“I like quiet. You want your club to be safe when there are difficulties, but you also want to keep its personality. You don't want to be in the same problem again a year down the line. This seems a wee bit more secure, but we have to wait and these are interesting times.
“I've been down a couple of times to the new stadium and it look’s phenomenal. You look at Sean Dyche, and what he's doing, as he didn't have a good start to the season but looking behind it all it's okay. It's going to be all right,” says Nevin who is two minds over Everton moving into a new ground.
“It pains me because I'll miss Goodison Park terribly, I absolutely love the place, I loved playing there, I love coming there and I'm going down the game next week. But in a year's time, if they're still in the Premier League, which I expect them to be, you've got a new ownership and you've got a new stadium. Then things could look up,” Nevin says mildly positive while stressing the important “if” in that sentence.
Everton is the people’s club
Both Everton and AS Roma have very passionate supporters and the question is whether the Friedkins can keep both sets of fans satisfied?
“Well, it's a tough gig. There's a lot of talk regarding ownerships right now, swapping of players and that sort of thing. It's bad enough running one club, believe me, I’ve tried it! Never forget that this is a business, they're not doing it out of the goodness of their heart and if that’s their business model and it feels as if they can make that work in the long term that should hopefully be good for Everton,” Nevin hopes, while still treading a little careful.
“I've seen organisations and particularly American organisations come in and change the history and the ethos of clubs. I hope they don't do that to Everton because Everton is very much the people's club and I'd be devastated if that would happen because most of the clubs are beginning to look a wee bit more like conglomerates at the moment.”
With the Fredkins having been at AS Roma for a few years now and with the Italians actually winning a trophy a lot more recently than Everton, some Evertonians might fear their club could end up being the little brother in this network. Not Nevin, though.
“I think most of these top businesses are looking long term towards a Super League anyway. That's where the real money is and if that Super League happens then Everton would be the biggest of the two because of the TV rights worldwide.
“The strength of the Premier League is huge but you need to be in the conversation and at the moment, Everton aren't in the conversation. That can quickly change though. Chelsea weren't used to be in the conversation, Man City weren't used to be in the conversation and that's what a lot of them are fighting for; to be in the conversation.”
No quick fix, please!
Manager Sean Dyche has featured in a lot of conversations since the Friedkin takeover was announced. Will he be staying or are they bringing in their own guy? Nevin firmly believes Dyche is the right man.
“I'm very comfortable that he's getting enough out of his players to stay in the league and that's all that's needed. Stay in the league until you get into the new stadium. They had a weird start to the season with an awful game down at Tottenham, but otherwise weren’t too bad. They were certainly missing (Jarrad) Branthwaite, but when Dyche brought in (Iliman) Ndiaye, it was like, 'ah, I see what you're trying to do here'. His creativity was needed," says Nevin.
Everton are 16th in the table and much more isn’t to be expected, according to the footballer turned DJ.
“Player for player, Everton are a bottom-half club and so they should be, because they've spent less money than anybody else in the last two or three years. Miles less money than any other team in the Premier League when it comes to net spend.
Whether they are 15th or 16th from the bottom at the end of the season, it doesn't matter. That's okay. Then they are into the new stadium as a Premier League club. Then it’s brave new world,” says Nevin, dismissing the thought of the Fredkins coming in to perform a quick fix of some sort.
“The dangerous ones are those who come in and make big statements at the start. Big statements are nothing more than showing the fans how important you are and that's not what it's about. Get the ownership quietly in place, get the finances in place and then have a sensible plan going forward. That's what I would like to see."
Pat Nevin was talking to Tribalfootball on behalf of BetVictor