SA 02/12/17: “The next player we get in is Sam Allardyce's. With all the support of the board and the back-up of the recruitment, I'm not going to go: 'I want that player. I've seen him once and I want that player'.
“I'm not like that, I'm not going to do that, I'm saying: 'I want this player. This backs it up with the recruitment arm of the football club, along with the stats we accumulate'.
“And that first player has to have a real impact at Everton Football Club to prove to everybody that we are going in the right direction with recruitment.
“I put that money into that player but if that player doesn't deliver (people will say): 'Look at that player, look at the money he's wasted on him, oh he's bought him, he's rubbish, what a waste of money'.
“So I'm knackered then, the fans don't trust me, the board doesn't trust me and so my first signing is absolutely critical."
The knobhead.