Fans Comment
Chuffed To Be Blue

ToffeeWeb has been asked to publish the following collective letter from the Chuffed to be Blue website.

Dear Mr Elstone,

On behalf of 150 independently gathered Everton fans, we feel that the club have shown utter disrespect and contempt for their supporters over the last few days.

In particular the club's news "management" on their official site when "new faces" and a "new striker" were announced, were in particularly bad taste.

Furthermore, the length of time that has elapsed between news of transfer activity appearing on other sites such as Sky Sports and BBC Sport and its subsequent confirmation on the Official Site has rendered the Official Site almost redundant as a source of breaking news. This complaint is reinforced by the confusion over the current speculation surrounding Per Kroldrup where Fiorentina announced the completion of the deal before interest was even officially confirmed by the club.

While we are acutely aware that publishing available funds serves only to inflate transfer fees demanded by other clubs for potential signings (and that this is further exacerbated in the January window), the contradictory statements emanating from the club concerning the availability, or lack of transfer funds has contributed to a growing sense of disillusionment and uncertainty amongst supporters. For example, while there have been no signings since the club announced its official interest in Kuyt and Owen, statements have been issued to the effect that very few transfer funds are available. It is surely stretching credulity of supporters to suggest that the transfer of players of their calibre could be agreed with only a small fee up front and the rest spread out or contingent on achievement. The consequence of this is that subsequent announcements issued by the club confirming interest in players of quality are now met with derision by the majority of fans who perceive them as "phantom bids" or appeasing 'smokescreens'.

In light of this, the decision by the website to provide summary updates on the transfer dealings of other Premiership clubs while keeping us completely in the dark as to the actions/inactions of our own club serves only to rub salt in the wounds of supporters who had approached this season with eager anticipation.

The club has always been keen to repeat its "People's Club" mantra, but if this is to be more than empty marketing rhetoric, then it is crucial that the fans continue to feel a valued part of the club and treated with the appropriate respect. Behind-the-scenes disarray has been an unfortunate sideshow to the club's football over recent years and it was hoped that the on-the-pitch success of last season would enable the club to develop as a whole. However, recent events suggest that this is not the case. It is ironic then that all this has coincided with a recent upturn in form by the team, though it is the opinion of many supporters that this has been achieved "in spite of" rather than "because of" the actions by the club.

Yours sincerely

Chuffed To Be Blue
www.chuffedtobeblue.com

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