Déjà vu, Anybody?
Nick Armitage pulls no punches in this heart-felt diatribe

13 February 2004

Let’s not get carried away by a spirited 45 minutes against Man United.  The players owed us at least that.  We were well tonked.  And we were well tonked due to an utterly abysmal first-half showing.  It wasn’t the first and it won’t be the last.

Since when have draws against Liverpool and Arsenal been results to be rejoiced at Everton Football Club?  Have our standards and expectations really fallen that low?  Lee Carsley actually thinks we’ve done alright of late!  Wipe the shit out of your eyes; we’ve been woeful for months now — no actually, it's years.  Carsley appears to be determined to take us to where he belongs – The Nationwide.

Who’s to blame for the current disarray at the club?  Moyes has made mistakes and will continue to, he’s admitted as much.  His lack of experience at the highest level, unfortunately for us, will hinder him.  But in sharp contrast to our last manager Moyes will learn from his mistakes.  Moyes will do his best to put things right.  Moyes is here to achieve and win, not tread water and stuff his pension pot to bursting point.

Let’s look at some facts; Walter Smith won 28.6% of league games with Everton.  David Moyes has won 37.5% of his matches with very similar players.  Moyes has spent and earned buttons compared to the millions that Smith squandered and received in payment for his tenure.  Moyes is boxing with an arm tied behind his back and a blindfold on.

So who is to blame?  The players?  Only a couple appear to have any confidence whatsoever, the rest are running on empty.  Face facts, most of the players we have are average at best.  There are a few uncut diamonds and players of real class, but these are too few and far in between to sustain any form which will move the club forwards.

Let’s take Lee Carsley for an example.  The technical term for that kind of player is shite.  He’s not the type of player Evertonians want to see at the club.  He’s simply not good enough to wear a shirt that was previously adorning players like Howard Kendall, Alan Ball and Peter Reid.  Even in recent times players like Joe Parkinson were streets ahead of the yard dogs we have now.  We’ve become a second-rate club employing second-rate players.  You can’t blame the players if on the whole, they are not just good enough.

So who is to blame?  The fans?  There’s good and bad in all walks of life and we certainly have some morons who repeatedly taint the name of our great club.  Fortunately though, the vast majority of fans at Everton are amongst the most loyal and patient in the game.  We follow and support the team everywhere.  We’ve certainly done our part through the club’s recent past.

So who else remains?  he present and recent Board members should take a good long look in the mirror.  Do they have any idea of what Nil Satis Nisi Optimum means?

When have they actually done something innovative?  An Airfix model of a stadium that didn’t have a cat’s chance in hell of getting built doesn’t count. Between them, they can’t even organise selling tickets properly.  How long as Li Tie been here?  How long did it take them to get a Chinese website up and running?

The current Board are a shambles.  The boards of recent years were also equally inept.  No direction.  No ambition.  No leadership.  No strategy.  No focus.  Instead we get bullshit, soundbites, smokescreens, whimsical dreams and half-baked plans that will never ever be realised.  What chance does the first team have when it has such a pathetic example being set by their employers?

Everton were once a proud and majestic club, for years a pioneer at the forefront of world football.  We were once the School of Science, the Bank of England and the Mersey Millionaires.  How many new generation Sky fans actually have any idea that we are the fourth most successful club in the English domestic game?

Take a look at us.  Now we get outmanoeuvred on and off the pitch by the likes of Blackburn Rovers, Charlton Athletic, Southampton and Birmingham City.  Elements at the club have watched us fall so so far. 

Nil Satis Nisi Optimum my arse.

Nick Armitage

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