Everton next challenge clear after takeover deal as Jarrad Branthwaite message sent

Our Everton fans’ jury are back as they give their opinions on the takeover and upcoming Premier League game against Crystal Palace

Everton return to Premier League action this weekend when they welcome Crystal Palace to Goodison Park. Sean Dyche’s side head into the game on the back of a 1-1 away at Leicester City last time out.

However, Monday’s confirmation of Dan Friedkin’s agreement to buy out current majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri was the big news surrounding the club this week. The deal remains subject to approval from the Premier League, the Financial Conduct Authority and the FA.

However, once approved, the deal will bring an end to a saga that has been well documented over the last couple of years. So, with this week’s news in mind, our Everton jury have returned to have their say.

READ MORE: Sean Dyche shares Jarrad Branthwaite injury latest in mixed Everton fitness updateREAD MORE: What Friedkin Group must do to pass Premier League test after ‘unusual’ Everton takeover step

Paul McParlan: A new dawn?

Life is never dull as an Everton supporter, although that is often for all the wrong reasons. The pressure was mounting on Sean Dyche prior to the visit to fellow strugglers Leicester City last Saturday, after another poor start to the season under his leadership.

It was a match that Everton simply could not afford to lose. They returned with their first point of the season, but it should have been more. Everton produced some quality football in spells and completely dominated the first half with their passing and swift attacking plays.

Iliman Ndiaye was simply outstanding, scoring a wonder goal and tying the bamboozled Foxes defenders up in knots. They had no idea how to contain him. And what a refreshing change it is to see a talented, creative player who has the skill to slalom his way through defences.

The only threat to Everton’s dominance was the deluge produced by the powerful thunderstorm, which briefly threatened to have the game abandoned. The fact that Everton continued to spray the ball around in such treacherous conditions was hugely impressive.

But, once again, Everton decided to sit back in the second half and allow the opposition to gain the ascendancy. Despite this, Jesper Lindstrom blew a wonderful chance to set up Iliman Ndiaye to notch his second goal, which would probably have sealed the win. When

Dyche mysteriously decided to remove our best player with 10 minutes remaining; you knew we were trying to hang on to our lead. You also knew it wouldn’t work.

A horrible, sliced Sunday league style clearance from Abdoulaye Doucoure handed Leicester a totally needless corner from which they equalised. For a fourth successive game, Everton had thrown away a lead. But at least we held on for our first point of the season, which moved us up to the dizzy heights of 19th place and only 2 points away from safety.

Then, on Monday, came the slightly unanticipated but welcome news that the Friedkin group had agreed a deal to purchase the club. After narrowly escaping the clutches of the 777 group and the delusional overtures of Crystal Palace co-owner, John Textor, this was fantastic news.

Since the Friedkin Group took over at AS Roma, they have won the Europa Conference League and reached a Europa League final, and they have taken decisive action to remove underperforming managers. It appears that they have a coherent strategy and a vision for the club, something Farhad Moshiri never quite implemented.

The other encouraging news was that Jarrad Branthwaite, Vitalii Mykolenko, Nathan Patterson, and Idrissa Gana Gueye have returned to first team training and should be available for selection on Saturday.

Everything is set up for Everton to grab their first win of the season against Crystal Palace. It has been a rare ‘good news week’ at Goodison.

A glimpse of light has broken through the clouds of despondency. Now, Everton simply have to celebrate the arrival of a new dawn with three points at the Old Lady!

Alex McMonnies – It could well be that Everton are finally back on the right track

With over a month of the season having passed with very little to cheer about, Evertonians were finally handed a piece of promising news on Monday afternoon.

It was officially announced that the Friedkin Group (TFG) had agreed to a deal to take over Everton and that approval from the Premier League, the FA and the Financial Conduct Authority is all that is left before the disastrous reign of Farhad Moshiri can come to an end.

Over the years, Everton Football Club have taught me numerous lessons about the dangers of getting your hopes up so you will not catch me jumping for joy just yet. The jury is still out on whether TFG are the right group to turn this club’s fortunes around, but the most important thing at this moment in time is that a takeover saga that has been ridiculously drawn out and has visibly taken its toll on everyone connected with the club finally looks to be coming to an end.

Many supporters are understandably getting excited and looking ahead to the future, but I think it is important not to get too distracted from our current predicament. We still have a match on Saturday, and one that we could really do with winning.

Similarly to the Toffees, Crystal Palace have also failed to live up to expectations so far this campaign and are also still in pursuit of their first win of the season. However, Goodison Park is far from a happy hunting ground for the Eagles, with their last victory on L4 coming over 10 years ago when Yannick Bolasie ran his future employers ragged in a 3-2 victory for Neil Warnock’s team.

