Carragher: ‘Greatest threat’ to Everton is wrong owners, not relegation; ‘Cahill could broker Qatari-backed bid’

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher thinks the “greatest threat” to Everton is bringing in the “wrong owners” and not the “prospect of relegation”.
At the end of March, Toffees owner Farhad Moshiri urged Toffees fans to “bear with us” as the protracted sale of the club entered “the home straight”.
Moshiri, who first invested in Everton in 2016, said at the time that he remains “confident” 777 are the right partners to take control of the Premier League club after agreeing to sell the club to the American investors.
On Tuesday, The Guardian claimed that Everton are ‘calling in a leading firm of restructuring and insolvency advisers, raising further questions about the proposed takeover of the Premier League club by 777 Partners.’
And Carragher fears for the Premier League club’s future, he wrote in his Daily Telegraph article: “The biggest danger for Everton this season was never the impact of an eight point deduction or the prospect of relegation. The greatest threat remains the club ending up in the hands of the wrong owners.”
Carragher added: “The more questions are asked of 777, the more suspicion grows that the Premier League is in a difficult position, eager for the necessary guarantees Everton will not face further financial trouble and wary of approving the wrong bid.
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“Those with the club’s best interest at heart need to show the same passion for this subject as they did the points deductions. Not for the first time in Everton’s recent history, it feels like there are too many bystanders waiting for a bandwagon to jump aboard rather than driving it. When something looks wrong, feels wrong and smells wrong, it is no use waiting in the hope it will turn out okay in the end.
“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.
“By the end of the conversation, my anger and incredulity at how Everton was being run was balanced by a touch of sympathy for Moshiri. He cuts a tragic Premier League figure. To use a well-known Liverpool phrase, he has ‘had his kecks pulled down’ by the football industry. His intentions when buying Everton were noble, but the evidence suggests he has been used as a cash cow by agents and players.
“To end up with a wage bill that is 92 percent of the club’s turnover – and having nothing to show for it – proves he has been taken to the cleaners.”
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Recent reports have insisted that Everton have been offered to multiple parties as Moshiri looks to sell with groups from Qatar approached.
And now Football Insider claim that ‘Tim Cahill could broker a Qatari-backed bid’ with Everton’s former CEO Keith Wyness insisting that the Toffees legend could play a key role in a potential deal.
Wyness told Football Insider: “Tim Cahill has been linked as the face of any potential Qatari bid. Tim has done a great job down there with the Aspire Academy and is very involved at a high level with the Qatar national team and their football plan.
“If he was to get the right ear of people in Qatar, he’s a very forceful personality and has done well in business since leaving football – it could be a possibility. Qatar is not ridiculous.
“I think it would be well received by fans. There are obviously the political issues which would have to be resolved. But of all the nation states, Qatar would be accepted by the Everton fans.
“As with anything in football, it’s 50/50. 50% will hate it, and 50% will love it – that’s just how it goes.”
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