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Farhad Moshiri

7+ Years On... Your Verdict On Farhad Moshiri

  • Pleased

    Votes: 107 7.7%
  • Disappointed

    Votes: 1,290 92.3%

  • Total voters
    1,397
http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features...-be-following-stereotypical-sugar-daddy-mould

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Why Everton's flushed new owner won’t be following the stereotypical sugar daddy mould
5 hours ago
image: http://images.cdn.fourfourtwo.com/sites/fourfourtwo.com/files/styles/byline_pic/public/pictures/picture-600490-1463579084.jpg?itok=GKOik4oa


Seb Stafford-Bloor






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Farhad Moshiri won't pump money into the transfer market for the sake of it, writes Seb Stafford-Bloor. Instead, Ronald Koeman and Steve Walsh will aim to combine successful structures from their previous clubs on Merseyside

September 1, 2008 was a strange day. Aside from being the transfer deadline, it was also the moment when Manchester City's footballing life changed forever. In the morning, the Abu Dhabi Group completed their takeover and, for the rest of the day, City would throw proposals all over the continent in pursuit of a signature signing.

They would eventually land on Robinho, but the dynamic was of a lottery-winner giddily skipping down Bond Street: it didn't matter who they bought, just so long as they were seen shopping in the right part of town and leaving with something absurdly expensive.



image: http://images.cdn.fourfourtwo.com/s...lic/robinho_manchester_city.jpg?itok=Hcsd00mP

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Man City nabbed Robinho from under Chelsea's noses but his spell was mixed


Over the years, City would refine their approach with great success and, in 2016, they represent a model example of how to extract the most from generous investment and the virtues of process over pure procurement. Still, the memory of that September day lingers and, it seems, supporters of clubs who experience sudden surges in liquidity expect the same patterns to be followed.

"Where is our manic spree? What about our preposterously ill-suited luxury signing?"

A different story




With less than two weeks until the beginning of the new season, Ronald Koeman is yet to make any truly significant outfield additions and it hasn't been the summer that many were expecting or hoping for



In 2016, everyone in Premier League Land is filthy, filthy rich, but even within that context Everton are a special case. In late February of this year, steel and energy magnate Farhad Moshiri bought a 49.9% controlling stake in the club and turned them from one of the division's perennial have-nots to an entirely different proposition.

That's a little bit of a simplification because, admittedly, the days of Mickael Madar and John Oster are a long time ago, but Moshiri's $2bn net worth has the potential to make Everton a financial force. Given their generally thrifty existence over the past few decades, that represents substantial change.

But that is yet to be felt and, gradually, ripples of frustrations are appearing in the fanbase. With less than two weeks until the beginning of the new season, Ronald Koeman is yet to make any truly significant outfield additions and, with only Aston Villa's Idrissa Gueye close to joining, it hasn't been the summer that many were expecting or hoping for.

Silent progression




Moshiri is neither Sheik Mansour nor Roman Abramovich and he hasn't arrived on Merseyside with the normal sugar daddy swagger



But perhaps that's an indication that Everton are well-placed to benefit from their new financial advantage. Having money is not a guarantee of progress, it's only an enabler – and for a club to move from one strata of the game to another, they need to understand how to actualise their opportunity.

Moshiri's wealth is significant enough to alter their future, but it is not so overwhelming as to offer a free pass to football's summit; he is neither Sheikh Mansour nor Roman Abramovich and he hasn't arrived on Merseyside with the normal sugar daddy swagger.



image: http://images.cdn.fourfourtwo.com/s...ge/public/moshiri_kenwright.jpg?itok=nVZ-G-lx

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Farhad Moshiri (left) watches Everton with Bill Kenwright


Consequently, while Everton can now afford to walk with a strut, they can't become reckless investors. Their reach has extended, but their movements must – for the sake of the team's integrity and club's long-term future – still be guided by the imperative of sustainability. That's clearly understood and, irritating though it may be for fans to watch their side in apparent stasis, there are already signs of evolution.

