Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Ratcliffe: Help old Toffees
Goodison faithful most hope. Derby day dawns on Merseyside with Jurgen Klopp closing in on the Reds’ first title in 30 years.
And Brands admitted: “Liverpool have a great team and they are an example for many clubs when it comes to building your way to success.
“But the turnaround at Liverpool did not happen overnight or in one transfer window.
“The manager has been there for five seasons now and every year the team has improved with a couple of really specific transfers.
“Last year, they were close to the title, but Man City were a little better.
“This time they have been even more stable in the league.”
It’s a brave admission from Brands. But the Blues have not won a trophy for 25 years and his first 12 months at the club have been about putting in place a new philosophy.
It’s a plan that Carlo Ancelotti got on board with when he arrived at Christmas. Brands said: “We have managed to change a lot here. That’s why we are not planning to have a big transfer window.
“We are not going to get five or six big names. We want to strengthen the team in only two or three positions – and we are no longer in a period of attracting crazy names.
“Carlo Ancelotti and the owner are right behind this. We have a manager who knows the road to success.
“Carlo is a fantastic person. I have worked with very experienced managers before – Martin Jol, Louis van Gaal and Dick Advocaat.
“We are talking about a category of elite managers at the highest level of world football.
“Before Carlo signed for Everton, I knew where he had been and what kind of players he used to buy.
“I wondered if he thought he would buy big again because we don’t have those resources. But from day one he was right behind the project.”
Brands will still be keeping an interested eye on City’s appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Geneva against the two-year European ban handed down by UEFA for financial misconduct.
A verdict is due next month.
The Dutchman said: “Financial Fair Play wasn’t meant to stop club owners investing in their club. It was set up to make sure that clubs could prove they have a solid financial structure and could pay all costs.
“If the owner of Man City, or let’s say Paris Saint-Germain, wants to buy a really expensive player and the club has paid all the bills, what is wrong with that?
“If Bill Gates wants to pump £2billion into a new company, nobody is stopping him. It is true that City’s CAS case can have massive consequences for football, even if FFP has been thrown overboard for the time being by the coronavirus crisis.
“But, as a club, we have to work within the financial parameters set by the Premier League.
“A club owner cannot say, ‘I am putting £50m or £100m extra into the club’.
“It is all about balance and it looks like we, at Everton, are going to now lose £30m on this year’s operations.” continue to do throughout the community,” he said.
“But I think that sometimes the hardships of former players are forgotten.
“Everton have an ex-players’ association, which tries to look after members who have fallen on hard times, but they need funds as well to provide assistance.
“Season-ticket holders could have had the choice of whom to donate their money to. I’m sure, if they knew more about the plight of some of the players they have watched in the past, then the exfootballers’ association would have benefited.
“The club could send out a text message with the different options, allowing the fans to make their choice or choices.”
“At every club there are players from the past who are struggling financially, but they are forgotten and often need help.”