What Is OUR Future?

Mike Wright 26/08/2015 23comments  |  Jump to last
The one thing I have always thought is that Everton fans can always be balanced in their arguments and view points. I have never put anything like this out in a public domain before, so perhaps that registers the concern I am feeling today.

If Everton Football Club had the slightest ambition for the future, then the John Stones situation would never have arisen. Think back to the sale of Rooney – yes, that long ago and the writing was long on the wall. As a club, we are a drop-in box for all the clubs with money. Players such as Rooney, Stones, Barkley etc should have been our future.

Okay, when the money hits the heights that it has done, if a player wants to leave, then let them go... BUT you only do that if you have other players lined up to replace them of an acceptable talent/quality. When fit, we potentially have (had?) three of the back four of the England team in Stones, Jagielka and Baines. We were able to stop the move of Baines so why not Stones? It goes back to the lack of investment and hence ambition.

Why is the heat on for English players at these other clubs? It's quite simple. Not too far in the future they will have to have a minimum number of English players in their squad to meet the change in the rules. Hence, City go for Sterling, and Chelsea are in for Stones etc. If Barkley could hit any decent form then he will be next.

What particularly rubs the wrong way for me is the arrogance of Chelsea, Man City, and Man Utd. Their view is that, if we want a player, then we just go in and make an offer because the likes of Everton need the money. Of course they are correct to think we need the money but that is only because of the way the club is being run. Even if you know you need the money, you can still negotiate and make demands; after all, isn't that what you need to do if you have half a brain for business?

Why is it that someone has not invested in EFC? It is hard to believe that there is nobody out there. I come back to the same answer: Mr Bill Kenwright. I would not question his own loyalty to the club, however, as a club we were at a cross roads some years ago and unfortunately Mr Kenwright has taken us down a cul-de-sac!

Without investment, we cannot survive in the Premier League. Before a ball was kicked this season, realistically we were looking at a top-half finish, with an outside chance of top six. This is not good enough.

Not only do we now need to bolster our defence but we need to have someone who actually deserves to wear that Number 9 shirt. We know the history... eg: Alex Young, Joe Royle, Duncan Ferguson etc (no disrespect meant to Kone... but fans will know what I mean). I don't want to support a club that ONLY can live on its history. The history is important, BUT the future is equally important.

It would appear that it is inevitable now that Stones will leave the club. We are only deluding ourselves if we blame the lad. If Everton were the club they should be, then I wouldn't be writing this. In terms of the negotiations, then yes, why not wait until the next transfer window? Equally as many have pointed out with Terry now suspended and his legs gone Everton should use this in their negotiations ie: you want Stones now? Then, you have to pay over the odds... otherwise go and knock on someone else's door, BUT who has an England defender for sale? Stick it to them, PLEASE, if you have to... what have we to lose?

If we get any of the rumoured foreign players then they will need time to adjust, so again, delay any other player(s) leaving.

Mr Kenwright, it is past the time when you need to let someone invest in EFC which might mean you have to play a lesser role. You know the song well enough: "If ya know yer 'istory" – your history should be that you let go of the reins in order that EFC became a great club again. That would be a far better memory than the one you will have if you don't let go.

You certainly don't want your final curtain call to potentially be relegation... Act 1 and DO ONE! ... before it is too late!

Share this article

Reader Comments (23)

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer


Trevor Lynes
1 Posted 26/08/2015 at 18:06:03
The most obvious sign of the downward path of our once great club is the tardiness in the market place.

No other club other than the really wealthy one’s can afford to wait until the transfer window is virtually closed before doing business. Every other club moves quickly to strengthen and bed in new players in time for the new season.

In reality we have the weakest squad in the league due to injury’s and age. Now we need decent cover all over the pitch and no time to get it in.

We are becoming less and less attractive for top players and so we are looking at other team’s dross and unknown’s.In fact we are looking at players who may not even qualify for work permits.

We are not only stagnating, we are in decline.

Paul Andrews
2 Posted 26/08/2015 at 18:17:42
Under this chairman and board? Simple:

Develop good young players.
Sell them.
Repeat.