Building the backroom

Koeman himself is emblematic of that. Both during his time at Feyenoord and Southampton, the Dutchman forged a reputation for team construction. Across those five years, he characterised himself as someone who could not only build stable sides from a revolving cast of components, but also as a disciplinarian whose success depended on his access to a particular type of professional. Malleable and talented, of course, but also impressionable and submissive.

Southampton's strength over the past two years has been their defensive organisation and the combined value of their parts – they were never reliant on star names or on individuals rising above the rest of the group. For that kind of manager to be a success, it's essential for his employer to bend its shape to him – most crucially in terms of the way it recruits.



image: http://images.cdn.fourfourtwo.com/s...eman_celebrates_southampton.jpg?itok=7k6dPDpT

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Koeman's Southampton were built on teamwork, not stellar stars


Koeman's strengths were accentuated by the fertile academies at his last two clubs, but also by the talent identification programmes employed by each. Southampton's technical director Les Reed, for instance, is a notoriously studious recruiter and his supporting department is famously deep. Koeman was prosperous on the south coast because of his literal coaching abilities and admirable training ground acumen, but also because the footballing and technical departments were so smartly aligned.

Everton, to their credit, have recognised that. Their appointment of Steve Walsh as their new Director of Football is an indication that they're intent on extracting maximum value from their new investment and, neatly, signifies the beginning of a new era.

Walsh was one of the backbone figures in Leicester's recent title success and directly responsible for bringing Riyad Mahrez and N'Golo Kante to the East Midlands. More pertinently, however, his CV identifies him as someone who sees overlooked value: Danny Drinkwater, Danny Simpson and Marc Albrighton were all deemed unsuited to Premier League life before Walsh helped give them the opportunity to prove otherwise.



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Drinkwater and Simpson were picked up for small fees but exemplary in Leicester's Premier League success


He may not be a King Midas figure and his transfer record at Leicester wasn't perfect, but his arrival still adds substance to Moshiri's stated intention to modernise that club's non-footballing practices.

Fine pickings

With the Walsh/Koeman combination in place, they're equipped to combine short-term ambition with long-term logic and lasting returns, and to avoid the aimless splurging syndrome which might have befallen them. Rather than mimicking the early days of Abramovich or those first frantic hours of the Abu Dhabi Group, they appear to have skipped ahead to the more considered stage of the process and to the point at which strategy shapes spending, rather than the other way around.



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Encouragingly, that's a common feature in almost all the English clubs which could be considered progressive. It's a philosophy which allowed Southampton to consolidate in the top flight, of course, but Tottenham are also indebted to their holistic infrastructure.

Years of misdirected spending have shaped the modern thinking at White Hart Lane and, rather than relying on London's attractiveness to foreign players or a comparatively high wage budget, the organisation's visible development has been accelerated by interdepartmental cohesion.

Eventually, the players will come to Goodison Park. Rather than being new names for the sake of novelty, though, they will be carefully selected pieces who have been carefully filtered to meet a criteria. Money may be the dominant currency in modern football, but its influence is always amplified when constrained by considered processes.

Rather than being a cause for concern, then, this short, initial delay is an indication that Everton are willing to check the trajectory before they load their cannons.


Read more at http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features...typical-sugar-daddy-mould#2eDKtOeJbpDtCJz6.99
...that was well worth reading. It was a spot-on analysis.
Thanks for posting
 
IMO he's a spoofer and he'll invest as little as possible.
If he pushes above his 49.9% holding then I might believe he's not just in it for the TV money. But I think he is and he's not going to bring the club into the top tier of the PL.
 

One more directed at @The Esk, feel free to ignore but it's an open question.

Do you regret your choice of language post-takeover?

I can't help but think that, maybe (just maybe) your rambunctious shouts of us being able to compete 'with the best in world football' and to 'expect a summer the likes you have never seen before' have been a key factor in the disillusion with many supporters on this forum. As a seasoned professional you obviously understand the importance of managing expectations and the results of failing to do so.

I also concede that you're just like the rest of us and have nothing to do in terms of the communication of the club to its supporters - but as someone of distinction on this forum it would have been beneficial to scale back a little bit.
 