Crucially for the Blues, several key players have returned to first team training this week, most notable among them Jarrad Branthwaite, who played the entirety of the U21s’ thrilling 4-3 victory over Sunderland on Sunday. It’s unlikely that Sean Dyche rushes all four of these players back in, but seeing the centre-back’s name on the team sheet would give a revitalised fanbase an even bigger boost prior to kick-off on Saturday.

It could well be that Everton are finally back on the right track, but there are still so many hoops to be jumped through before that can come to fruition. For now, Dyche still has the job on his hands of getting this group of players over the line and retaining the club’s Premier League status heading into Bramley-Moore.

Goodison promises to be bouncing for the visit of Oliver Glasner’s side on Saturday afternoon. Here’s hoping it will play witness to the Toffees’ first league win of the season.

Luke Davies – Outfoxed

The away day at Leicester provided a real opportunity to get three points on the board. And for much of the game, it looked likely before Everton performed some ‘Evertoning’ and let another lead slip late in the game.

On a positive note, Iliman Ndiaye looks like the type of player fans have called for for many years. His skill, pace and directness constantly ask questions of defenders, which was apparent for his goal – a real good find from the club. Jesper Lindstrom also looked better but is crying out for his first goal; he should have done better with his volley early on.

Everton were probably the better side at the King Power, but you can’t help but look at the lack of cutting-edge up top and the amount of times a simple pass would have played someone in. Their equaliser was a scruffy goal that we should have defended; the two centre-backs, Michael Keane and James Tarkowski, had to deal with that better.

Moving onto the upcoming home match against Crystal Palace, this provided another opportunity to get a win. There’s no reason we can’t beat a Palace team that has struggled so far this term (three draws and two losses). The Eagles, who are also looking for their first win, have also lacked an attacking (four goals) threat since the departure of Michael Olise in the summer – even Everton have scored more goals (five).

Selection-wise, the potential of Jarrad Branthwaite’s return will be widely welcomed by the Goodison Park faithful, but we await news of Idrissa Gana Gueye’s return as well as several others. Honestly, I’d take Branthwaite in for Keane and leave the side the same.

The only question mark is if Nathan Patterson is fit enough to return after playing a substantial part in the Under-21s match against Sunderland last Sunday; if not, James Garner could do a job. I have a good feeling about this one. Come on, Everton.

James O’Brien – It finally looks as if something positive is on the horizon

Another disappointing weekend for Everton, but at least we have managed to get some points on the table. Going into the game, like most, I was confident that we would have more than enough to beat The Foxes, and for the first 45 minutes I thought we would.

It was nice to finally see some of the new signings get a Premier League start, with the inclusion of Lindstrom and Mangala.

We started really strongly against Leicester, and in the first half we played some of the best football we have done this season and, on another day, could have been three or four up. However, like most of the season, the second half performance was lacklustre and truly showcased all the issues Everton have been having this season.

The substitutions made were terrible and took away any viciousness our attack had. Whether it was winning fouls or creating chances, both Ndiaye and Lindstrom were constant thorns in Leicester’s side. To take them both off in favour of the ‘toothless dog’ attack we saw the whole of last season was extremely frustrating and has undoubtedly raised even more questions about Dyche’s in-game management.

Once Leicester equalised, I thought it was just going to be a matter of time before we face yet another dramatic comeback loss. Our backs were to the wall for the last 20 or so minutes, which was so disappointing considering the strong start we had. In all honesty, we were probably lucky to not face defeat with how we ended.

It is ironic that when Dyche was at Burnley, he said Everton ‘don’t know how to win,’ because that statement definitely feels correct now. We have taken the lead in all four of our last games yet failed to capitalise and win any of them. We may be missing Branthwaite, but that is no excuse, and there is no way we should be so reliant on one individual to win a game.

With the new announcement of the Friedkin takeover, it finally looks as if something positive is on the horizon. After years of poor results and mismanagement, hopefully this is our ‘get out of jail’ card and the start of a new Everton at a renowned Bramley Moore. They have already acted quickly on sacking Daniele De Rossi; wonder how they are feeling about Dyche.

Looking on to Crystal Palace, I think Dyche is already on borrowed time, and that is a victory that is necessary for him to continue in the Goodison dugout. Palace equally haven’t had the best starts to the season, and we should really be pouncing on this and getting a result.

Branthwaite, Patterson and Gueye all look likely to return, which are very positive additions and also mean that there is no excuse to hide behind if we fail to get a result. Let’s hope we can finally get this season going; come on, Everton!