There is one good reason why Everton fear another season of struggle

For all the lingering uncertainty at the summit of Everton, there was a sense of relief when Farhad Moshiri declared his intention to retain ownership heading into the new season.

Not because Moshiri has been an exemplary leader. Far from it. He has stumbled through a tempestuous reign, issuing more mixed messages than an inebriated morse code operator. Yet the immediate alternative was clouded with such ambiguity it provoked more trepidation than excitement.

Moshiri’s most recent statement - delivered last week via every Premier League owner’s new PR weapon of choice, an ‘open letter’ to supporters - moved to downplay the takeover talk he initiated when entering negotiations with the consortium fronted by Peter Kenyon and bankrolled by American businessman Maciek Kaminski. A period of exclusivity to agree a deal was granted, talks ending in as enigmatic circumstances as they began.

“I want to reassure all of you that Everton Football Club is not for sale,” Moshiri wrote, in a statement which screamed out for a follow-up question.

“Why was the club negotiating a sale, then?”

Sadly, no answers were forthcoming. Nevertheless, Moshiri’s statement was a much-needed attempt to clarify his position. It is not just fans who need that, but Everton’s sponsors who will have been seeking reassurances as to who will be running the club for the next few years.

Not for the first time, it means Everton head into the new season battling to present an image of stability in what is self-evidently a volatile financial period. The problem is, nobody quite knows what Moshiri is going to say and do next.

As with any organisation, the figurehead dictates perceptions of everything else. It cannot be sugarcoated that, amid the intrigue that