Bill Kenwright is an emotional man, a passionate chairman, who has cried in the directors’ box over the highs and lows of his beloved Everton - but rarely, if ever, does he give interviews.
The Toffees chief made an exception to talk to BT Sport on the eve of our televised clash between Manchester City and Everton at the Etihad Stadium.
Kenwright’s wish is that, at the end of it, the Toffees remain the only unbeaten team in the Premier League.
If that wish is granted, it might be time to bring out the handkerchief again, but the new-look Everton under Roberto Martinez face one of their most demanding tasks as opposite number Manuel Pellegrini aims to gets his stuttering City side back on track in the race for the Premier League title.
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Dave (Whelan) said to me ‘I am passing on the best manager I’ve seen in 60-odd years in football. He is a one-off’."
Bill Kenwright
Kenwright hasn’t spoken about his new manager since the day Martinez took over from David Moyes, with whom the Everton chairman had a close and personal relationship.
However heart-wrenching it must have been to have lost Moyes to Manchester United, the Toffees currently sit five points clear of United – so how does Kenwright feel about that?
“I don’t want to comment on that!” came the instant reply.
But while the theatre impresario was not keen to talk about Moyes’ difficult bedding-in period at United, he was more than happy to wax lyrical about Martinez and the influence he has had on Everton in such a short space of time.
When Kenwright came calling to Wigan for the Spaniard, Latics chairman Dave Whelan told him he was getting a diamond.
The Everton chairman explained: “Dave said to me ‘I am passing on the best manager I’ve seen in 60-odd years in football. He is a one-off’.
“He also told me Roberto was the nicest guy he had ever met in his life, the most positive and straightforward, and he was right.”
Unbeaten record
Everton have won three and drawn three of their six Premier League games this season and Kenwright admitted: “It would be absolutely glorious and indeed fitting if we could go into the international break with our unbeaten record intact.
“For me and for Everton that is all that matters right now, as it would be a fitting tribute to the manager. I have watched him from the moment he came to this club and he has performed extraordinarily.
“The way he has set about the club from the very start of the season, his whole approach has been different class.
“Did I say from the start of the new season? No, I would say from day one, from the moment he took over the football club.”
Kenwright took a call from Martinez as we were speaking and revealed: “He is arranging a ‘surprise, surprise’ moment for an Evertonian, that’s the way he is.
“He’s preparing for a big game, but he is a hero in the way he does things. I know what Dave Whelan meant now.”
Martinez is not the only one making Kenwright smile. Teenage midfielder Ross Barkley is giving the chairman every reason to be proud after being named in Roy Hodgson’s squad for the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers.
Kenwright added: “Evertonians love nothing more than one of their own sons coming through the ranks. Ross is special, very special, and we are all enjoying watching him emerge as a great local talent.”