I think people may be reading The Friedkin Group's approach to Everton the wrong way. Everyone asks why they haven't ripped out the old systems at Finch Farm. Why bring back David Moyes instead of installing a fully modern, data-first structure?

But what if Roma changed the plan?

At Roma, TFG seemed to lean hard into the modern ownership model: process, analytics, long-term logic, less emotion. Then the Daniele De Rossi fallout triggered a huge supporter backlash and exposed something football people already know: clubs aren't spreadsheets.

So maybe Everton isn't the experiment. Maybe Everton is the asset they can't afford to break. Premier League status changes everything. Relegation destroys value. Everton are a big club, financially, in comparison to Roma. Even the Roma fans' protest is centred on Everton as the priority for TFG over Roma. For TFG, stability may be more important than ideology.

Viewed that way, some of the contradictions make more sense. Rather than replacing systems outright, TFG appear to be layering new processes over old ones. Recruitment looks younger and more financially disciplined, but Moyes still leans toward experience and immediate results.

That doesn't necessarily mean confusion. It may mean the plan is: survive first, modernise second. Even a drag in this timeline is a cause for concern knowing Everton's cultural intransigence.

Where I still think there's a disconnect is supporters. Evertonians don't just want competence. They want authenticity. They don't want to feel managed or treated as customers in a transition plan.

Roma may have taught TFG that football clubs have souls and Evertonians are part of that. I'm not convinced they've fully worked out yet how to speak to one.


Reader Responses

Selected thoughts from readers
Certain off-topic comments may be removed to keep the discussion on track

1  Kevin Molloy
26/05/2026    10:32:56

I resent the fact TFG have not had the decency to turn up once since they bought the club. It's rank bad manners, and does not bode well for their attitude towards the fanbase.
they've got themselves into a bit of a pickle now, and it will be interesting to see how they handle it. BMD will be half full if we continue to play as we have been by Christmas, and that is a form of communication they will not be able to ignore. None of the hundred million granted last year has impacted the team save for KDH, and I don't expect them to release another hundred. Moyes will be told to sell, and wheel and deal. but shedding these crap buys aint gonna be easy, and will leave us with a much shrunken pot. Moyes comms in the last month has also made TFG look like masters, we could easily be in crisis in the Autumn, frantically hunting for a manager when there are none to be found. You know, what we usually do. And so the cycle continues.

2  Dennis Stevens
26/05/2026    12:18:07

I'm hoping that some club will come in with an offer to tempt Moyes away this summer, Kevin. Unlikely, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

3  Jerome Shields
27/05/2026    05:18:49

Kevin and Dennis thank you very much for your posts.

Strip away the commercial wins, and TFG have made no meaningful on-pitch progress. Revenue is set to break £250m and the new stadium is complete, but none of that has translated into squad investment or results. The club finished 13th in 2024/2025 and 2025/2026, attacking data improved, but defence regressed. In their first full window, TFG authorised £28m for Dewsbury-Hall, £27m for Barry (who has looked poorly coached), and £40m for an unproven teenager in Dibling (a massive gamble on potential) and £9 million for Aznou who is not in the Squad.

The most significant football appointment, Technical Director Nick Cox, only arrived in October 2025, ten months after the takeover. Finch Farm still lacks the £10-15m upgrade needed to be first-class. TFG have professionalised the boardroom and finished a stadium, but a club is not a balance sheet or real estate. By failing to dismantle the self-preserving silos at Finch Farm or reinvest revenue into squad quality, they have preserved the exact survival ceiling that has existed for years. The physical infrastructure has changed. The institutional culture of mediocrity has not.

Moyes brought stability and safety which is a genuine contribution. But he has preserved 'Finch Farm'and it's broken culture by never challenging its structure, lowering the tactical ceiling to survival football, and absorbing criticism that belongs to the system behind him. He is the perfect manager for a broken culture and that is why he has to go.

My above article was trying to make sense of TFG's approach, but Kevin's comment actually predict how next season will unfold, unless they make a shape of addressing the issues raised.Dennis Moyes is already going away to the World Cup, but will be back in Sept in Spirit only and I won't be watching and of his Pressers.

A new adventurous replacement would find himself very much on square one and very quickly in danger of falling off it.

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