Chocoholic

The Bloos got a penalty at home, and Beto missed it, because the Premier League is corrupt and want to see them relegated. Everton 0-0 West Ham Former Tottenham and England goalkeeper, Paul Robinson, on BBC Radio 5 Live "If you don't like seeing goals go to Goodison Park."

https://twitter.com/RobertBohan/status/1759628616600604796 Edit: I've tried to embed this, but this message appears below You have used all of the attachment space you are allowed. Manage Attachments to free up space I've gone to the attachments page but I can't see any way of selecting any of them to remove them.

BBC match page: I'm going to surprise you. Bruno Fernandes is down on the ground whinging. This time he was fouled to be fair. You never know with him. Hahahaha

Can anyone imagine any other club's second string and kids doing that, in any round, never mind in the final? No. Didn't think so.

Another mega-stat

Pretenders Chelsea and their 'firsts'. Who do they think they are, Everton?

He's going to need one hell of a sick-note from his Ma to explain how he couldn't play, but still celebrate like THAT!

Heartening to see him loving it so much, when you think of the number of ex-player quims there are in the media, queueing up to piss on our chips.

Looks like a man who's missed out on a little more than a speedboat Here's what you could've won, greedy cunt.

Winning is alien to him

That's how, and more importantly, when you celebrate with a camera, Mr Odegaard.

Trophy-laden fist pumps!

When asked how he felt after losing to a Liverpool side with so many key players missing, he tried to claim that they were missing players too. Who? Silva? A 38yo player in a billion pound assembled team? Poch, and his shower of tory cunt players and fans... Get fucked!

Don't know if this has been posted before now, as I'm still jumping between reading this thread and BBC and others, to prolong the joy of the aftermath Posted at 18:3818:38 Post update FT: Chelsea 0-1 Liverpool Caoimhín Kelleher hasn't conceded a goal in either of his two finals for Liverpool (both vs Chelsea), despite facing 13 shots on target and 3.9 xG on target. So many heroes out there today. All immense. So much has been said about Virgil, that doesn't need repeating. But a special word for Caoimhín, Conor and Endo. The above stat speaks volumes for what an absolute gem we have. Klopp says, rightly, that we have best keeper in the world, and the best no 2 keeper. It's an amazing performance for one who could get so disillusioned at having that best goalkeeper in the world ahead of him. But he just keeps on performing and delivering miracles in huge games. Conor Bradley has had such a whirlwind couple of months. From the highest of highs, to the unenviable lowest of lows, and back again. All the time maintaining the highest standards, exceeding expectations with a skillset, attitude and maturity of a much older player. It is so thrilling to look forward to many more years of this exceptional player. He may have stealthily got deserved recognition in his recent performances, but Endo has today, blown all of that out of the water, with a magnificent performance that has truly announced this 'second thought, third choice, consolation prize' of a defensive midfielder, as anything but. In a different world, we could have ended up with a player who put Gravenberch on a stretcher, but ended another game for Chelsea as a loser, but instead, we got a player wants to play for Liverpool, and for us. In doing so, we have a Samurai fighter and winner. That fucker was everywhere! Wataru Endo, we salute you. Closer to home, special thanks to @Bjornebye who threw a great lifeline with an amazing array of links, on the day my IPTV service decided it wasn't in the mood to work.

That went well

Anel talking out of his arse.

Brentford play there April 27th. It'd be wonderful to think he could score a goal that makes a difference to their survival, or lack thereof, you know, just to show them that he can actually score.

Had Moyes won that with Everton instead of West Ham,(Ok, I know, I know!) it would surely have eclipsed all of our European Cups put together, and have them tell us our heads have all fallen off.

Moyes: I'm a winner... just ask the Everton fans

What was the celebration?

Magic Mo!

Hahahaha Joe Cole: Salah showing signs of rustiness, but he has looked sharp!

