Everton require major overhaul on and off the field after survival

S ean Dyche made no attempt to sugarcoat Everton’s latest relegation escape after victory against Bournemouth on the final day. Survival afforded the Everton manager opportunity to speak with refreshing honesty about the problems he inherited and the “massive amount of work to be done, not just from me but from everyone at the club” to ensure next season does not bring a third successive relegation scrap. What does need to change?

No member of the Everton board has watched the current manager take charge of a game at Goodison Park. No matter how the club attempts to spin it, that sorry fact alone demonstrates the relationship between the fanbase and hierarchy is beyond repair. Only by making sweeping, long-overdue changes in the boardroom can Farhad Moshiri even begin to restore the unity Dyche has called for. Unfortunately, and despite the urgent need clear for all to see, Moshiri has shown no sign of getting a grip on the club he owns since first investing seven years ago. The chairman, Bill Kenwright, has a 1.3% shareholding but retains a major influence with support from the chief executive, Denise Barrett-Baxendale. An announcement of their departures should accompany Premier League survival. As the former Everton defender Alan Stubbs said on 5 Live: “Bill Kenwright, Denise Barrett-Baxendale, thanks very much but it’s time to go because you’ve failed this football club, on and off the pitch. The animosity among the fanbase, they’ve had enough. Everton is broken. It can be fixed but there has to be major changes for that to happen.”

Everton started a must-win Premier League fixture with enormous ramifications for their financial future without a striker, any full-backs and with six outfield substitutes, including a