There is a line in The Big Short , a 2015 movie about financiers who profited from the U.S. subprime mortgage crash, that makes you think about Everton .
Not because of the labyrinthine, murkily complex methods and unprincipled actions people take to make themselves lots of money. Not exactly that. It’s this.
Advertisement “People hate to think about bad things happening,” says one character. “So they always underestimate their likelihood.” That reflection on a trait otherwise known as normalcy bias might be true for many folk, but not Evertonians.
Nobody who has been on the wild journey of fear and loathing that has sent this fine old club careering to unprecedented lows since Farhad Moshiri’s arrival, initially as co-owner, in 2016 could underestimate a single development anymore. Perhaps they thought a fresh start was going to be possible with the potential new ownership of MSP Capital Sports last May? The New York-based investment company entered into an exclusivity period, only to withdraw from talks. Then there was the drawn-out courting of 777 Partners, a suitor any capable due-diligence process would surely have quickly ruled out.
That, too, ended in failure and damaging consequences that still feel only partially revealed. Finally there was The Friedkin Group, which looked under the bonnet at the state of Everton, baulked and withdrew quicker than its chairman Dan Friedkin can fly a Spitfire. Or take their tumultuous previous season on the field, soundtra.