Abacus

Quite a few filings went in to PZ newco, our holding company, on 4 November, as well as the above stuff being reported with Cantervale holdings, including appointing Stavely, the Ruebens etc to PZ. The amounts I talked about (i.e. £310m acquisition, £38m additional financing) stack up with what's been reported re the deal. According to other filings re PZ on the 4th November, on the of 8th April, Cantervale ceased to be a person a person of influence over PZ. We were taken over the day before, on the 7th. In other words, for simplicity's sake, my guess is the whole transaction went through Stavely's Cantervale in the first place, then was transferred to PZ. Might, of course, be wrong. And yes, I'm falling asleep too.

I think it does make sense actually. I'll try and explain what I think has happened when I get back to my desk. I warn you, and I might be wrong, but it is both tedious and nothing to be either worried or excited about.

He sort of explains the real amounts in the next replies. Basically, £310m (£306m rounded up for 306 shares) to buy the club, then £38m (for 38 shares) later invested probably for running costs. The £95bn basically comes from him saying they had issued 38 shares for £38m each, and 306 shares for £310m each. Which is clearly wrong.

1964 is right, it's not called a set piece for nothing.

He is now wondering where the 20,000 fans were to welcome Howe's arrival, like Rafa. At 6.45 am at the training ground. Another saying there is an unnecessary fuss about racism at Yorkshire cricket club, and that's just a distraction from the real and only issue that matters, which is the NUFC takeover. Gutless journos, apparently. How dare other people move on with their lives or care about new things when there is only one glaring injustice in the world?

First matches I went to were under Ossie Ardiles. Yes, he was taking us straight to relegation, but he also started us actually passing the ball and also playing promising youngsters, like Steve Howey and (I think) Lee Clark. Laid the foundations for KK in some ways. Then KK came in, saved us, and that promotion season was one of the most exciting I've ever had. Probably my main memory is watching us play at Roker Park that season, where we won 2-1 with a Liam O'Brien special - I'd gotten into the home end and thought I was going to be killed

Not sure he even walks fast enough to manage a hard toe stub. So I hope he steps on a Lego. As for Joelinton, I can still remember the bewilderment on both men's faces when he was introduced to Bruce for the first time! Don't forget, he's had two and a bit years of being thoroughly Bruced and played out of position in a stinking team, with all the expectations his fee brings. Other than odd flashes, it's been hard to see what he brings in any role. So, I'm actually really interested to see how a manager with a working brain uses him - and he'll need him the squad at least till Jan, so he may have to. Maybe being coached properly and consistently in a specific role will help us see if there's any sort of player in there.

The HMS Titanic

Under Bruce, I'd have said it was all but nailed on. A 9. It's odd how having been through two relegations, the number of chances you have to get out of it, and yet how it almost seems impossible to turn things around and actually take them. But once all the pieces fall into place it just starts to feel inevitable. Those pieces are; a few key injuries, players who look disorganised, unfit, disinterested, understandable negativity / fear coming down from the stands. A manager losing the dressing room, or elements of it, and who looks lost on the touchline, an owner who either doesn't care or understand enough to act. It had all those elements under Bruce. But with the takeover, owner, hopefully new manager and fan positivity are all fixed for now. And unlike in Benitez's case, this time with enough time to fix a lot of what's happening on the pitch with the players. At the moment, I'm down to a 4, and that will drop much further if we do eke out a couple of wins from the next little run of games.

Don't know if this has been posted here yet, from the Times. Maybe sounds like a "Get me out of here"? Rafa Benítez has said the ambitious plans of Everton’s owners prevented him returning to Newcastle United but admits he is now unlikely to be able to embark on a January spending spree. The reality of the situation became apparent with Benítez anxious to arrest a downturn in form which has left Everton with one win in seven matches ahead of Sunday’s game with Tottenham Hotspur. Unrest is simmering among fans who were always likely to give the former Liverpool manager little leeway should wins remain elusive. Benítez spent only £1.7 million in the summer as Everton sought to adhere to the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules yet still managed to bring in two of the club’s better performers so far this season in Andros Townsend and Demarai Gray. He again tempered expectations ahead of the January transfer window, insisting that finding the right players to bolster a flimsy squad was more important than simply spending big. “I think we will have some money to spend but I don’t think that will be too much,” said Benítez, who has been interested in Aleksandr Golovin, the AS Monaco winger. “The point is [not] that Townsend is a free transfer, or Demarai is £1.7 million — it doesn’t matter the price. It is more about the mentality. If we can buy them, fine. If not, we can loan them and make sure they stay here with us in the future.” Injuries to Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Abdoulaye Doucouré and Yerry Mina have exposed the squad’s lack of depth, while also depriving Everton height at set pieces. They have conceded seven goals from corners and free kicks this season, the same as in the whole of last term under Carlo Ancelotti. Benítez rebuffed interest from Newcastle, whom he managed from 2016 to 2019, after the Saudi Arabian takeover in order to remain at Goodison Park. Ironically, he would get money to spend at St James’ Park and be able to count on the backing of supporters who idolised him during his time on Tyneside. Yet his principles mean he remains committed to Everton. “The reality is I met the owner [Farhad Moshiri] and the sponsor [Alisher Usmanov] and the directors,” Benítez said. “Everybody was telling me we have great ambition and everybody wants to create a competitive team that could go to the [new] stadium winning something or playing in Europe.” “An owner who has spent £400 million, you cannot criticise him. We have to be sure we are spending money properly. We have to improve things that maybe weren’t right. If not, you cannot justify why we are where we are after spending the fourth most [of Premier League clubs] in the last five years.”