I can't help but think that, maybe (just maybe) your rambunctious shouts of us being able to compete 'with the best in world football' and to 'expect a summer the likes you have never seen before' have been a key factor in the disillusion with many supporters on this forum. As a seasoned professional you obviously understand the importance of managing expectations and the results of failing to do so.

I also concede that you're just like the rest of us and have nothing to do in terms of the communication of the club to its supporters - but as someone of distinction on this forum it would have been beneficial to scale back a little bit.

100% agree with everything in this post. The Esk built fans' hopes up to unprecidented levels, and probably ought to have been a little more cautious in promising the world and insisting it's all going to happen. While he may very well have been provided that info, passing it on to the whole forum, and indeed world via Twitter, almost in a showing off way ("Mata is ours" etc), probably wasn't the wisest idea.

He appeared to tell us all that we're signing all these players, then weeks later claimed to only know about deals in their "early stages" and thus couldn't really say for sure whether or not said deals will even come off.

Everybody appreciates knowledge being shared, but the way it has happened over the past month here has been a shame.
 
Do you regret your choice of language post-takeover?

I can't help but think that, maybe (just maybe) your rambunctious shouts of us being able to compete 'with the best in world football' and to 'expect a summer the likes you have never seen before' have been a key factor in the disillusion with many supporters on this forum. As a seasoned professional you obviously understand the importance of managing expectations and the results of failing to do so.

No mate I do not, and I think you over estimate the impact of what I have said.

What's more the transfer window has the best part of a month to run. We have a new manager, a DoF, a new management structure, debt cleared, short term refurbishment of Goodison, advanced plans for a dockside stadium, money in the bank and none of our key targets have signed for competitors, so still all to play for on the transfer front.

I stand by my assessment that this will be a summer we have never seen the likes of before.
 

No mate I do not, and I think you over estimate the impact of what I have said.

What's more the transfer window has the best part of a month to run. We have a new manager, a DoF, a new management structure, debt cleared, short term refurbishment of Goodison, advanced plans for a dockside stadium, money in the bank and none of our key targets have signed for competitors, so still all to play for on the transfer front.

I stand by my assessment that this will be a summer we have never seen the likes of before.

I agree with you 100%, but the choice of language has maybe been a little reckless. This is just an opinion, but you need to consider the implications of touting uncertainties ("Mata is ours") as certainties and the resulting fallout when things don't go to plan.
 
I agree with you 100%, but the choice of language has maybe been a little reckless. This is just an opinion, but you need to consider the implications of touting uncertainties ("Mata is ours") as certainties and the resulting fallout when things don't go to plan.

You and everyone else is entitled to your opinion mate, just as I am.
 
IMO he's a spoofer and he'll invest as little as possible.
If he pushes above his 49.9% holding then I might believe he's not just in it for the TV money. But I think he is and he's not going to bring the club into the top tier of the PL.
I have a completely different spin on things.
I think Moshiri is, in the money-mad 'norms' of today, going to be the saviour of our club; lending rational, objective business process "when all about are losing theirs" .

...I might be wrong of course
 
You and everyone else is entitled to your opinion mate, just as I am.

But surely, as a forum member of distinction - you should consider the use of language used when passing on information?

Again, I really do appreciate and respect you as a man of knowledge - but it's not as if you're just another jarg ITK account on Twitter going for re-tweets and mentions. You're a distinguished member of one of the largest Everton forums with a viewership exceeding thousands of people.

I can see the wholesale changes, but maybe it would be a good idea to tone it down a bit as to not further disillusion more supporters.
 
No mate I do not, and I think you over estimate the impact of what I have said.

What's more the transfer window has the best part of a month to run. We have a new manager, a DoF, a new management structure, debt cleared, short term refurbishment of Goodison, advanced plans for a dockside stadium, money in the bank and none of our key targets have signed for competitors, so still all to play for on the transfer front.

I stand by my assessment that this will be a summer we have never seen the likes of before.

Here here.

The trouble is that so many have become unused to having expectations, ambitions and in fact a future. If you doom mongers wait until the window closes then, in the unlikely case that we make no signings just sales, have a rip then at the moment some of you sound like babies moaning because Santa hasn't brought your present yet....................PATIENCE BLUES!
 

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