It’s been a busy old time in the life of an Everton fan of late. Disappointment under Ronald Koeman as we saw Romelu Lukaku move on and a failure to replace him. Defensive issues that saw us concede at the will of the opposition with little effort involved and so on.
Koeman left, Sam Allardyce came in and did the job he was here to do and we finished in eighth place in the Premier League table, only five points off Burnley who will enjoy a European adventure in 2018/19.
It doesn’t quite tell the whole story though as away form continued to be a big bugbear for fans, as did the playing style at Goodison Park even though results were largely more palatable.
With growing discontent, Big Sam got his marching orders and there’s also been plenty of change off the pitch with the club looking to ensure that last season’s problems aren’t repeated and that we can move on – fans would say attractively move on.
With fans still torn on Allardyce despite his departure, at least in terms of whether he did the job as expected or not, his appointment at least helped us to £128,010,622 in Premier League payments for the year.
Equal Share – £34,812,558
Facility Fees (19 games) – £22,481,580
Merit Payment – £25,106,484
International TV – £40,771,108
Central Commercial – £4,838,892
Despite our eighth-placed finish, we were the seventh best side on a financial return front for the campaign as we featured on television nine times more than Burnley.
With ever growing riches for success in the top flight the challenge that Everton face to appoint the right man to push us higher is clear when you look at those sums.
Add that to pleasing the fans with more attractive football and the extra money a club can recoup there with potentially greater sponsorship, a few extra bums on seats or even a few fans being happier so having an extra half-time toast, the appointment becomes even more key.
Source – PremierLeague.com