Carragher slams ‘absolute mess’ as ‘worst-run club’ Everton sink to ‘another level of ineptitude’
Former England defender Jamie Carragher has slammed Everton after they failed to replace Anthony Gordon in the final days of the winter transfer window.
Sean Dyche replaced Frank Lampard as Toffees boss earlier this week with the club joint-bottom of the Premier League after 20 games.
The former Burnley manager has a huge job on his hands and was not helped by the club’s transfer business in the January window.
Everton were the only Premier League side that failed to bring in a single player last month, which is extremely concerning for a team in a relegation battle.
The Merseyside club raked in a decent fee for Gordon, who joined Newcastle United for £45million on January 29.
However, they did not reinvest the money in the final days of the window, though they definitely did try to do so.
There were plenty of rumours on deadline day. Everton reportedly sparked an interest in Michy Batshuayi, Jordan Ayew, Nicolo Zaniolo, Conor Gallagher, Kamaldeen Sulemana, Paul Onuachu, Viktor Gyokeres, and Sheraldo Becker, but to no avail.
Everton’s failure to bring in reinforcements has been criticised by Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher, who thinks their business, or lack of, “defies belief”.
Carragher wrote in the Daily Telegraph: “Everton are an absolute mess. Every time it looks like they have sunk to their lowest point, they somehow find a way to showcase another level of ineptitude.
“To sell one of their few assets, Anthony Gordon, to Newcastle United for £40million without an immediate replacement lined up is an epic failure of leadership from the top, impacting on transfer strategy.
“It would be incomprehensible at the best of times. If the club was in mid-table pushing towards the top six you would scarcely believe they would self-inflict such damage to their ambitions.
“To do that when the team is 19th and in dire need of quality to avoid relegation defies belief.”
Carragher has been highly critical of Everton in recent years with the club going through an extremely difficult period.
He previously said they were the worst-run club in the country, and he believes he has “been proven right”.
The club’s ownership has been under fire for a while now, with majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri and executives Bill Kenwright and Denise Barrett-Baxendale being advised not to attend a Premier League match against fellow strugglers Southampton last week, as being in attendance would be a risk to their safety.
“I called them the worst-run club in the country on Monday Night Football 10 days ago. Some people disagreed. I have been proven right,” Carragher added.
“There will be no hiding place when the fans gather at Goodison Park on Saturday demanding answers.”
Carragher does believe the appointment of Dyche is a good one.
He said: “Dyche will give the supporters what they demand with a team in his image; hard-working, no-nonsense, trying to simplify the game to maximise the full potential of the squad,’ Carragher said.
“Some managers can be unfairly branded because there is nothing exotic about them and what you see is what you get. Dyche comes into that category.
“He deserves respect for his amazing work at Burnley and there was no-one available better equipped than him to get Everton out of trouble.”
Dyche’s first match in charge is a pretty tricky one. Everton host league leaders Arsenal on Saturday afternoon…
READ MORE: Everton transfer inertia doesn’t quite make their relegation inevitable under Sean Dyche