Season 2011-12 Fan Articles

A little too comfy

By Shaun   Sparke  ::  06/07/2011   45 Comments (»Last) When you have a chairman who hasn?t got the financial muscle to give his manager the support he needs in the transfer market ? and you get a manager who knows that his job is safe as he has the proven ability to keep his chairman happy by successfully operating on a small budget ? then you have the perfect recipe for stagnation.

I am sure that both Kenwright and Moyes have a deep desire to win things with Everton and that both are under the impression they are doing the best they can with the cards they have been dealt. But this, my fellow Evertonians, is where the root of the problems lies. If Moyes is not being put under any sort of pressure to improve his own performance, then we are going to continue to witness the type of performances that were far too common last season, that were also unnecessary given the talent that he had available to him.

Let?s take the home game against West Brom last season as an example. A team that contained eight international footballers plus the likes of Arteta was ripped apart at home by a West Brom team that hardly won a game in months. Or what about the home game against rank bottom West Ham, who actually outplayed us for the majority of the game, and we were fortunate enough to secure a draw thanks to a last-minute goal. How did Moyes allow this to happen and what did the chairman say to him afterwards?

If I would have been in Kenwright's shoes, I would have told Moyes in no uncertain terms that this was not acceptable at Everton FC and he had better make sure that this never happened again. I know that saying these words wouldn?t guarantee no repeat of the woeful displays but at least it would have given Moyes some food for thought. As it is, Moyes knows deep down he is good enough to get us in a respectable position each season and he also knows that his chairman is eternally grateful for that. Therefore, the chance of him getting a good old-fashioned bollocking is next to zero.

I hate picking on just a couple of games to try and prove a point so let?s enlarge the dataset somewhat. The defeat at home against Newcastle was truly appalling, I can?t even remember us having a shot at the goal and the players played with so little passion it was embarrassing at times... or what about the truly abysmal performance at Stoke where we never got into first gear ? never mind out of it. You can substitute the name of Bolton into that last sentence too. Granted, the players have to take their share of the blame; Moyes didn?t kick a ball in any of those games... but he is the manager and the buck stops with him.

For those of you who think that I am being anti-Moyes then please think again. I would like to point out the performances against Man Utd, Liverpool, Spurs, Man City and Chelsea at home last season where a team of highly talented players produced excellent spirited performances after being motivated by the manager to do so. They showed what they are capable of and it was a pleasure to be at those games.

This is where the dichotomy exists. We know that Moyes is capable of getting his side to produce good quality winning football at times and it would be unreasonable to expect him to do it in every single game. But he has to strive to ensure that we do it in the majority of the games ? and it is down to the chairman to remind him every so often that he is also being judged and that he is answerable at the end of the season.

I feel that Kenwright's position has become so weak at the club that he is scared stiff of upsetting Moyes in case he walks or reveals all to the media as to the true behind-the-scenes restrictions he has been forced to work under. This is not a healthy situation and, as I alluded to early on in the article, this is a recipe for stagnation. No matter what walk of life we are in, we all try to perform a little better when we know that, if we get too complacent, then somebody else will be all too willing to replace us and sit in the big chair.

I am not suggesting for one minute that Moyes should go into every game fearing the axe if we don?t win. But the current situation suggests that life has become far too comfortable for Moyes at Everton and Kenwright is not in a position to do anything about it. Something has to give or I am afraid the current status quo is going to be with us for a few more years yet.

Reader Comments (45)

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer

About these ads