Everton owner Farhad Moshiri says fan unrest behind ‘all’ previous manager sackings and backs Frank Lampard

Everton owner Farhad Moshiri appears to have taken a swipe at supporters during a revealing interview in which he reiterated his faith in manager Frank Lampard and addressed the prospect of a fan protest at Goodison Park this weekend.

It comes a day after his open letter addressing supporter concerns was generally poorly received.

The Toffees currently sit in the Premier League relegation zone, having narrowly avoided the drop last season. The #AllTogetherNow campaign, which consists of more than 67 fan and social media groups, has called for ‘sweeping changes’ to the hierarchy at Goodison Park.

A sit-in protest is planned after Saturday’s clash against fellow strugglers Southampton.

In response to the backlash, Moshiri pointed to the huge amounts of money he has ploughed into the club, the construction of a new ‘£760m stadium’ and intimated that it was the fans, not him, who were behind the rapid turnover in managers.

He told TalkSport: “I’ve put my money where my mouth is and that is most of what an owner can do. Some of the decisions we have taken is together with the fans, right? All the managers who have left have been driven by the fans, not me initially.

“And I think you have to stick with a manager to get the systems going, the players that he buys, you know I have a lot of faith in Frank (Lampard) to get it right.”

“I think a protest is a democratic right of everyone, I think the feeling is well known, but I would say the biggest thing is to support the team.”

Moshiri was also asked if had faith in his board and dropped a new financial figure for the total cost of the new stadium that was originally reported to be a fixed fee £505m.

“I think they’ve been there for a long time, some are new appointments, but they are long standing, they’re dedicated, local and its so important to keep the club rooted in Liverpool and they love the club and they’ve been attending games under every condition.

“And building a £760m stadium which will be one of the best stadiums in the country is an enormous challenge for a club, so I think they need to acknowledge that they are going through a transformation and they are working extremely hard.

“I have added to the board every now and again to give support, but you can’t just take rash decisions and we have two big games on Saturday and the 21^st, and that is the focus.”