Colin Glassar
3 Posted 26/08/2015 at 18:28:33
Beat me to it Paul.
John Keating
4 Posted 26/08/2015 at 18:31:16
Mike
We can only hope the Club reject Stones' transfer request.
If the player is adamant he wants away then without question it should be on our terms.
We should set the transfer fee and more important we should set the time and that is without doubt NOT one fucking week before the window closes!
Make it known he's available, say next close season, and make it a free for all and get the absolute top dollar for him.
He needs regular football this season which he will get with us. We need him as we only have Jags, and possibly some unknown South American guy.
He seems a level headed guy and if things are explained to him, if they already haven't , then I'm sure he'll knuckle down this season.
Ian McDowell
5 Posted 26/08/2015 at 18:38:22
At the present time it doesn't look promising and thats an understatement. It's not just this fiasco of a transfer window. It's the Stadium move farces, the past 15 years, Kitbag, the commercial side of the club... etc.
Alan McGuffog
6 Posted 26/08/2015 at 18:49:44
With this board the only ambition / future that we have is Premier League survival. Whether or not it comes from developing young talent, loaning players from bigger sides or signing old lags way past their peak that is our plan. Kinda depressing.
Rick Tarleton
7 Posted 26/08/2015 at 19:42:19
Do you think Barnsley fans feel equally aggrieved when Everton wave their cheque book and turn the heads of young lads like Stones and Holgate ?Or are we unique. We've been the big spenders and we weren't popular, that's the nature of this system, something about fleas and so ad infinitum.
Spragg Johnson
8 Posted 26/08/2015 at 19:53:30
Our future is mid table mediocrity most seasons ... There may be the occasional flourish and flirtation with the the Europa League spots ... But a LOT more flirtations with relegation. The club has been mismanaged for over twenty years now. Our stadium is decades out of date and there is not enough money behind our club to compete with the top ten Premier League clubs. We are well behind the likes of Stoke and West Ham in terms of funds now. Only Norwich, Bournemouth and Watford are below us in terms of attracting new players. I worry that each new season we'll look to find three worse clubs - just to survive in the Premier League. It's a dire situation. If Barkley has a good season you can guarantee all Stones malarkey will happen again in twelve months.
Clive Rogers
10 Posted 26/08/2015 at 22:24:39
Nowadays our priority in terms of signings seems to be frees, loans and cheap unknowns.
Justin Hart
11 Posted 27/08/2015 at 10:48:04
Mike,

In my opinion your article comes across a bit like a kid in a supermarket screaming at his mummy for a toy that she just can’t afford. As much as we don't want it to be, football is now a business. I hear so many supporters on here bitching and moaning about investment (without any consideration for logic and accounting) but as the saying goes, if you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem.

Please tell me who is going to invest in Everton? The age and inflexibility of Goodison is probably our biggest downside along with the fact that we are not in London. Who is going to invest in us? Please stop bitching and moaning and do something constructive by creating a list of feasible candidates with the desire and ability to move the club forward; because I sure as hell can’t think of anybody...

Leave the emotion for the field. But when we are off the field, it is business and we should be ruthless. Stones to Chelsea for £40 million and let’s move on.

Joe Foster
12 Posted 27/08/2015 at 12:25:03
Thats a good name for a band, Clive.
Dave Ganley
13 Posted 27/08/2015 at 14:54:03
Problem is Justin if you leave emotion out of it then what is the point if going to the game? If you wanted entertainment then you certainly wouldn't be watching football, you'd go to the theatre or some other such past time.

Point is we go to watch Everton, win lose or draw because we love the club and we bitch and moan because we see the affection of our hearts being derailed from its once lofty position by people who, maybe BK apart, couldn't really give a monkeys once theyve left the ground.

Its not our job to find investors or managers who will see us reach the lofty heights again, its the people who run the club who bear that responsibility and they are doing a terrible job of it, as has successive incumbents for the last 25 years or so. Our job is to support the team through thick and thin, to which I personally think Evertonians do very well.....which is more than can be said for the board. So no I wont take the emotion out of it, I have invested too much time money and energy in the last 40 years of watching Everton to be that pragmatic and also find it very patronising for you to suggest doing so in the first place.

Phil Walling
14 Posted 27/08/2015 at 17:43:47
Why, oh why, do people continue to wonder why nobody of substance wants to buy or substantially invest in Everton FC?

To me, the answer is obvious and the simple truth is that the business case for so doing just does not appeal. An ancient and run-down stadium, a TOTAL lack of achievement in this century with only a now devalued FA Cup to show for the last 30 years.

Merseyside may be sacred to us who grew up in its environs but it still needs a lot of selling to the wealthy foreign investors who see nothing in Britain outside its capital. And don't mention the sheikhs and Man City – they had the stadium given to them!

It seems that the only people who wish to enrich our club these days are London based Russians and we've told them to get stuffed!

Philip Bunting
15 Posted 27/08/2015 at 19:27:58
Always thought – and I know it’s unconventional to build a stadium this way but – why do we need to build 55k plus seats straight off? Why don’t we formulate a design for a new stadium consisting of 4 separate structures, but only construct the two sides along the longer length of the pitch, each up to 20k giving us our current capacity.

