There is nothing inherently wrong with a football club owner keeping out of the way. Plenty of Evertonians would probably prefer it to the alternative.
But there is keeping out of the way, and then there is being completely detached.
David Moyes’ revelation that he has never spoken directly to Dan Friedkin since returning to Everton in January 2025 has inevitably raised questions about where that line currently sits.
Moyes himself doesn’t appear particularly troubled by the arrangement. His main contact is chief executive Angus Kinnear, with Rishi Majithia adding another direct link to the ownership.
In a well-functioning structure, that can work well. The problem comes when things aren’t working well. Like now.
Deadline Day exposed the disconnect
Everton’s final few days of the transfer window were chaotic.
To recap: the club accepted an offer for Harrison Armstrong before reversing that decision, then sold Iliman Ndiaye to City and Beto to Fiorentina. The attempt to sign Folarin Balogun subsequently collapsed following problems with his medical, and the striker eventually walked away from the proposed move.
Moyes was left with just 18 senior outfield players and Thierno Barry as his only recognised striker and Vitalii Mykolenko as his only left-back, despite repeatedly making clear that he wanted more additions.
Nobody can reasonably pin every one of those events on Friedkin. Owners employ chief executives and recruitment teams precisely so they don’t have to conduct transfer negotiations themselves.
But ownership is about more than signing cheques.
There has to be a clear direction, good communication and, when necessary, somebody at the very top prepared to get involved and be visible.
Moyes said on Friday that successful clubs need to be “aligned”. After the way Everton’s window unravelled, that word feels carefully chosen.
A manager of Moyes’ experience doesn’t need Dan Friedkin ringing him every morning. Equally, it is difficult to argue that never having spoken to your manager at all represents an ideal relationship between owner and manager.
Everton have spent years experiencing one extreme of football ownership. Perhaps the lesson from this week is that going too far in the other direction creates problems of its own.
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