FANS COMMENT

Habits are for Nuns

Phil Lupton’s missive regarding “The seven habits of highly ineffective management,” fair took my breath away. Now I’m sorry, but quoting ‘consultant speak’ at me and expecting me to take it as some kind of gospel to which any manager (in football or any other business sector) should adhere is more than a little patronising, especially when (as usual for consultants) it is stating the bleeding obvious. Readers of such books should also bear in mind the mantra “ those who can, do; those who can’t, teach”.

The article goes way over the top and is dismissive of any view which suggests that Everton has managers who can actually manage. With this in mind I would like to pick up on some specifics.

Quoting from the article, ‘The first principle for those of you who are not acquainted with it, is 'Be proactive.' This habit forces you to take stock and check that your perspective on all life's trials and tribulations actually has a bearing on reality and will lead you to a positive change.’ Can I suggest that Mr Lupton and anyone else who follows this line does the same first, before recommending it to Moyes and Kenwright? The reality is that we are an above average Premiership side, which isn’t saying much I know. We are now a top-ten side.

With this as a perspective on reality, the comments associated with the second habit 'Begin with the end in mind' were, to my mind, ridiculous. I quote again, ‘The goal of every Evertonian including Bill Kenwright should be regularly winning the World Club Championship, The European Cup, The Premiership and the FA Cup. This is not delusional, it should be what we aspire to and hopefully what we can achieve.’ If the article is meant to be taking management philosophies and putting Kenwright and Moyes up for comparison against this aspirational ‘goal’, I must have lost the plot.

We have NEVER won the World Club Championship or the European Cup or for that matter the Premiership in it’s current form. It was only a few years ago that we avoided the drop into the lower leagues. If the goal is to win the Premiership within the next five to ten years I might just buy it, but we are surely talking 10-15 years for the European Cup and World Club? However, what is more to the point is the implied assumption that Kenwright and Moyes do not share these aspirations. Kenwright and Moyes may share these stated goals, but they would be mad to go public about it; they would make both themselves and us a laughing stock in so doing.

The article talks about Kenwright as a manager. By the definition used in the article (‘hands-on day-to-day running of a business’) he is not the manager; he is the Chairman of a privately owned business. Keith Wyness is, by this definition, the manager and it should be obvious that, whilst you might not like everything he has done, we have moved on commercially and are sweating the assets more effectively than under the previous limp CEO’s we have had. The new Academy has finally happened under his stewardship, as has (for better or worse) the new stadium.

If we turn to Moyes as the ‘manager’ under scrutiny, I quote again, ‘if the match tactics you used were ineffective, if your transfer dealings were amateurish, or if your aspirations were so low, that not being relegated was progress.’ Moyes’s substitutions leave me baffled, both in terms of timing and their impact tactically, but I would dispute the premise that his match tactics are ineffective. It may not be pretty, but we get results.

Why are his transfer dealings amateurish? Is this because he doesn’t get the players you as a fan might want? Or is he doing what the Phil Lupton’s Guru suggests and setting realistic goals in the transfer market? For example, if Madjid Bougherra chooses Charlton over Everton, why is that automatically Moyes’s fault? Just because he was honest with the player about the need for his squad to be flexible in where they played? I think Brian Laws was much nearer the mark when he said that Everton (ie, Moyes and Kenwright presumably) were ‘ultra professional’ and that going to Everton should have been a ‘no-brainer’ for the player.

Arteta, Cahill, Lescott, Johnson, Neville, Howard and Valente are all players brought in by Moyes, yet he is very rarely given credit for bringing in players that many other managers and fans covet. And he brings through Anichebe and Vaughan… Fans focus instead on the ‘pups’: Krøldrup, Davies etc., as if no manager has ever made mistakes in the transfer market besides Moyes. He’s prudent not dithering, precisely because he’s dealing with real money and knows the Club needs to spend it well. He tries to be as certain as he can but, like all managers, he makes mistakes and like those same managers will gain from the experience; that’s what managers in the real world do, text books are usually of little help.

In the final part of the last quote, Moyes's aspirations are pegged at avoiding relegation. I assume this is because of his annual (and recent) comments regarding getting to 40 points and then pushing on from there. I would dare to suggest that every manager outside the ‘top four’ has this as their first goal every season. If they don’t, they’re mad. The first responsibility of every manager in the Premiership is to keep his team there, to maintain the revenues that form the bedrock of any aspiration for subsequent success.

The recent announcements of significant additional TV cash coming on stream this year make falling out of the Premiership even more unthinkable financially than it already was. Moyes has stated repeatedly that he will not consider himself a success until the Club has won silverware under his stewardship. Why don’t people listen to what the man says instead of what they want to hear?

Next quote, ‘we undoubtedly don't have the full story behind the actual events and thinking that go on behind the scenes at Everton. But from my possibly naïve position, the management and leadership at Everton is woeful at best. Let's take the Fernandes scenario; we are being made to look like dithering old fools.’

No, you don’t know the whole story, Phil, we very rarely do, so why shout your mouth off about it before you know what few facts do come out? If you had held back, you would now know that the Premiership authorities have scuppered the purchase of Fernandes and in so doing have probably stopped him even arriving on loan.

There are more management philosophies than there are leaves on a tree. So let me give you an equally valid perspective, which is that, from the starting point a few years ago of being a financial basket case and regular relegation candidates, the management team do have goals, but they are realistic and iterative. The kind of financial clout required to win major trophies these days is huge and we do not have it. In fact it’s not even guaranteed if you have the said clout; look at Chelsea.

Until the sugar daddy turns up, the Club has to progress slowly, I’m afraid, but I don’t see how that means the Club’s management aren’t as aspirational as the fans. They just happen to be in possession of all the facts and like most business managers they have to actually make it happen, not just talk about it in a book.

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