As bad as Everton are, it seems 777 need them more than they need 777. https://josimarfootball.com/2024/02/16/everton-or-bust/ Features 16 February, 2024 A new document reveals who exactly is behind attempts by 777 Partners to acquire Everton, and just how badly the Miami investment firm needs Premier League approval for the deal. By Paul Brown and Philippe Auclair The clock is ticking for 777 Partners when it comes to their attempted acquisition of Everton. The process has now dragged on into a fifth month and the American investors are still awaiting Premier League approval. A new document seen by Josimar sheds light on why the Miami investment firm is so eager to persist with the purchase. The document suggests that 777 need Everton even more than the club needs them. It also outlines the strategy behind the attempted takeover and reveals key details of the deal. And yet, it was not put together by 777 themselves but by A-CAP, a New York “risk solution and service provider” operating a network of insurance companies. A-CAP is run by chairman and CEO Kenneth King, who is alleged of being part of a “complex and massive fraud” in an ongoing civil lawsuit in the USA, and has sat in on meetings of the 777 steering committee. King’s insurance companies have for months been propping up 777, with internal sources claiming it is facing a liquidity crisis. Those insurance companies are currently under investigation by US regulators for suspected breaches of financial rules. The full extent of A-CAP’s involvement in Everton, and how this may impact both the fragile finances of the club and the likelihood of Premier League approval for the takeover, is made clear in this document. Dated 31 August 2023, two weeks before 777’s agreement to purchase Everton was made public, the 44-page A-CAP “Investment Overview” gives the specific details of the deal to buy the Merseyside club, including confirmation that the ultimate source of the first 40 million pound- loan made by 777 to Everton was A-CAP, with the club paying an interest rate of 12.75 percent. 777’s loans to the club, made to cover working capital and ongoing stadium costs, have since ballooned to almost 200 million pounds, loading more debt onto an already debt-ridden club. Josimar has been told that it is A-CAP which is continuing to provide this money. It is a bold commitment, given how little security the borrower is able to bring to the table. The document confirms, for instance, that A-CAP’s money is secured by “entering the current Senior Lending Facility in a last out position.” The senior lender here is Rights and Media Funding, which has a charge over all of Everton’s assets, including its bank accounts. It also suggests that 777, and therefore ACAP and its insurance policyholders, are last in line for repayment. The document also claims that A-CAP capital “will initially be used to bolster the Everton roster via activity in the transfer market”. Yet Everton’s only activity in the January window was the loan of Mason Holgate to Sheffield United. In return for its investment, A-CAP “will receive a 2.5 percent warrant” in the 777 Football Group, in other words the right to own equity in that entity. The document goes on to say that 777 “will sell a minority interest” in its Football Group in order to repay a portion of this loan from A-CAP. The document explains that A-CAP’s “support” of the Everton acquisition will “materially increase” the overall value of the 777 Football Group’s multi-club portfolio, and allow it to “raise capital […] and sell equity, creating liquidity.” It estimates that owning Everton would justify a higher overall enterprise value for all 777’s clubs, generating at least 3.2 times more revenue for the group. This, it is hoped, would attract new investors and “increase the execution certainty” of an attempt to raise capital on their behalf by broker Tifosy, which has so far proved unsuccessful.The document says they expected “the floor” for a “debt raise including Everton” to be 300m euros. It is unlikely that this money would be used for new signings as billed, as the document also states that the 777 Football Group “is expected to have 240-300 million euro of working capital needed to reach stabilization across all clubs.” This is the paradox at the heart of the matter: Everton are in such need of working capital that they require regular loans from an entity which is in dire need of working capital itself. One projection made in the document, estimates that even then, the 777 Football Group “will need to sell equity between 30-50% to cover financing needs.” 777 Partners appears to be facing a huge squeeze on its finances. They have failed to make payroll more than once in recent months and have discussed pursuing a large headcount reduction plan in order to cut costs. Key staff have left the company without being replaced. They are facing multiple debt recovery lawsuits, and their reinsurance business was downgraded by a credit ratings agency. Some of its subsidiary companies have been forced to borrow money at rates of interest as high as 52 percent. In addition, two major sources of current funding are under threat. In Bermuda, the monetary authority has already placed 777re, the reinsurance business where much of the group’s assets are held, into administrative control pending an investigation into suspected breaches of financial rules. A similar investigation into A-CAP and it’s insurance companies could result in the same action, or worse, as the authorities there have the power to revoke the licences of those companies. Everton is not just the biggest sporting investment 777 have ever attempted, it is also crucial for the long-term survival of the firm itself. Everton already has other lenders to repay. US investment group MSP, who were initially Moshiri’s preferred choice to buy the club, have 137 million pounds invested into the Everton Stadium Development company. This money must be paid off if there is a change of ownership. The A-CAP document states that it will indeed be repaid, and converted into equity by 777, but that any such repayment is “contingent” on an outside capital raise. It is unclear what would happen therefore, if that capital raise were to be unsuccessful. As for the stadium itself, the document claims that “significant enterprise value/collateral value” can be “unlocked” via the Stadium Company once the build is completed, suggesting 777 and A-CAP intend to use Bramley Moore Dock to raise yet more finance. In the risk section of the document, there is also an entry stating that if the Stadium Company “cannot obtain third-party capital” to complete the build, “A-CAP can underwrite the construction and syndicate a loan.” Premier League is still conducting their Owners and Directors Test into 777, and given the amount of time this process has already taken, it is safe to assume that CEO Richard Masters has yet to receive the “satisfactory answers” he alluded to before a Parliamentary committee last month. Josimar understands that on Thursday of this week the league submitted a fresh set of questions into 777’s