‘Who has spent that money?’ - Alan Shearer sums up exactly how Everton fans are feeling

Alan Shearer has labelled Everton ‘a mess of a football club from top to bottom’ and rued the amount of money that has been ‘wasted’ during Farhad Moshiri’s ownership.

The Toffees hit their latest low as they fell to a 4-1 loss against Brighton & Hove Albion at Goodison Park last night.

As a result, pressure has mounted on manager Frank Lampard, with Everton taking just two points from their previous six Premier League games. It leaves them just a point above the relegation zone.

Having narrowly survived the drop last campaign, the Blues are braced for a second scrap at the foot of the table. And against Brighton, there were chants of ‘sack the board’ from the home fans. In addition, supporters are planning a sit-in protest at Goodison after next month’s clash against Arsenal calling for a change in the hierarchy.

Everton have recorded £372 million in losses over the past three years. And despite more than £500 million being spent on transfers since Moshiri first completed a 49.99% stake in the club in February 2016, the Toffees have slowly foundered.

And while Lampard is in the firing line, former Newcastle United striker Shearer stressed problems run much deeper than the manager or any of his predecessors.

What’s been said

Shearer said: “It’s going to be tough. It’s a tough football club, whoever goes in there. Frank is the eighth manager in nine years - permanent manager as well as a couple of caretaker stints. That shows you it’s a mess of a football club from top to bottom.

“Other people at that club need to take responsibility. Spent about £90 [million], recouped about £60-odd [million], they got the Richarlison money. Fans want to play a certain way, they’re not happy with sitting back, defending and hitting teams on the break.

“They’ve had the injury to [Dominic] Calvert-Lewin. It’s a tough way back for Frank and it’s a tough way back for anyone going into that football club and it will be until it changes.

“Can eight managers in nine years all be wrong? Three or four might be but eight? I get in previous years they’ve spent and wasted an absolute fortune but who has been buying those players? That would be the question I would ask and now it looks like there’s not a lot available in terms of finance for whatever reasons.

“Who has spent that money? Who has thought it’s a good idea to splash the cash on some bang-average players for ridiculous amounts of money? If you want to use an example of a football club how not to spend, use Everton as an example. You’re chasing a dream, all of a sudden you’ve got all this money and then you see the players it’s been wasted on. I don’t think it’s too harsh of a word, there has been some unbelievable amount of money wasted. Now they’re paying the price and it looks like there is hardly any available.”