Fans Comment
Chris Dunbar

Broken Blue
16 September 2005

Everton: all at sea

But now it’s over for me; my love for Eveton is too hard to deal with. A year ago I’d have been one of the first blokes on the plane to Bucharest to watch the boys – I was one of 3,000 blues in Anderlecht three seasons ago during pre-season. Since the mid-eighties, I’ve hardly missed a home game and watched many a momentous away win and grim defeat. After tonight, I know in my heart this isn’t the same EFC my granddad and his father followed. Nil Satis Nisi Optimum? Give me a break.

Let me make one thing clear – this isn’t just about Dinamo Bucharest 5 Everton 1, even though it may be the final nail in the coffin. I know I’ll be one of many blues writing in tonight, tearing their hair our, despairing, calling for Kenwright’s head, etc etc etc. I could spout off about how we needed a forward bringing in, we need outside investment, we need to be more positive, we need to have more professional ticketing policies etc etc.

But… I’d only be recounting the same tales that we have all discussed, probably since 1991 onwards. I have constantly analysed in favour of the team and defended this club aggressively over the years. Even today I sat and argued with a work colleague that Everton were right not to buy Robbie Keane because we could come back and get him in January for half the price when we’ll be in the top six – blind faith!

Does anyone remember the moment when big Nev had his half-time sit-in when we were 3-0 down to newly promoted Leeds United? That was symbolic of the demise of this club. Nev demanded the best – he was brought up by a team who didn’t know failure; we were now beginning to accept second best and he knew it. We have had some quality managers and excellent players since our last Championship win, but we’ve never had the foresight to back the boys in blue with real ambition from the very top management.

In 1985, we could have fought for our rightful place in Europe – did we? No, the best manager in Europe then proceeded to leave us for a mid-table Spanish side.

In 1996, we had the opportunity to build on a cup-winning side that had finished 6th in the league, did we? No, we sacked the manager after a short run of defeats!

In 2002, we could have fought tooth and nail to move our club to the promised land of the King’s Dock, yet we took a step back and yielded; we are still stuck in an archaic stadium.

In 2005, our manager performed a minor miracle in getting us into ‘the Champions League’; should we sign the players to help us progress, knowing that we had got through by the skin of our teeth having sold our two most creative players? No, we waited and waited and signed some good yet uninspiring players.

Let me clarify something, I’ve never been a merchant of doom, my glass is always half-full. My red friends take great pleasure in mocking my absurd optimism, but tonight, for me, all that Everton has stood for died. I would cry, but it’s just too painful – it feels like my wife has told me she loves me every night and all the time she’s been sleeping with my best mate. Tonight’s performance was symptomatic of what is wrong with Everton and the game as a whole – we had a team packed with internationals and got ripped apart by a team of also-rans. The negativity of Everton’s tactics and spirit as a club shone like a beacon of ineptitude. We should have hoisted the white flag before the kick off.

I’ve never left a game early in 20 years – tonight I switched off with an hour gone. I hear via the mighty wisdom of Talksport and Radio Five phone-ins that football is struggling because of the 4-5-1 formation; because the top three are ‘so far ahead’ (Andy Gray); because of the influx of foreign players who we can’t relate to or because (unlike cricket) we watch 22 men who earn what we earn in an hour what we pick up in a year?

Maybe it’s all those factors, but I can remember the day when if I could smell a football match on TV I’d watch it. About three or four seasons ago that diluted into only wanting to watch Everton (I was now a partisan). Now I can’t even bear to watch us. ‘Us’? – I used to think the club was ‘ours’ – now I don’t – now it hurts too much to let myself care.

I can sit and argue with the best of them about tactics, motivation and all the other reasons we can pull together for losing an individual football match. I like David Moyes and he will one day probably move on and win leagues and cups somewhere else, but the bigger picture is that the same old excuses have been bandied about at Everton since I was a kid about why we have failed and it never gets less painful.

When I was about twelve my Grandad (then 65) told me he was giving up on Everton; I thought he was a spineless idiot... now I know he was protecting his heart – mine’s already been broken too many times.

It’s all over for me.

Chris  Dunbar

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