It was late in the evening on Monday, August 11 when Angus Kinnear, Everton’s impressive new chief executive, looked at his watch and felt a sinking feeling.
In a world as unpredictable as football, there are no such things as set hours and Kinnear was in a situation at work that simply had to be resolved. He’d planned on leaving Finch Farm, the club’s training base, to be back in time to see his son before bedtime but it wasn’t going to be possible.
Kinnear explained to those present that he needed to be excused for a moment, as he had to make the kind of phone call every father dreads.