The Friedkin Group gave every Everton employee a Christmas “gift” of £50 a day after completing their takeover as the new owners assured staff there are no plans for job cuts at the club.
It is a new era on Merseyside and while the club remain in the thick of a Premier League relegation battle, there is renewed optimism off-the-field with the new American owners having impressed in their first few weeks.
The bonus was given to every member of staff at Everton and charitable arm Everton in the Community, and was accompanied by an email thanking them for their hard work in difficult times at the club.
The bonus was handed out on the Friday before Christmas – just 24 hours after the Friedkin Group completed the deal to buy out Farhad Moshiri’s majority stake.
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Read MoreRepresentatives of the club – led by new executive chairman Marc Watts, a trusted and long-time confidante of Dan Friedkin – also addressed club staff at Finch Farm and the Liver Building, where they assuaged fears about any restructuring of job cuts, which have been a feature of Ineos’ year in charge at Manchester United across the M62.
Instead the message was about raising standards, with a pledge that there would be an expectation of steady pressure to maximise club revenue, allowing them to grow and improve the club.
Although the Friedkins are ambitious for Everton and want to return the club to former glories, it is notable that there have been no grandiose statements as they “learn from the experience” at Roma where expectations were – on reflection – probably raised too soon.
Observers have also noted Watts’ “personal touch”, with the Texan lawyer understood to have been impressed by the work that was going on behind-the-scenes in difficult circumstances in the final couple of years under Moshiri.
The Friedkin Group wants to use the club’s move to the new stadium at Bramley-Moore dock to vastly increase commercial revenue, which is going to be all-important moving forward.
They want to sell naming rights to the new venue and there will be attempts to maximise partnership deals around the stadium, which opens next year. Test events are planned for the Spring.
The i Paper also understands there were positive initial meetings with Academy staff, with the Friedkins identifying that department as critical in their blueprint for success.
Back in November Gareth Prosser, the club’s Academy manager, pinpointed returning to a full-time training model – which would enable the Toffees to recruit younger players from across the country, rather than just within a smaller geographical radius – as key for progress. That is likely to happen in the short-term.
Improvements to Finch Farm – with a possible indoor training facility – are also being discussed.
But as work continues behind-the-scenes, there is no doubt what the club’s short-term priority is: survival in the Premier League and ensuring they kick off next season at Bramley Moore docks in the top flight.
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Read MoreSources have reaffirmed to The i Paper that there are no plans for a managerial change, with all the upheaval that would usher in, and that there is backing for Sean Dyche as he moves into the final months of his contract.
While there is enthusiasm in some quarters of the fanbase for a change – Everton’s last win was on December 4 and they are just two points clear of 17th-placed Ipswich – there is a measure of practicality about the new owners’ stance.
A managerial search would be difficult to carry out in the midst of so much change at the club and in Everton’s situation, a candidate with a track record of keeping clubs in the top flight like Dyche would probably stand out.
The summer – with so many players due to be out of contract – feels more like the time for a thorough review of the club’s football direction.
Of course that situation could change if Everton’s form flatlines. But for the moment the priority appears to be backing the manager and director of football Kevin Thelwell however they can in the transfer market, with the aspiration to add two first team players within the strict limits of Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).
PSR may restrict what can be done but there is a plan in place – drafted before the takeover – to add in key positions including at full-back. No major departures are anticipated, although Dominic Calvert-Lewin is moving into the final six months of his contract.
Preserving the feel-good factor with results may be difficult given the run of fixtures in January, with a trip to Premier League surprise package Bournemouth followed by a home double header against Aston Villa and Spurs.
But it is up to Dyche to make sure the Friedkins’ gift is the only one handed out by Everton.
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