Colm Kavanagh looks ahead to the critical season finalé on Sunday
The Long Hot Summer
The Champions are coming...
Ninety long — or possibly very short — minutes this coming Sunday will have a great bearing on our hopes for further development next season. What David Moyes has done this season with a spirited but limited squad of players has been nothing less than astounding. He is a worthy candidate for Manager of the Season.
With very little financial clout available and the King's Dock project forever a distant dream, Moyes has somehow managed to involve this Everton team of his at the business end of the season. This Sunday, we either qualify for the UEFA Cup and embrace a jaunt into Europe next season — or we drown our sorrows and dream of what might have been.
The "what might have been" scenario, if that is what occurs, needs to be seen for what it is. If we finish seventh this season, it is not a disaster by any means. Seventh? A disaster?! Disappointing, as it most definitely would be, it is something most Evertonians would have gleefully celebrated before a ball was kicked in anger this season.
Oh how quickly the bar is raised!
We have made great strides this season, surprising most observers. It has reversed a steady decline since last lifting the Championship, back in 1987, and the timing of our slump could not have been worse. Our slide coincided with the arrival of BSkyB and their many millions. Where once we looked down on clubs like Chelsea and Leeds United with their shacks for stadiums, we now saw ourselves looking on with envy as new avenues of finance dragged clubs like these screaming into a new era — redeveloped stadia and revenue streams from a number of other areas. Everton remained stagnant and slipped away whilst others chased that dream. The European Cup, now farcically revamped and retitled to suit the G14 clubs, is supposedly where it's really at. If you' re not included then kiss goodbye to future prosperity. That's the basic idea anyway.
In a sense, that is correct, as a look at the history of the Premiership since BSkyB got its claws into the "product" has seen Manchester United monopolise: eight titles in eleven seasons — proof if needed of their dominance. They're practically guaranteed entry into the Champions League on an annual basis and dipping into that particular pot of gold paves the way for success and staying ahead of the posse. Every other clubs looks on with envy, wishing for similar sustained achievement.
Many have tried in recent seasons to match United but, in this day and age, that is simply impossible. As sad as it may well be to admit, not one English club can possibly live with United. They are a global force. Leeds United? Chelsea? Newcastle United? Liverpool or Arsenal even? None of them can cut it financially with Manchester United, yet they have tried in recent seasons. They have tried and they have all accrued massive debts — debts that could in time to come threaten their existence. Leeds United have flown too near the flame; they've chased the dream and seen it turn into a horrifying nightmare. Administration awaits if they're not careful. Who's to say other Premiership clubs won't follow suit in the near future, their finances spiralling out of control.
Observe, from a distance, the panic of Stamford Bridge this Sunday when Chelsea face Liverpool. Two clubs, currently sitting in fourth and fifth respectively — you'd imagine that's regarded as a fairly successful season, no? Wrong: such are the potential winnings for these two clubs that their clash has more at stake financially than any relegation battle. Winner survives; loser begins a fire sale and fears imminent comparison with Leeds United's current plight!
Is that the road we need to traverse in order to find ourselves back competing on a regular basis with the likes of United and those who hang on to their coat tails? Personally, I don't think so. A new stadium (financed from what exactly?) would be lovely but, I fear, detrimental to the essential squad rebuilding needed at Goodison.
Many have attributed part of Manchester United's success to the staggering 67,000 plus crowds they enjoy for home games. There's no denying it helps but I think that only deflects from Ferguson's firm belief in cultivating your own playing staff. I've laughed in recent seasons as pundits suggested that the conveyer belt of emerging talent at Old Trafford was drying up. O'Shea, Brown and Richardson are proof enough that the United youth policy is still capable of unearthing the odd gem. Remind me again — who won this season's FA Youth Cup Final?!
Top priority at Everton lies firmly at the feet of the Board. Being unkind, David Moyes has polished a collection of turds and fashioned a side who have remained top six almost all season (hopefully to remain so). His managerial skills have bought the Board some invaluable time. Now the time has arrived for them to back their man with a financial injection (from somewhere!).
Our squad, as seen in recent weeks, has been running on empty. The game is up; we've been sussed. Not once this season have we had the pleasure of witnessing a comfortable 3-0 win, a game where we could take the foot off the gas with time remaining. Throughout the season, we've fought to the last minute, and beyond, in order to win points. It's finally taken its toll on the team and the finishing line cannot come soon enough. Is it to arrive one weekend too late?
Obviously we hope not... but whether we're in next season's UEFA Cup or not is irrelevant. David Moyes needs money. Our midfield is bereft of invention. Our highest paid forwards are both ageing and prone to injury — the sands of time running out on both careers. The proposed Youth Academy is top of the list — a must for any prosperous club in these times. And yet we hear more hot air about proposals to move to new grounds elsewhere when we've not got the cash needed to back the finest manager we've had for many a long season.
There's a wonderful faith placed in David Moyes by Evertonians worldwide. I think, in a funny way, that the celebrations this season regarding our One Hundred Seasons Of Top Flight football have gone a long way to establishing the fact that David Moyes is more than a paid employee at Goodison Park these days — he has become an Evertonian and understands what makes the place tick.
Can he continue this wonderful revival at Goodison? Without financial backing and the proper infrastructure in place the chances are that the answer is no.
Show him the money, Bill!