Everton break silence on why board members did not attend the Southampton fixture

Everton executives have answered some of the questions raised by the fans through the Fan Advisory Board with topics of January transfer business, Financial matters pertaining to the club and Security touched upon in the latest round of Fan Advisory Board Q&A.

Communication from the club to the fans has been at an all time low and it is obvious for the supporters to feel a sense of isolation. In a bid to increase direct communication, Everton have started engaging with the Fan Advisory Board and provide transparency over club matters.

The FAB have now released a 13 page document that provides answers to questions raised by fans. The club has said that the answers have the input of board members and senior officials at the club.

Why Everton board members did not attend the Southampton game

Last month, when the club was in turmoil as relegation fears magnified, the supporters wanted answers from the board. Everton took on Southampton on 14th January and ahead of the game the club released a statement that the EFC board members won’t be present at the Stadium for the game. The club has now responded to the absence of the board members.

"As the result of a thorough security review and risk assessment, the Board were instructed to not attend the Southampton fixture. (via Fan Advisory Board Q&A)"

Why did Everton fail to sign any players in January?

Everton failed to sign a single player in the January transfer window despite being linked to a number of players. Given Everton’s position in the table and dire need of reinforcements, the failure to sign a single player was perceived as incompetence from the club. Everton have now provided an answer as to why the club were not able to sign any player and touched upon Arnaut Danjuma’s failed transfer.

"We are sure this is a question that many supporters ask of their clubs. We can assure you Kevin Thelwell and his team began to identify potential January targets as soon as the summer window closed.Recruitment is an ongoing process that never stops. From the outset, we had a clear plan for the January window, which was to focus on adding players who could significantly and immediately improve our starting XI.That was always going to be challenging in what was a very limited marketplace (reflected by the nature of some of the fees that were commanded). As was widely reported, one of our primary targets was the Villarreal forward Arnaut Danjuma, who not only fitted the profile of player we wanted to bring in but also offered the best value for money in an over-inflated market. After extensive negotiations, we had a deal in place and the player was heading to Finch Farm to complete the formalities, only for another club to step in at the 11th hour.With that deal no longer viable, the reality was that there was only a very small pool of available players who would have improved our first XI. We worked hard on securing players of the right quality – but were unable to reach agreement with the clubs we were liaising with. Our efforts were hindered by the fact our negotiating power was impacted by our responsibility to also remain compliant with profit and sustainability rules.We could have added players that we knew to be available but that we also knew were not of the necessary quality to positively impact our team. When Sean Dyche was appointed as our new manager, he shared the view that any new signings had to be capable of making an immediate impact to the first XI and improve the options already available to us. Sean also felt the squad he inherited has more quality than our league position at the time of his arrival suggested. (via Fan Advisory Board Q&A)"

FAB will next meet the club on 28th February.