'I was so angry, how could you?' - Keith Wyness savages Everton over one deal in particular

Everton's board deserve the criticism they are facing from supporters for nearly selling Harrison Armstrong and their overall poor handling of the transfer window.

That is according to former Toffees chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that fans have every right to be angry with the Friedkin Group and Angus Kinnear after the last few days of business.

Everton have ended the summer transfer window under a dark cloud after struggling to bolster David Moyes' squad to the supporters' liking.

Alarm bells started ringing when reports emerged of the club accepting a £35million bid from Nottingham Forest for midfield starlet Harrison Armstrong on Saturday.

Everton soon backtracked and pulled out of talks after fans made it clear that they wanted Armstrong to stay both online and with vocal opposition during their league clash at Bournemouth.

The controversy did not end there, however, as they ultimately managed to miss out on signing Monaco striker Folarin Balogun late on Deadline Day.

Everton insider fumes at their disappointing end to the transfer window

Everton’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – has labelled the club's end to the season as a "disaster" for all involved.

Balogun reportedly walked out of their Finch Farm training ground at the eleventh hour on Tuesday night as he decided against a move to Everton.

They have now been left with just one senior striker until January, in Thierno Barry, while fans are still reeling over the Armstrong saga.

Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness explained

He said: "How it even got to that in the first place is beyond me. There aren't many things that get me angry as a football fan, because I'm no longer obviously making decisions at club level, but I actually took to X that morning because I was so angry about Armstrong going for such a low bid and it did show a lack of ambition.

"I was, as a football fan, genuinely angry that it could even be considered. And so how it got there, it is beyond me in terms of the thinking behind how you can let your young talent go like that.

"The backlash came very quickly. Luckily as well, I think at Bournemouth, the away fans were chanting straight away about having a riot on their hands, which reinforced the point.

"At least the club gave in, but it shouldn't have got to that. I mean, this is a blindingly obvious thing not to do. You know if he'd been picked up by Man City for £60 or 70million, people might have just understood, but going to Forest for £40m made no sense whatsoever in every aspect of the deal.

"Luckily it got stopped, and the fans thought when that was stopped that there were signs that the window could have been salvaged and things would only go forward.

"Little did we know, even more disaster was going to come following that. But that set the tone, the Armstrong situation, and it really has underlined a comedy of errors that's gone on this window at Everton."

Everton slammed by ex-scout for selling Iliman Ndiaye below his market value

Fans have also fumed at Ndiaye being let go so late in the window, after he sealed a £65m Deadline Day switch to Man City.

Jack Grealish has moved in the opposite direction, but former club scout Bryan King has told Football Insider that Everton should not have sold Ndiaye for anything less than £80m.

The Senegalese playmaker was Moyes' most important attacker and his contract was not set to expire until 2029.