanov were severed, but with Kenwright kept on in a key role throughout, he has major questions to answer himself about the effectiveness of the decision-making on where the money went.
The ownership dilemma is as murky as it has always been, with some claiming Moshiri is frantic to find a way out because he can’t afford to support the club any further, and others claiming 777 can’t afford to purchase it off him and operate it going ahead [Daily Mail, 16 September].
Both parties appear to be hopeful that a deal will be reached, but with another defeat on the pitch against Arsenal this weekend, there is precious little optimism to hold onto right now.
