Everton have so many different narratives swirling around Goodison Park at the moment, but the most pressing matter unsurprisingly remains the small task of earning survival.
It is everything to the Toffees, with their preserved top-flight status the sole source of pride left nowadays.
Should they lose that, not only would their legacy be irreversibly tarnished, but the club might also be plunged into a financial black hole from which they might never recover.
Fortunately, offering his prediction just today ahead of their clash with Chelsea, Sam Allardyce still holds out some hope for his former employers.
Sam Allardyce makes his Everton relegation battle prediction
Chatting to Jeff Stelling and Andy Townsend earlier this morning, live on talkSPORT (15/04, 9:40 am), Allardyce offered his honest verdict on a plethora of Everton-related queries that the hosts had for him.
As someone who once sat in that Goodison Park hot seat, he is best placed to offer an insight into the mess that has been made ever since his 2018 departure.
The club have regressed with alarming speed, with Farhad Moshiri at the forefront of this dramatic fall from grace.
They dared to fly too close to the fun, and now they are barely still alive, both financially and in terms of Premier League survival.
Fortunately, Allardyce’s prediction for the Toffees’ run-in was rather kind, as he noted: ‘I think they’re safe this year, I don’t think there’s any doubt about that.
‘Obviously, the teams that have come up haven’t been as strong as what’s come up in previous years. They’ve got two games in hand so I think they’re going to be safe this year.’
Could Everton go into administration?
Whilst relegation might certainly encourage whoever is in charge to place the club into administration, it is certainly not assured should they drop a division.
After all, there are many complexities that come with moving from the Premier League into the Championship, not least the financial disparity between the two.
The Toffees would serve to lose tens of millions of pounds, and if Moshiri or 777 Partners are not willing or simply cannot front those losses, then administration is a very real possibility.
However, should someone put their hand in their pocket, such an eventuality still needs to only occur when they decree it so.
It is very often a choice rather than an enforcement, and therefore whilst there is every chance Everton could go into administration due to their mounting debts, it will only happen if the ownership has truly given up on the club.