This could cost anywhere from £100m up depending on scale and quality but it also gives us a platform to obtain finance at a reasonable interest rate rather than looking for the £300m plus to construct the lot. The club could then invite and include all the fans on designs for both ends behind the goal and build to suit expansion and growth when it suits to do so.

Developing or attempting to develop Goodison will only ever leave you with a reduced capacity anyway where at best 3 sides of the ground would be open during redevelopment. Just a thought as we seem to be in limbo as a club moving forward.
Justin Hart
16 Posted 27/08/2015 at 22:49:37
Dave, If I came across as patronising, that's not what I was going for.

What I was trying to convey was that I hear supporters on here doing plenty of complaining but I don't hear any solutions being offered. In my opinion the board do the best with what they have. Okay, maybe the commercial side needs "some" work. Better the devil you know.

In their defence they have stood firm on Stones which the majority will think is great. I think we should have offloaded him after he put in a transfer request. I reckon £35 million would have been fantastic. What a return. We battle on.

Tom Hughes
17 Posted 29/08/2015 at 10:32:35
Philip,

Liverpool are currently redeveloping without a loss of capacity... as have several other clubs, and so could we.

At least 30k of our current capacity is reusable if new upper tiers are built on the older stands. So why build 50k new seats when in simple terms we only need to build 20k (or less, if the old stands are simply extended into the street behind, or significant capacity increase is achieved at the Park End).

Paul Jeronovich
24 Posted 04/09/2015 at 21:33:41
The future, that's a tough one.

If the latest Twitter links are anything to go by or believed, it was only August this year that we took out yet another loan allegedly out of the British Virgin Islands with links to one of our major shareholders borrowed against next years TV money. 'Where's the money Bill?' Gone already should be the answer.

It is now clear we are nowhere near debt free and the reach of our debt and financial mismanagement appears to be far worse than we thought.

I'm no expert but this is very worrying.

Brian Baker
25 Posted 10/09/2015 at 14:35:39
Honestly, what a pessimistic bunch of posts.

I wonder what you will all be saying after we beat Chelsea on Saturday.

With a bit more consistency we can have good season and maybe win a trophy, or finish top 5. We have managed to hold on to our good players, including Stones, so we probably have our strongest squad for some time.

Patience, the tide will turn in our favour.

Derek Turner
26 Posted 10/09/2015 at 15:08:06
Brian, hi, I'm Derek, patient since 1989. "Hi, Derek"......

Aren't there supposed to be more steps in this programme?

Steve Guy
27 Posted 10/09/2015 at 15:18:22
Am I the only one concerned about who is running the Club at the moment? I know our CEO is officially in charge but the silence from the Dear Leader is deafening. I understand he is ill and has been for some time. Whilst I wish him a full recovery I think we should be concerned by the lack of info on this.

Of course, BK is entitled to his privacy but if his illness is as debilitating as is claimed, we don’t need to know the details before asking the legitimate question as to how this may be affecting the management of the Club.

How long does he have to be debilitated for, before some contingency is put in place? Has this happened already? Is this the point at which Bill is forced to retire to preserve his health and the Club finally gets a new owner?

Jay Harris
28 Posted 10/09/2015 at 15:27:52
Justin,

Because we resisted an offer for Stones you think the board are doing well.

Just look around mate.

Goodison is being allowed to dilapidate, we have one of the lowest spends in the Premier League.

There is uncertainty as to who and how the club is being run.

If you attend this site long enough, you will see more ideas/suggestions in a week than the board have managed in 15 years.

Michael Kenrick
29 Posted 10/09/2015 at 16:06:14
Steve,

I could be wrong but I doubt that Bill Kenwright is all that involved in the day-to-day running of the club. That is Elstone's job, and the staff he has beneath him.

As Chairman of the Board of Directors, but with his own threatre company to run from the capital 200 miles away, I imagine at best Bill Kenwright partakes in a few Everton-related phone calls on any given day. Emails, whatever.

The point being he can probably continue to participate from his sick bed. The status quo will continue as usual, I expect.

Ged Simpson
30 Posted 10/09/2015 at 17:13:15
Phil W

"Merseyside may be sacred to us who grew up in its environs but it still needs a lot of selling to the wealthy foreign investors who see nothing in Britain outside its capital. And don't mention the sheikhs and Man City – they had the stadium given to them!

It seems that the only people who wish to enrich our club these days are London based Russians and we've told them to get stuffed!"

Bang on. And it is this that seems to irk us all. We just differ in who we blame.

We may be borrowing from the sub-prime market but also think any investors would be from the same market. There lies a big risk.


Add Your Comments

In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.

» Log in now

Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site.


About these ads



© ToffeeWeb