I've got a message for Dan Friedkin to make him feel differently about Everton

To hear that Everton owner Dan Friedkin has never even made a phone call to David Moyes, that’s off, that’s wrong. If you’re a player, you’ll be thinking: “what’s going on here?”

We all know that American owners often don’t get emotionally attached. We’ve seen it at Manchester United with the Glazers and other clubs.

The red flag for me was when Dan Friedkin didn’t turn up for the last game at Goodison Park. The final day there was the most emotional time in Everton’s history.

Does he not want to be emotionally attached so he doesn’t feel the need to have to put his hand in his pocket? For us as Evertonians, it was very sentimental, but you want your owner to be there, to understand the football club.

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Everton is not a spreadsheet. You can’t build-up your understanding of it from word of mouth from other people, not matter how close they are to you, or whether they’re employed to run your business for you.

Evertonians want to see our owner. We want him to be involved in our football club.

Even our former owner Farhad Moshiri, who wasn’t seen at Goodison for the last few years on his tenure, has been to watch Everton on several occasions at Hill Dickinson Stadium and was back there again on Sunday against Manchester United. That’s not a good look for Dan Friedkin.

Yes, he’s stabilised us financially and put Everton on a more solid footing in that respect. We might have been taken down a huge rabbit hole if offers from 777 Partners or John Textor had been accepted, so we must thank The Friedkin Group for that, but we don’t just want to be existing, we want to be challenging.

Having your owner around sets the levels for the football club. If you’re a player and you see the owner there, whether you’re a player, on the catering staff, the financial side or in the boot room, you’re kept on your toes.

Of course he can’t be there all the time. You don’t want him being a fake, but it makes a difference.

Maybe he offers a word of encouragement? That would have a player buzzing.

On the flip side, there could be the scare factor, and you might think he could buy whoever he wants and put you out of a job. That doesn’t exist with a hands-off approach, that’s not Everton Football Club.

When the owner isn’t around or you’re delegating tasks to others, then standards can slip. Then, where is the accountability?

When everyone is in line, from top to bottom, we’ve seen how amazing this football club is. But while we’ve got the finances now, it doesn’t feel like we’re in that situation anymore.

Now we’re hearing that they might want more investment. But if that’s the case, you need to bring the new investors to the stadium yourself and show them what it’s all about.

You haven’t even seen it yourself! If you’re trying to sell it to new investors, you’re leaving it in the hands of a third party and getting estate agents to do the job for you.

My message to Dan Friedkin would be to come around. Come see what it’s all about.

If you were to ever meet the people of Everton Football Club, then you’d fall in love with it.

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