Fans Comment
Ray Mia

Money Talks
05/06/29

Some people see things as they are and say "Why."  I dream things that never were and say "Why not."… - George Bernard Shaw

I could say that close-season madness is well and truly upon us, talk about the time when a player signed and we heard about it on the radio or read it in a paper along with the obligatory scarf raised above the head photo.  I could elaborate on the 24-hr news cycle that magnifies the smallest details in a PR’s dream world of double speak, loose talk and manipulation on a grand scale.

But that would just erase the fun of it all as we eagerly await Moyes’s next signing and the build-up to the most eagerly anticipated season in a long, long time.

Fourth place in the Premiership last season and I still cannot believe it.  Moyes has performed miracles and we all know it; this time last year, Rooney was still a Blue.  We all knew after the Euros he was off and I remember writing my say on this site about what a farce the EFC Board were, how I was ashamed at the lack of support Moyes was getting, and that Ken-wright was Ken-wrong.

I refuse to get sidetracked with the Boardroom issue [anyone seen a Fortress Sports Fund lying around?  I think I may have left it on the bus…] — what I want to talk about is the squad that Moyes is taking into next season.

• I’m glad Weir has signed; he was Walter Smith’s best buy and a class act with a level head. 
• I’m very glad that Osman is back; although he seemed to burn out towards the end of the season, no one can argue that he was not on fire at the start. 
• Naysmith is a great squad player that must realize that he can get into the team once he gains a level of consistency.
• I think Ferguson deserves the deal he was given; and although I have been one of his worst critics for several years, I want to see him play in the Champions League and the thought of him coming off the bench against Continental defenders makes me smile.
• Great that Kilbane signed an extension, as pivotal squad players need to be together to form the spine of a squad.

I would be happy to see Arteta sign, but to be quite honest, not at the price he’s asking.  In fact, this goes for all the players present and future.  I don’t think Moyes should pay over the odds and if he is trying to get more money out of the club, then I would let him walk, and walk far away.

I am not interested in players screwing the club out of money when they already earn unqualified fortunes that cannot be justified.  Sure if salary is related to performance, going up if we finish fourth or higher and qualify for the knock out stages of the Champions League, but we are hearing that Arteta wants more weekly salary as EFC are now in Europe, that he could earn more in Spain, and that he wants £33k + a week.  Fine, stay in Spain and earn what you want; I’m not interested.

Didn’t we just negotiate Ferguson off a high wage? Did we not pay off/release Campbell who’s goals kept us in the Premiership [arguably worth relatively more than CL qualification]?   The reports on Arteta’s wage demands may well be tactical media manipulation, but ring true when seen in context with the Parker affair and the on-going Emre/Bellamy sagas.

I truly do not care how good Southall thinks Bellamy is; it is a very different game to when Neville plied his trade.  Bellamy is not worth more than £50k a week.  If Parker thinks he can win more at Newcastle, great; good for him.  If Emre can’t decide, I don’t give a damn.  Moyes has built a team of players with an attitude that cannot be bought at any price, one of teamwork built upon sound work ethics.  The joy of last season was seeing a group of so-called talentless plodders doomed to be relegated but out-performing the slick well-paid machines of more “attractive” clubs.  The Everton squad last year proved that as individuals they may well be journeymen, but as a team, they were truly legion as the League table never lies.

I do not doubt that to move to the next level this squad needs strengthening all over the park.

The best signings the club made last year were without doubt Bent and Cahill.  And I would follow the exact same mentality with this close season.  Simon Davies and Per Krøldrup are both great signings that add a mixture of Premiership with Continental experience.

I would like to see Moyes re-sign Pistone for two seasons and add Paul Konchesky at the back, bring in Damien Francis and Steve Sidwell in the middle and add Robbie Keane with Peter Crouch or Dean Ashton up front. I am confident Vaughn will develop next season and I am certain Bent, Cahill, Hibbert and Carsley will perform the wonders that they did.  Beattie will come good when he gets over his price tag, stops trying so hard, gets into better shape, and develops partnerships with all the strikers in the squad.

Being in the Champions League is fantastic, but I would trade it all for fourth place or higher next season.  I think it prudent that Moyes continues with a policy of slow assured progress.  Two consecutive fourth place finishes will push EFC forward and the squad has to be able to perform week-in week-out in the Premiership first, which is why my eye is firmly on bringing in a mixture of quality lower-league players with proven Premiership talent who deserve a shot at the Champions League and are not all about scrounging astronomical wages from a club that still has large debts to pay [I still haven’t been able to find my Fortress Sports Fund anywhere].

I appreciate that everyone has to make a living; I also understand that footballers have relatively short shelf-lives in which to earn, particularly as most don’t know how to live in the real world after the game has passed them by.  But it is said often enough I think people have become numb to understanding. Mid-range Premiership journeymen make £15k-20k a week, and it is absolutely wrong that they make more than some teachers earn.  If after earning for twelve years at a rate of £3k to £20k a week they have not either saved away or invested in other revenue schemes [or possibly an education…] then I don’t care one iota.

Trust your instincts Moyes, go with the hungry, give the so-called “average” players the opportunity to shine, buck the trend when utter morons like Bellamy can dictate.  You do get what you pay for; a disgraceful wage means a disgraceful individual who has lost all sight of the game, what it means to the paying punter and what £50k a week really means to hard-working real people in the real world.

Moyes called Everton "The People’s Club," and I would rather see people playing at the club in preference to a bag of unprincipled, ill-disciplined, loud-mouthed show-boaters with bloated egos and bloated bank balances.

A colleague at work is a close friend of ex-Swindon striker Sammy Parkin.  Goodison Legend Joe Royle has just signed Parkin for Ipswich Town and Royle looks to have signed a genuine player with heart, soul and character to boot.  It helps that he scores goals for fun at every level he has played at, but it shows that Royle, who lost both his strikers this close season, is looking to bring in talent, nurture it by giving an opportunity to a lower-league player who now has to step up to the plate.  Sure Royle has had to play the market at the level Ipswich can afford at this time, and Parkin surely must be on improved wages compared to what he was on at Swindon (a division down) but one thing is for sure: it is still all about the football.  I for one salute Royle, and will follow how Parkin does as he deserves the chance he's been given, and people do deserve a chance to prove themselves.

They say that money talks, it certainly does, it tells you a lot about people and where their priorities are. Money, or football.

Ray  Mia

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