Out of all of the teams getting themselves prepared and ready for the new Premier League campaign Everton look the most unstable. It is significant because they are a club who hold the record for the most consecutive seasons in the top flight which is now in its 8th decade. It is significant also because in some quarters Everton can still be seen as a big side. Big tradition, a loyal fan base but at the other side of the spectrum is the fact that this is a club who have struggled to make any sort of impact for the past 30 years, save a 1995 FA Cup win. Indeed that is the last time Everton have won a trophy, and it just isn't good enough.
There are moments of course where every club struggles, even the great Manchester City may see a fall off once Pep Guardiola steps down but for Everton who alongside Liverpool were the toast of England in the 1980s there doesn't seem to be any immediate hope of the situation getting better. It has been clear as daylight to see the struggles of the club for the past few seasons and while they have gone 28 years without a trophy normally they have been able to put in some very solid seasons and achieve great results. While fans in the last 20 years have been realistic in the club picking up silverware there has still been a sense of optimism that they can and will play good football and try to finish in the top half of the league and perhaps snatch a European place. That hope is quite frankly dead as we enter the 2023/24 season and it has been like this at the club since Carlo Ancelotti upped and left.
The mismanagement as a business has been staggering and that looks set to bite the club terribly at the end of the year when the FA come to their decision about the Toffees not just breaking but obliterating the FFP rules in how much you can overspend in a 3 year period. For Everton it seems like they have tripled the £100m loss limit. Fans will worry that on top of the clubs problems a points deduction penalty may be imposed next season but traditionally the FA has been against such measures and that has been rarely handed out, instead the mother of all financial fines may be dealt out to the club and a possible transfer embargo which would surely cripple the club in the short term. We will have to wait and see for the outcome but it will be on everyone's minds who is associated with the club.
The immediate problem is that Everton have next to no funds and it doesn't help that a new stadium is being built which should be ready for the start of the 2024/25 season. It will be fantastic and will move the club on and sometimes change is needed. But we have seen countless times, and Arsenal is a good example, that a change of stadium usually means waiting even longer for success, and it is another reason why the next decade does not look good for this famous club.
Another worry is that this current Everton side is lacking quality. They have seen the pace of Anthony Gordon disappear to the Newcastle bench and the important goals of Richarlison head south to Tottenham where in general the Brazilian has struggled. When talk emerged of losing Jordan Pickford this summer you had to have a good sense of humour. Surely the England goalkeeper is the solid foundation reason that Everton have been able to keep their top flight status intact over the last two seasons when normally a side in this position would have been relegated. Transfer news looks bleak at present. Ashley Young has come on a free from Aston Villa, this deal would have been superb a decade ago but Young is simply not young at 38, does this not scream a lack of ambition? Purse strings will be tight but somehow the club needs to bring in 3-4 quality players, if not the bottom three looks secured.
Finally should Everton keep Sean Dyche? If we remember his very high points at Burnley that question isn't needed, but he had his low points too. Yes Dyche was able to navigate Everton's survival in the end, but look at how the same thing turned out for Frank Lampard who had a nightmare second season. Dyche does have the experience though and looks up for the battle and it will be a huge one. However it doesn't look good to notice that Everton's main result under Dyche were defeats with 7 from 18 games. However in his 18 games in charge the club did earn 21 points and that would mean a 44 point finish on average over a full season, that type of improvement would be huge for the club this season. The question remains if Dyche can make it work over nine months with the current state of the side or will this famous club in their final season at Goodison Park finally be relegated and have the greatest stadium in the Championship?
Selected Everton odds for the 2023/24 season:
To win the Premier League: 1001.00
To finish in the top 4: 151.00
To be relegated: 4.33
Everton to finish higher than:
Luton 1.10
Sheffield United 1.30
Bournemouth 1.66
Nottingham Forest 1.66
Burnley 1.72
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