Fans Comment
David Flynn

No Answer
29/12/05

It's interesting looking at all of the feedback and letters on ToffeeWeb re where the problems lie - one cites the lack of attack, another the defence, another the midfield - all of which shows there is no one specific thing wrong, and no one solution to solve it all. And I include any possible sacking of Moyes.

I guess you could say I'm in the traditional IMWT camp, but I recognise that things are not going well, and the buck ultimately stops with the manager. Every single player bar Yobo and Arteta (and maybe Neville) is massively underperforming. Is that solely the fault of Moyes?

I've written on this site in the past that I'm often sick of the manager of every football club being blamed when some overpaid tosser can't be arsed to put in a performance — the players are professionals, and should be professional in the way they do their work. Most, across many clubs in the league, aren't. Chatting to a mate who's a Fulham fan, we agreed that we don't go to matches as much as we used to anymore because we're resentful of paying upwards of £30 to support a group of guys who we don't actually like, just because the club we follow employed them. We have "potentially" the best squad for a few years, but I've been thinking that for months now, and we're 17th in the league. Sometimes you have to let go "potential" and switch to realism. Our team is bollocks.

The fact is, Moyes may have spent around £25M, but that was to turn a pretty poor squad (that did amazingly well last season) into a half-decent one. Expectations were raised a little too high last year; just because we spent some cash doesn't mean we were going to do any better. We should be a decent mid-table side.

However, Moyes's transfer dealings have by and large let us down — but is that his fault or theirs? For example, I think most of us would have agreed with many of the signings, but most haven't worked out, and unlike, say, Man Utd, we don't have the luxury of anyone mis-firing. For example, I agreed with Simon Davies joining, but he's just not delivered.

So where to now? I haven't got a clue. Things are bad, but for some reason I don't feel they are as bad as the final days under Walter Smith. Maybe that's illogical, but hey, that's how I feel. Is sacking Moyes the answer? I know that ToffeeWeb could say it's a redundant question, as he's not going anywhere, but it's the topic of most in the mailbag. The fact is, I can't see sacking Moyes as a solution, as I have yet to see a credible alternative anywhere.

Say he goes; what then? Who realistically is available, better, and would want to join? Moyes isn't making mistakes that are unique to him - 80% of others are doing it. I saw Charlton play Arsenal on Boxing Day with a season ticket holder there, and Charlton were as bad as us - actually, they were worse. And Curbishly (whose head was being called for by many of the home crowd) didn't have a clue. And for those who are looking back to our failure to get a striker, Darren Bent was on a par with our own Marcus. £1.5M to Charlton?! We should bite their hands off!

Looking at the team last night, attack, midfield, & defence, I realised that we don't have the one thing that really would make a difference — pace. Liverpool had it. Villa had it. Same with Bolton and West Ham. We don't run at people because we're not fast enough to get past them, not fast enough to run into space for a pass. Since Radzinski left, we have been left with a team of pedestrians. In the transfer window, that would be my most important buy (even above a striker). Robbie Keane would be tops, but he's not the quickest guy in the world. Just imagine if McFadden could run!

I, like most Evertonians, am gutted at the way our season is going - and at the moment, I can't see a solution. The next few months are going to be pretty interesting indeed.

David Flynn

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