Both Everton and Southampton became worse run after bumper investment
Before David Moyes was a failed Manchester United manager and the dour caricature he is today, he regularly worked wonders with his patchwork Everton team on a faintly ridiculous budget.
Having hauled the flailing Merseysiders away from the lower reaches of the Premier League table, the Scotsman relied on the intelligent recruitment of cheap, but hungry players to propel his side towards European qualification.
Season-in, season-out, the Toffees would not be pretty, they would likely make a slow start and lose key players but they would also be top-half fixtures despite having barely any money to spend.
Their fans longed for a big-money investor.
Southampton’s return to the top flight was powered by an outstanding crop of players; Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert, Morgan Scheiderlin and Jose Fonte, to name a few.
Those players were so good that they were inevitably going to get picked off but the Saints were ready. Their extensive scouting network allowed them to sell high and buy low; with replacements picked out for every member of staff at the club, including the manager.
Being prepared for the big boys to come calling allowed them to regenerate their squad season after season, often making a profit and never being in any grave danger of the relegation zone.
As the two sides prepare to face off this weekend, the inescapable conclusion is that huge injections of cash meant both clubs moved away from their successful models and became worse off for it.
Farhad Moshiri finally provided Everton with the ability to compete on an even financial footing and the Toffees brought in Leicester City’s transfer guru Steve Walsh – the man behind N’Golo Kante and Riyad Mahrez – to ensure the money was spent wisely.
But, along with Ronald Koeman, Walsh and Moshiri went off like a kid in a sweet shop accumulating big-money signings the club could only dream of under Moyes, seemingly unaware that they were failing to recruit much in the way of pace or a goal threat to replace Romelu Lukaku.
The fans were excited – it was a new sensation after all; Everton were no longer begging, borrowing and stealing their players but procuring them from across Europe at great expense – but they are now restless.
Even Walsh, the man brought in to ensure the spending brought quality to the club, lost sight of his principles. Having been tasked with procuring hidden gems for a small outlay at Leicester, he was suddenly given millions to spend and the Director of Football appeared to take that as an invitation to do away with what had brought him success.
Out were due diligence and a reliance on statistical measures, because Everton could finally afford to shop at a higher level. The Merseysiders were a richer but worse run club as a result of Moshiri’s investment and the bumper Premier League television deal and it is all their own doing.
There will be Premier League football at Goodison Park next season but it is becoming increasingly likely that St Mary’s will be a second tier ground come August, although Southampton’s struggles are less self-inflicted but potentially more damaging as they stare down the barrel of relegation after years of top flight stability.
Southampton’s approach to Premier League survival has generally centred around the belief that every player has his price.
The Saints have made a habit of selling their top talent for an inflated fee, safe in the knowledge that they have already identified and extensively scouted a replacement, who can be procured for a fraction of the price.
However, when every Premier League club benefited from the huge windfall from the most recent television rights deal, clubs across Europe knew just how flush they had become.
That made it more difficult for Southampton to get value for money with their replacements and has resulted in expensive flops such as Guido Carrillo, while fellow record signings Mario Lemina and Manolo Gabbiadini have struggled for consistency.
Having more money theoretically should have made it easier for Southampton to keep their top talent, but once they had set the precedent of allowing their best players to leave, the likes of Virgil van Dijk expected it to continue when their time came.
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As the pair prepare to meet after both enduring underwhelming seasons, it is clear that being rich has undermined Southampton and Everton’s history of shrewd, cut-price recruitment.
Everton have got away with it – they can sack Sam Allardyce in the summer and go again, having learned their lessons – but Southampton may not be so lucky.
Either way, both teams should serve as cautionary tales that having money to burn is not always the solution to a football club’s problems.
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