ability to fund its purchase of Everton, to both the Miami firm and club owner Moshiri. Josimar has been told by more than one source close to the process that the league will not allow any takeover of the club which saddles it with even more debt. And we understand there is a rival bidder preparing an offer which would avoid doing this altogether. [This links to a paywalled article, the first few paragraphs visible are included below] “I too have my doubts about 777” With no deadline for a decision, and no actual decision yet in sight, the importance of adding Everton to 777’s portfolio is also highlighted by the efforts the US group is making to keep its more problematic assets afloat. The rationale behind this is simple. Should one of their clubs face bankruptcy, any hope of convincing the Premier League that the group has the financial means to steady the Liverpool club and ensure its longer-term future would be dealt a fatal blow. Of these clubs, the one facing the clearest and most present danger is Standard de Liège, of whom sports economist Wim Lagae said in a recent interview with Nieuwsblad that “all [their] indicators were red” and that their financial situation was “the worst in the Jupiler League, together with Oostende”. Standard, who’ve been regularly late in paying their staff and were issued two transfer bans by the Belgian regulator in 2023 for failing to honour their commitments, have to find the means to pacify creditors who are due close to 40 million euros within the current tax year. 777 is also committed to paying the multi-million second tranche of what they owe previous owner Bruno Venanzi before the end of April. Sources have confirmed to Josimar, should they fail to pay Venanzi, the ownership of Standard would automatically revert to the Belgian businessman. The fragility of the finances of Standard (who were also fined 30,000 euro by the Belgian regulator on Valentine’s Day for not filing their accounts on time) is also illustrated by a bizarre twist of events which neither the club nor its CEO Pierre Locht have denied when contacted by Josimar. The club was meant to reimburse a 3 million euro loan taken from its former star player Marouane Fellaini in April 2023, but exercised the option to push back the date of the payment by one year. Meanwhile, Standard – who did not spend a cent in the January transfer market, to the dismay of their fans – offered a 3-year professional contract to 19-year-old French striker Maxime Mejjati-Alami, despite the fact that he hadn’t played a single game for Standard’s reserves when on loan from FC Nantes. Maxime happens to be the son of Fellaini’s agent Karim Mejjati. It has been suggested to Josimar by two separate Belgian sources that this deal was a ‘sweetener’ intended to placate Mejjati senior and, by association, Fellaini himself. We asked the club whether they could confirm this, and whether or not this constituted a conflict of interest, but have so far received no response. Standard CEO Pierre Locht interviewed on RTBF’s ‘La Tribune’ programme, 5 February 2024. Standard’s CEO Pierre Locht added to the uncertainty surrounding his club when he was invited to take part in “La Tribune”, a discussion programme broadcast by Belgian state network RTBF on 5 February. Asked about the questions about 777 Partners raised by the reporting of media such as Josimar, Locht replied: “People have doubts about 777, and, sometimes, I have mine too. But I’m not here to be the advocate of 777, I cannot endorse everything”. Mr Locht did not elaborate on what these doubts could be when asked by Josimar. Locht recently told a group of Standard fans that 777 would plough in another 15 million euros into the club via a share issue which can then be accounted against the club’s losses – the “accordion trick” which they’ve used several times before to support the club. But, as one source put it to Josimar, this was not the only or, indeed, the main motivation behind this new investment. According to the source: “777 is putting money into Standard in order not to jeopardise the purchase of Everton”. “One of the concerns about 777 is that, if they do acquire Everton FC”, adds football finance analyst and author of The Price Of Football Kieran Maguire, “there could be some more headroom, in the sense that the stadium could be of greater value than the existing borrowings, and that, therefore, 777 could use it as a vehicle to, in effect, take a 100 percent mortgage by topping up those borrowings and more. Therefore, there is a case for saying that 777 need Everton as part of their expansion policy. In terms of the existing clubs they’ve acquired, they have not been successful. The Premier League is the most moneyed league in the world in terms of revenue generation, although converting these revenues into profit has proved elusive for Farhad Moshiri. Given Josh Wander’s track record with his other clubs, it could prove elusive for him as well. So 777 aren’t the golden bullet as far as Everton fans are concerned, in terms of turning around the club’s finances off the pitch, and bringing success on it”. Paywalled article https://josimarfootball.com/2024/01/09/the-twilight-zone/ Features 9 January, 2024 The twilight zone It may be January sales season but for Everton the only question is who’s buying. 777 Partners agreed a deal to purchase owner Farhad Moshiri’s majority shareholding back in September, but three months on, they are still awaiting Premier League approval to complete a takeover. By Philippe Auclair and Paul Brown In public, the Miami-based company remains confident and has even been telling people on Merseyside that approval will be granted next week. In private, however, sources inside the company are more pessimistic about the chances of this deal getting done – and they are not the only ones who expect it to fail. Josimar understands that at least one other consortium of US-based investors is now readying a bid, in the expectation that 777 do not complete their takeover. This group has been put together by a prominent sporting figure with a strong knowledge of Everton, and includes investors with a successful background in finance and a deep interest in sport. The levels of debt at the club and the team’s on-field prospects this season, following a ten-point penalty from the Premier League over a financial rule breach, are a cause for concern; but the group remains interested in launching a full takeover of the Goodison Park club, as a source close to the bid confirmed to Josimar: “there are concerns about the level of debt and the team’s on-pitch performance. But these are serious investors.” Josimar also understands that another group of US investors who share the belief that 777's bid is doomed to failure were also in the process of putting together an offer for Everton just before Christmas. This group, which is a... 2

With respect, away at City is quite a different prospect than away at Palace.

Chelsea completed 420 passes in the first half, the most in the opening 45 minutes of a Premier League game without having a shot on target on record (since 2003-04).