We don't have any money. I want that to change. I don't want that to change by Everton being bought by some foreign billionaire who wants to use our club as a vanity project. I would genuinely prefer to see us drop down the divisions than to see us become another Manchester City. I care so much less about football these days, when the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea ignore any kind of long term sustainability, undermine the clubs who do things right, have no need to build a legacy, because they can just throw money at a problem right now.
When Stan Kroenke bought a majority share in Arsenal last season I think we became the only top 10 Premier League team that remained predominantly British owned. To me that's something to be proud of. I think in the long term it's both undesirable and unsustainable to have the Premier League be owned by individuals scattered around the world, with no real feeling for the history of the league or the clubs involved.
I don't want to be reliant on a single individual for transfer funds, for security, for our very existence as a club. I actually don't care that we have no money right now, I care far more that we appear to have no plan. I want to see an Everton that has a sustainable business plan, that's well run on and off the pitch, that maximizes its history and what's special about the club. I want to follow a model far more like Arsenal's during the last decade; not reliant on a rich benefactor, but developing revenue streams themselves, nurturing youth, pushing forward in a business sense.
It's a more difficult path, and it's slower. It denies us the opportunity to throw twenty or thirty million pounds at a player because our sheikh or our oil oligarch has given us a big chunk of funds. But it's far more sustainable, it would keep us truer to our roots, and it would be far more rewarding; even if it limits our chance of success during this (temporary, I believe) period where many Premier League clubs are billionaire vanity projects.
We don't, despite Kenwright's claims, need a billionaire. I don't want a billionaire. That doesn't mean I'm happy with the status quo. If we're sold then I want us to be sold to someone who has a strong business plan for developing Everton as a successful commercial enterprise. Developing foundations that will see us stronger regardless of the involvement of any single individual. The problem is not that we're poor, it's that we're badly run. Do you think the banks would have placed such limitations on our funding if they had confidence in our long term business model?
It's a desire that's less easily converted to a simple slogan like 'Sack the board'. It's not as immediately interesting as 'Moyes Out'. Although there's very legitimate criticisms of Moyes, I don't see any point in calling for a change of manager. It's like rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. It's a distraction from the real issue. Even if there was a short term boost, any manager is going to be hamstrung by the deep rooted structural problems around the club. Moyes has done a lot for us, I'd like to see him have the opportunity to manage in a positive, professional business environment, where he can be confident that the non-football matters are being run right. I'm not sure he's ever had that. It's not a question of 'who's better'? Unless the massive problems Everton faces in general are solved, nobody is going to be better, not in the long term.
I'm proud to be an Evertonian because of what Everton are. We are not just another club. I never want to be just another club. We should never be a vanity project. We should never be satisfied with the short term fix of a change of manager that addresses none of our serious long term problems. We should demand success at the same time as we support the team. And we should be prepared to take the long road to security and success, never the quick fix.
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