Whereas I think it's totally believable. In fact, I'd be surprised if it's that little. Our last set of accounts (to July 2020) showed us making a loss of £22.5m due to Covid. Our short term debts also increased, by around £40m, even leaving aside the reclassification of Ashley's loan. The next year's haven't been filed yet, but I'm guessing they will make even grimmer reading. Wouldn't be at all surprised if Ashley has left us with a few unpaid bills in all of that, since the thick fool only understands cash.

Yes, Eddie Howe. It was his second spell at Bournemouth which got them promoted from league 1 to the prem, etc.

Nah. There's probably just lots of short term costs they need to cover, or some immediate spending on the ground etc. Like I say, there's £8m out the door on Bruce alone.

A company can always just issue more shares. It's quite a common way to be raise cash. I'm basing that this is what they've done based on the Athletic article having not checked companies house myself just yet, but it makes sense as otherwise they wouldn't all be putting equal amounts as each other, to keep their proportion of shares the same between the three parties.

It could be for anything, I suppose. Including paying off Bruce, buying out commercial contracts like that, or just funding things day to day. I'd love it if it was the Sports Direct signs too, though!

Two ways to put money into a club directly. The first is a loan, like Ashley did, which you expect to be repaid and might attract interest charges. The second, which based on the Athletic article looks to be the case here, is to do it through equity (i.e. buy more shares). In order to keep the same 80/10/10 ownership split, all parties would need to buy the same proportion of new shares - that's what looks to have happened. It's all based on an assumption that Stavely putting in c.£4m means the rest of the consortium match it. As she has 10%, that means the other 90% owners must be putting in c. £36m That essentially means the club gets more cash, debt free. So, as it hasn't come by way of a loan, it doesn't attract interest charges. Though, the owners might take money back out through dividends - but that's a discretionary choice the board makes. In saying that it doesn't mean you can then just keep doing that, ignore FFP and just spend an extra £40m. My reading of the article is that it is cash to cover existing running costs, i.e. which you'd have spent anyway. One reason for that might be for cashflow reasons - I.e. to avoid going to the bank instead for an overdraft / loan. The benefit of that being that you don't then incur extra external interest costs, and those costs would count against your results from a FFP perspective.

How do think he'll handle a flair player who maybe doesn't work that hard at times? (We only have one flair player in St Max ?)

Bang go my plans for "Do you wanna be in Howe's gang"

Even if he is just in the stands, that would be a big positive for me.

Totally agree. Per my longer post, I've no idea why we're persisting with Darlow if Dubravka is fit. When he first came in I'd wondered why Rafa was prioritising bringing in a keeper when we had other problems. Then it became totally clear - you need someone else that can pass a ball and not just spank it upfield.

I do agree. Maybe we could push someone like Haydn slightly further forward, but that would be a stop gap. I do think there are a few obvious things we could do if we wanted to improve things, but everyone is an expert, and I've derailed things by talking football now so I'll stop

You could argue that we do have the players to be an attacking team and so maybe an experiment with Howe wouldn't be a bad thing. Wilson, ASM, Almiron, Willock (played right, when fit), all have pace enough to scare most opponents, but only if they get the ball in the right areas. It's just that we punt it high to them in the wrong areas, as our selected defenders in the last couple of games just can't pass, so we're constantly under the cosh when dropping deep as the ball comes straight back. Drop Darlow for Dubravka, and suddenly you have a keeper with distribution, for one thing. Swap Clark for Fernandez, and there's a more intelligent upgrade in the centre of defence. Maybe put Schar in ahead of them as DM, and then you have someone who can tackle and pass out from defence onto some willing runners, like the front 3 / 4 above. And that's before we even get onto playing your actual full backs instead of slotting square pegs into round holes using midfielders. Maybe I'm dreaming with all that, or that it would take too long to coach a different style of play. All I do know is the current sit back approach isn't working and only invites pressure onto an inadequate defence, so why not try and turn the tables and ask a few questions of the opposition for a change? If Howe is the man for that and it works, great. If not and we're relegated, then hopefully we come back playing with an actual blueprint and also with the time to get the right players in who can implement it.

Not to sound bitter, but I hope Emery had a shit birthday and his mam burnt his tea and got him a pencil case for his main present.

If this has seriously been derailed by a press leak, from anyone at our club, whoever has leaked it needs to be identified and be gone immediately. I'm still hoping this is just Emery / Villarreal trying to go for damage limitation in the press. But, we'll see.

The only reason I am not furiously agreeing with this is that Emery still hasn't been announced. So if he says no and we end up getting Howe, I'll have to end up coming up with a whole load of reasons in my own head as to why it was probably all for the best.