The Guardian has expressed doubts over the viability of Everton's controversial move away from Liverpool to a stadium in Kirkby.

They highlight that the stadium is receiving intense opposition and how a Secretary of State intervention may force the club to look at alternative possibilities.

The other potential revenue streams for Everton are equally uncertain. Plans to relocate beyond the city's boundaries to a new 53,000-seat stadium in Kirkby continue to attract fierce opposition.

Tesco's huge retail development in the town - with the stadium as the centrepiece - goes before Knowsley council's planning department in May and Everton, who have committed £80m to the £400m scheme, may have to pull out if the project is called in by the government.

Attempts to raise at least £8m towards stadium costs through the sale of their former training ground stalled recently when a planning application to build 74 executive homes on the site was rejected.

There was even a suggestion that moving to Kirkby could be a blow to David Moyes' long-term plans.

Chairman Bill Kenwright's hopes of attracting investors to the club will be hindered without a new, cost-effective stadium to throw into the package. All of which will not inflate Moyes' transfer budget in the summer, of course, although the evidence of progress - or otherwise - will have an influence when the manager asks the board to outline its long-term ambitions.