Fans Comment
Phil Roberts

21 Days to Save Your Investment
An Open Letter to Bill Kenwright and Paul Gregg
10 August 2004

Gentlemen,

Today is the 10th August.  In the last few weeks your manager has said on more than one occasion that, whilst he is proud of the squad of players at his disposal and the excellent team spirit, he does not have enough players to do the job.

Equally over the last few weeks your public announcements make it clear that you do not agree on the way forward to this club.  As a result, this lack of leadership is preventing the manager from being able to adequately re-enforce the squad for the coming season.  Each of you has good points but each of you brings unease for the future.

To Bill: you are a true blue Evertonian like so many of us.  You have realised the dream so many of us have, to be in charge of this great club.  But you do not have the financial muscle that is needed, nor does it seem at the moment the contacts to bring in the finance we need.  We are concerned that you are going to hold on to power so long, waiting for a miracle, that by the time it arrives, it will be too late and we will not have enough players to take us through to the next transfer window in January.

To Paul: you helped us when we needed to remove Peter Johnson and we are grateful.  We acknowledge that your love is not for Everton and at some stage in the future you would like to re-coup the money you invested to help a friend.  We don't mind you doing that, but we still fear that you will take the first opportunity to exit and our club will once again be owned by someone who only loves the club for what it can bring to them, rather than someone who loves the club for what it is.

But the longer this impasse continues, the more the probability that Bill Kenwright could be the first chairman in 50 years to oversee a relegation season and Paul Gregg could see the investment he made become worthless.

Today is the day for compromise.  Today is the day you must agree that neither of you wants these tragic events to happen.

For two or more weeks, since the gauntlet was thrown down, Bill, you have stayed mostly silent.  There has been no proposal, no hint of a White Knight.  Either you can provide the money or you must accept that the nightmare scenario is worse than losing control of the club.  For Paul, do we have enough time to do all the tasks you wish before the money is injected?  I fear not.  Action is needed today.

May I suggest that a deadline is agreed.  Privately in the minutes of a board meeting so the public and the press do not know.  And all parties agree to a news blackout.  That is the deadline where Bill Kenwright has to come up with the necessary funds.  But at the same time Paul Gregg agrees to loan the club the £15M he has promised the club from other backers on dissolution of TBH.  At the deadline either the new backers for Bill Kenwright pay the £15m to Paul Gregg to repay the loan, or the new backers from Paul Gregg repay his loan.

The effect of this is that the manager has the funds needed in the short term, and either way Paul Gregg can see the club restructured achieving his wish of the club moving forward and the probability of being able to extract himself from the investment without loss.

This is the win-win that means the club, the manager, the supporters and the owners have a fighting chance of celebrating 50 consecutive years in the top flight.  But it has to be done now.

Yours sincerely,

Phil Roberts