Okay so have emailed Dan Friedkin and Marc Watts. My email was titled 'A Question of Ambition'. Here it is
Dear Mr Friedkin and Mr Watts,
I am writing as a lifelong Everton fan who welcomed The Friedkin Group's acquisition of Everton Football Club and the vision that accompanied it. For many Evertonians, your arrival represented more than a change of ownership. It represented hope. After years of financial constraints, uncertainty and decline, fans believed Everton finally had an opportunity to reset its trajectory and begin building towards a brighter future.
The move to
Hill Dickinson Stadium should have marked the beginning of that new era.
It is therefore difficult to understand the CEO's recent comments that he is "happily dissatisfied" at the conclusion of the 2025/26 season. For many fans, there appears to be very little in the club's on-field performance to be satisfied about and even less to be happy about.
My concern is not simply about one manager, one player or one season. My concern is about ambition.
Evertonians did not support the takeover simply because they wanted a more stable version of the club they already had. They supported it because they believed The Friedkin Group could help Everton become what it once was.
At the close of the twentieth century, only three clubs had won more English league titles than Everton. Everton was not built on a culture of survival, acceptance or managed decline. It was built on the principle that has defined the club for generations: Nil Satis Nisi Optimum.
Supporters understand that nobody can guarantee league titles. However, the ambition to restore Everton to a position where it can once again challenge, and compete among the leading clubs in English football should remain unchanged.
Everton's history should not be viewed as a burden or an unrealistic benchmark. It should be viewed as a reminder of what this football club is capable of becoming when ambition is matched by leadership.
That is why many fans are struggling to understand the apparent lack of ambition surrounding the club's football direction. Despite a full season under
David Moyes, transfer investment, new ownership and the move to
Hill Dickinson Stadium, Everton finished the season with just one more point than was achieved during the previous campaign. League position and points totals remain the primary measures by which football clubs are judged and whether progress is being made.
At a time when Everton has new ownership, a new stadium and a unique opportunity to redefine itself, two managers with proven records of sustained overachievement are available.
Oliver Glasner has repeatedly demonstrated an ability to take clubs beyond their expected level across multiple leagues and has added further silverware to an already impressive managerial record. Andoni Iraola has established himself as one of the Premier League's most progressive coaches, consistently improving clubs operating with fewer resources than many of their competitors.
Opportunities to appoint managers of that calibre do not arise frequently. Opportunities to consider two such managers simultaneously are rarer still.
Fans therefore have a legitimate question.
Has Everton genuinely challenged itself to identify the very best leadership available to drive the club forward, or has it settled for stability at a moment that called for greater ambition? The move to Hill Dickinson Stadium should be remembered as the moment Everton accelerated towards the future, not as the moment the club became comfortable with standing still.
The next few months will define the next decade of Everton Football Club.
If Everton is not prepared to be ambitious at the beginning of a new era, in a new stadium, under new ownership, then when exactly will that ambition arrive?
I remain hopeful that The Friedkin Group's vision for Everton extends beyond stability and towards genuine competitiveness at the highest levels of English and European football.
I hope the concerns of many fans are given serious consideration as the club determines its football strategy for the years ahead.
Hill Dickinson Stadium should be the platform from which Everton begins the long journey back towards the standards that once made it one of English football's most successful clubs, not a monument to reduced expectations.
Carpe Diem.
