Stay in control of the latest Blues news with our Everton newsletter Sign up now Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Bill Kenwright has revealed his positive outlook despite recent ill health - and emphasised his admiration for ”best centre-back in England” John Stones.

The Everton chairman is confident the club is well-positioned to make progress this season, and reiterated the integral part it plays in his life.

Speaking in an interview with Newcastle’s Evening Chronicle, primarily to publicise his theatre company’s string of shows in the city’s Theatre Royal, he said he was determined to recover after missing some of the Blues games towards the end of last term due to a debilitating condition.

“You know what, I’m on the right side of the grass... and we’ve just beaten Stoke City in the Asia Trophy,” he said.

“We’ve worked really hard to stabilise this club and we’ve got a great squad, a young squad... Lukaku and John Stones who has to be the best centre back in England.”

Asked for his thoughts on Newcastle United, “a funny old club”, the Toffees owner recalled an encounter with Mike Ashley not long after he had bought the North East club from Freddy Shepherd and Sir John Hall.

The explanation he offered to Kenwright and a dining companion, another Premier League club’s executive, was: “Well, you love it.”

“I said I bought it because it was in terrible trouble and no-one else was around to do it. You buy a club and you get terrible sh*** thrown at you. He said, ‘Oh, right’.”

He went on to discuss his appearance on BBC Radio Four’s Desert Island Discs in 1998, he said: “She (Interviewer Sue Lawley) got quite exasperated, didn’t she?

“She was backing away from me at the end but the truth is that all the dates in my life are pinned to football, like when Everton beat Man U 5-2.”

The conversation then turned back to Newcastle United and new boss Steve McClaren? “I’m a big fan of Steve McClaren (head coach),” he said. “I was when he was at Middlesbrough and as England manager. He wasn’t in that job very long but he was very communicative. Some are a bit stand offish but he would ask about your players.

“I always thought he was a really good manager and he’s got that sort of sharing spirit that you need. If we score I share my pleasure with 40,000 Evertonians. You’ve got to have that sharing sense that says ‘We’re in this together’. It’s no good saying it, you’ve got to feel it."