It has been a turbulent past few years for Everton, but the arrival of The Friedkin Group just over a year ago will hopefully prove to be the catalyst for change.
Everton flirted with relegation several times before this season, with a string of poor decisions from former owner Farhad Moshiri almost costing the club dear.
Fans long suffered, but on December 19 last year, supporters celebrated the start of a new era.
It has been a decent first year for TFG, but expectations are starting to grow now, and fans want to see some early ambition with the club in contention for European football.
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It remains to be seen just how intensely TFG attack the transfer window, but ultimately fans just want to see a show of ambition.
Hopefully the glory days will return, and pundit Gary Neville has offered some thoughts as to what Everton should be as a football club.
Gary Neville outlines what Everton Football Club should be
David Moyes has done a good job overall since coming in last January.
The Scot made an immediate impact after succeeding Sean Dyche, using his experience to get results.
The football has never been spectacular, but that is not what he’s about.
Eventually the time will come to move on from Moyes, but for now he’s doing well.
For pundit Gary Neville, there are some non-negotiables for Everton that Moyes and The Friedkin Group must ensure.
Elaborating on Manchester United’s current struggles, he said in a new video on The Overlap YouTube channel: “Everton have got a DNA, right? It’s not a DNA but I think of Everton as fast, direct, big strikers, putting balls into the box, making sure there are loads of crosses. That to me is Everton. Centre halves that are dominant and winning, that to me is Everton DNA. If you don’t give Everton fans that, they don’t like it.”
Another part of Everton’s DNA is developing homegrown players for the first-team, which is something CEO Angus Kinnear said Moyes brought up in their first conversation after he became manager one year ago.
Everton need new striker to fit DNA
The Everton centre-halves are capable of being dominant, but arguably at the moment the Toffees are lacking the striker Neville describes.
Thierno Barry and Beto are both big. But neither are particularly fast or direct, and neither dominate in the air as much as their height suggests they should.
Of course at the moment, Everton are looking at signing a new striker.
Youssef En-Nesyri is a target for Everton so we’ll see if the club can make any progress there.
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