Fans Comment
Graham Hardman

Get Over It, Mr Cornmell
26 September 2004

This article is written in response to that of David Cornmell on 25 September.  I intend to swear far less, as I don't see this as constructive in the slightest.  I shall take his article point for point, and issue a response which, I believe, most of the Evertonians I know would concur with.

1) Kenwright was wrong to sell Rooney

I will use David's own words here — "How chuffing stupid can you get?"  I refuse to answer a question with a question, so here's my response first — I am sad that we have lost a player who has the potential to be the best in the world, and certainly the best British player since George best, but personally I think the deal was a fantastic one for the club considering:

• the effect he is widely accepted to have had on the squad last season by acting like the great I Am;
• the constant stream of newsmaking stories, few of which are in any way positive;
• the fact that the player himself asked for a transfer

So here's my question in response — would Mr Cornmell rather we hung on to a player who:

• no longer wanted to play for the club?
• has shown lately that he is at the start of what could be a very slippery slope?
• had an increasingly negative effect on the squad the longer it tried to accommodate his rapidly-inflating ego?

Let me reiterate — I am sad that we had such a breathtaking talent on our books, who we nurtured within our club, who made his name in a Royal Blue jersey, and who we all pinned our hopes on, but who we couldn't hold on to.  However, when that player decided he was bigger than the club, then getting anything like our valuation for him was always going to be preferable to making attempts to accommodate him, or worse, refusing to sell and sticking him in the reserves / youth team — which I saw advocated, but would have had the effect of us watching a £25M payday slip away for nothing.

2) We shouldn't be optimistic about our future given our start to the season

I quote:

Kenwright is taking you all for a chuffing ride.  Yet, rather than people hopping off the magical mystery tour, they're piling on!  After what — two victories against promoted teams (must-wins); a narrow away win {winning in Manchester is fair enough} and a narrow home win to mid-table mediocrity (we should always be looking for three points against Boro at home}; a tonking by Arsenal; and a {very} lucky point against a MAnUre team missing it's cream — Ferdinand, Van Nistelcheat, and yes the Blimp Rooney.  Oh, — and an undeserved penalty win over a Division Two side.

I can't argue with the last point — a team who's genuinely looking for a top-6 finish shouldn't be struggling to a penalty shoot-out victory over a team in the lower reaches of the old 3rd division. All I'll say is that funny things happen in cup ties - especially away ties.

Is it wrong to be optimistic about the start we've made to the season?  I don't think so — what was our longest unbeaten run last year?  I'll tell you, it was 5 games from mid-February to the end of March (Southampton 3-3, Villa 2-0, Portsmouth 1-0, Leicester 1-1, Boro 1-1).  We've already managed 7 games unbeaten (I don't think I need to go through the list, but it includes a point at Old Trafford — something we've not managed since 1992 — and a win at Man City, which has been a nailed-on hiding of late). 

We've played with the confidence we showed in 2002/03, we've ground out six victories in the last 7 games, we've already accumulated more away points in 4 games — unbeaten, might I add — than we did through the whole of last season.  And somehow this is nothing to be optimistic about? 

I don't care whether van Nistelrooy, Ferdinand and Rooney weren't playing — most "experts" would probably put their money on the Man Utd reserve squad beating our full-strength line-up more often than not.  You can only get a result against the 11 (OK, 14) who turn up to face you — we've done that; many many other teams will fail to.  In finishing on this point, does Mr Cornmell honestly think that Middlesbrough are "mid-table mediocrity"?  Honestly?  Then he knows something the pundits don't.

3) Rooney was sold to our most hated rivals

Everton and Manchester United, most hated rivals?  First I've heard.

4) Ground Share

A lot of high-profile Evertonians have suggested a groundshare as being a good way forward — obviously not ideal, as every club wants to have its own home, but, in the view of many many people I've discussed the issue with, not the end of the bloody world.  Trevor Birch suggested the same thing — and he's not stupid by any means.  Keith Wyness has made the stadium issue a priority; should he be sacked if he should have the temerity to suggest a groundshare being the best way forward as things stand?  Get real.

(Please note, I haven't offered my own view on the groundshare issue here, as I think it's largely irrelevant!)

5) Is Kenwright doing a good job?

I'll split this response in two:

1. Firstly, has he done a good job in the past?  I would say not, and indeed, the chairman himself said as much at the EGM (a transcript of the proceedings is available on ToffeeWeb).  He has made (and acknowledged) mistakes; the Club is no further forward than it was when TBH began their tenure, while we have seen smaller clubs making big strides, and arguably overtaking us. 
    
2. Has he learned from what he has done in the past?  It's too early to tell for sure, so I can't answer definitively, but the appointment of a new Chief Executive is a good way to go (Michael Dunford was largely ineffective for years).  Keith Wyness has all the credentials to do a great job for us — look at what he did with Aberdeen, who you could argue have a similar standing in Scottish football to our own in the English game. 

I feel that the discussions at the EGM were positive; if what Kenwright and Gregg said is to come to fruition, the next four years should be far more positive than the last four.  Whether these things do come to pass is a different matter, and it depends on your view of Kenwright (and thus the Board) whether it's a good thing ("hurrah, we're moving in the right direction") or a bad thing ("you've been saying this for years").

The jury's still out on the Russian Investment issue — it's not by any means certain that the Russians were ever going to invest in the first place, and by all accounts whoever was interested in putting money into the Club is still interested — indeed, they will even have a seat on the Board (something which the much-maligned Mr Kenwright has got right lately — not that many give him credit for it).

6) 'When the inevitable shit hits the inevitable fan, all I'll be left with is "I told you so"'

Please look up the word "inevitable" — then the word "clairvoyant".

In closing, I'd like to say that, while after 8 games it's far to early to be talking about league positions, it's far too early to be deciding that we're going down this season.  That's the sort of crap we read all summer in the media, the sort of crap we're subjected to from rival fans all the time, and the sort of crap that pundits delight in reeling out whenever anyone suggests that there could be the remotest chance that Everton might — whisper it quietly — not struggle this season.  It pains me no end to hear such woeful negativity spouted on an Everton website as well — perhaps I should stick to the Daily chuffing Mirror after all.

Graham  Hardman