Last Wednesday at Goodison Park was not the first time a group of supporters turned on their own board. But this felt different.
Not least because Marcel Brands, who copped an earful from one irate Everton fan, seemed to agree.
“Is it only the players?,” Brands retorted in the aftermath of Everton’s 4-1 home defeat to bitter rivals Liverpool, their heaviest derby loss at Goodison Park in nearly four decades (Echo).
The implication was that Brands was as displeased by the goings on behind scenes as those supporters.
The typically straight-talking Dutchman walked away from his sporting director role just four days later amid claims that his influence was being restricted by the meddling of majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri.
A case in point; Brands didn’t expect Everton to sign Alex Iwobi on the final day of the summer 2019 transfer window.
By the time the clock struck 5pm, Iwobi was holding a blue scarf up to the Merseyside sky, a £35 million deal signed, sealed and delivered – seemingly without the approval of a man who was brought in from PSV Eindhoven to oversee recruitment.
Could Everton really sign Kieran Trippier?
Reports linking Everton with a January move for Atletico Madrid’s England international Kieran Trippier, then, may be greeted with little more than a derisory scoff and a defeatist chorus of ‘well, that’s never going to happen’ (90Min).
The pessimism would be well placed.
Everton have failed to solve their problem position throughout the Moshiri era. It is damning that Coleman, their long-serving 33-year-old skipper, is viewed by Benitez as the club’s only senior right-back option.
Trippier, in contrast, is one of the best in his position anywhere in Europe.
A 35-cap international, a World Cup finalist and a La Liga champion to boot. Unfortunately for an Everton side propelled from riches to rags by the vice-like grip of Financial Fair Play, he is also very expensive.
90Min believe that a Newcastle side bankrolled by Saudi Arabian billionaires will stump up £150,000-a-week, plus a cash bid of £25 million. Sums that Everton are unlikely to – and probably unable to – match.
If you asked Everton supporters to name their dream January signing, Trippier would rank quite highly. An elite-level right-back, a silver-bullet, cure-all solution to an ailment that has been allowed to linger for far too long.
Dreams and reality, however, are two very different things. And our gut instinct tells us that Benitez will be powerless to prevent Trippier joining the club he turned his back on in 2019 due to concerns over their ambition and spending power.
Two years ago, Everton were splashing the cash on shiny new garments while Newcastle were merely making do and mending, stitching together unwanted items in the hope of constructing something comfortable.
How times have changed.
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