Barry Horne: New Everton owners would be expected to deliver a stadiumIt’s good news that people are interested but I’m not getting carried away and celebrating just yet Goodison Park
It's pretty widely accepted as a theory that if Everton are to progress as a business and as a football team then new investment is needed in the club.
It’s therefore of great interest that a potential group of American buyers have reportedly been handed a period of exclusivity - even though in terms of any possible takeover this is probably only the second rung of the ladder.
Goodison Park in its current state is the problem and while Everton are supposedly doing as well as they can, it appears that they are stuck between a rock and a hard place with no room for expansion.
An opportunity to increase the profit of a business is a factor that most investors are attracted by so you would hope that any new owner would be able to deliver on the stadium front.
We’re told that John Jay Moores had an estimated personal fortune of almost £500million a decade ago which has believed to have grown significantly since but if he’s spending around £200million on the club - which actually seems a snip for what it is - he’d still need to to dig deep into his funds for building a stadium.
In terms of wealth, we can’t all be owned by a Roman Abramovich - or even a Mike Ashley - but given that this group looked at buying Swansea City they are clearly interested in football investment.
Current owner Bill Kenwright has always been very careful and highly selective in who he would sell Everton to and you can only assume that he has used the same healthy scepticism and due diligence with this particular interested party.
It’s good news that people are interested but I’m not getting carried away and celebrating just yet.
Newcastle confidence is still wafer thinNewcastle's recent results have given their position a more respectable look but if I were heading to St James’ Park I’d be looking at their record over the last eight games rather than just the last three.
Steve McClaren has seemingly been taking advice from his psychologist because I heard him say the word “confidence” about 30 times in a Press Conference the other day. I reckon whatever confidence Newcastle might have though is wafer thin and any hopes that they’ve turned a corner could be easily shattered.
Romelu Lukaku has scored four goals in three starts for Everton against Newcastle
There’s no reason why Everton can’t go up there feeling confident of taking the game to their opponents and I’m not sure that the Newcastle fans are ready to believe that everything in the garden is now rosy.
We certainly have the quality in our team to hurt them.
I’m loathed to say that we’ve under-performed because I think that’s over-critical but with Romelu Lukaku bang in form, a creative threat from Ross Barkley and Gerard Deulofeu plus Leighton Baines now back, we should be getting back to winning ways.
Liv Echo