Season 2011-12 Fan Articles

Bill Dreamed a Dream

By Anthony   Jones  ::  15/09/2011   56 Comments (»Last) I want a new owner with the financial clout to save us from impending implosion as much as the most avid detractor of Bill Kenwright.

His recent interview with the Blue Union showed him to be delusional, condescending, and as slippery as a politicain caught in the headlights.

Of all the disappointments and lies, the two failed stadium moves irritate me the most, as most fans seem to agree that the first scheme was perhaps achievable if Kenwright had have put the club first, whilst the second was cheap reverse financing that would not really have taken the club forward.

I am not posting this article to remind you of what you most likely already know or think. Rather, I would like to make a case to take the edge off the hatred that is vented in his direction. This is how I have come to see the man:

• Kenwright loves the club, though perhaps in a controlling and potentially damaging way.
• Kenwright is most likely a puppet of his friends on the board, who have gentlemen's agreements that we may never know about.
• Under the heavy strain of competition from commercially stronger clubs, Kenwright did all he could come up with to create success on the pitch in the hope of hitting the jackpot of the Champion's League.
• Yes, he took a gamble, but it wasn't as naive as you might suggest, given that we almost qualified for the Champion's League only for Pierluigi Collina to potentially steal it from us after we had drawn the eventual semi-finalists.

Kenwright took a big gamble. He desperately wanted Everton to compete with clubs with more than double our turnover. You might say that he should have had a "strategy". Yes, suddenly everyone talks about business plans and growth as if it is as simple as planning and execution and then the money just pours in. There is stiff competition in the football market, and leagues across the world are increasingly dominated by an elite that is almost untouchable. This is a sad reality of capitalism. BK cannot be blamed for the loose financial regulation of Premier League clubs.

I would like him to sell up for no profit whatsoever, but I suspect his masters won't allow that. Perhaps more questions should be asked of them if it is a scapegoat you are after.

Nobody else wanted to buy the club when he did. He bought it, and rather than let the football deteriorate he gambled by giving as much money as he could muster to the manager. Now the books are looking ominous, but we certainly aren't the only club in the shit.

For the most part, I am proud of what we have achieved on the pitch over the last 7 or 8 seasons. Yakubu was the best forward I have seen play for us. Arteta was at times sublime. I saw us leather Fiorentina and Chelsea.

What would we be able to remember fondly of the last 10 years without taking a gamble? We'll never know, but Kenwright doesn't deserve to be hated. He should never be trusted, but he should be allowed to leave with some dignity.

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