Season 2011-12 Fan Articles

It's All Over for Kenwright and Moyes

David Moyes placed all his eggs in a basket labelled ?FA Cup? ? sacrificing the Anfield Derby in the process ? and has nothing to show for it. This season has been a failure. No-one gets a medal for finishing seventh or fourth.

As far as Bill Kenwright is concerned, the FA Cup run has temporarily silenced the critics. The cup run is now over and those who held their tongues will now speak of his failings and that of the board that he chairs. It started as soon as the final whistle blew at Wembley.

It feels like a watershed moment and a time for change as another Wembley failure poses the question of What if? ? Investment? Another manager? A new board? These are valid questions as a Wembley appearance reveals one fundamental truth that we collectively fail to recognise: Everton is a massive club and one that has for 25 years failed to reach its potential.

I may not have gone to Wembley on Saturday, but the FA Cup run of 2009 brought home to me the sheer scale of Everton?s support as we brought more fans than United for the semi-final and many more than Chelsea, the biggest small club in the land. Holding a season ticket for many years, I took the Goodison crowd for granted. At Wembley, in unfamiliar surroundings, I saw it in a different light. I always knew that Everton were a big club, but Everton at Wembley made this truth apparent.

After last Saturday?s unacceptable performance, it is time to put some hard questions to the club's hierarchy and most importantly ourselves. The big question is: What do we want Everton to be?

The Chairman and Board of Directors have answered that question by their actions and their failure to act in the club's best interests. Destination Kirkby ? a decision to move the club to the periphery of the city and English football ? for the material benefit of the directors and the 70% of shareholders that Bill Kenwright represents as Chairman.

That is where Bill Kenwright and the Board see Everton Football Club?s future: on the periphery, and never again at the top. The only concern for Bill and friends is to make a profit on their shares after refusing to invest a single penny into the club for 12 years, allowing the stadium to crumble and providing the first team manager with no money to invest in the first team. This is parasitic capitalism of the worst kind; the Board of Directors at Goodison have placed their own interests above that of the club and the supporters who have sustained the club for over 125 years.

Bill Kenwright may well be a Blue but, after 12 years of failure, disappointments and downright deception, I can only reach one conclusion?. this man is not an Evertonian and his tales of Uncle Cyril?s handlebars and the Boys Pen exist to provide a shield for his continued failure to resolve the club's stadium problem and his disgraceful conduct.

Backing Bill Kenwright is an emotional spasm and nothing more. I can sympathise to a point as I used to back the man until Kirkby. The facts, however, are against him on so many counts, that I could no longer ignore them as I did previously.

Bill Kenwright and the Board do not have the best interests of the club at heart, but of greater concern is the amount of influence his advisor Phillip Green has at Everton and how this impacts on the club's long-term future. Robert Earl is his man on the board, but Bill Kenwright originally borrowed money from the Greggs in order to acquire a 25% stake in the club, does Green now have that debt? Regardless of whether that is true or not, Bill Kenwright confirmed at the final AGM that Phillip Green is ?a friend of ours?. In truth, he?s a friend who we could do without, but Phillip Green?s interference is the fault of Kenwright, a man who in retrospect should not have been allowed to gain control of the club.

Now what about the supporters; what do we want?

If you want Bill Kenwright to remain as Chairman, then quite simply you want the club to remain on the periphery of English football and for the stagnation that has been masked by David Moyes to continue. If you?re in love with the idea of 'plucky little Everton', then I must ask you: Do you know your history?

Everton have been a big club in the past, a club that wins trophies ? and we can still be a big club; 2009 reminded me that there is still hope. The longer the current board remain in place, then that hope diminishes with each passing day.

There are two conceptions of Everton: one is that of English football?s true bastions, a sleeping giant. Then, of course, there is the Kenwright conception: plucky Everton, no money to invest on the team, but the Chairman is an Evertonian and that?s all that matters. One set of supporters are ambitious, the other are conservatives with precious little to conserve but are merely happy to see the club survive.

Now for the truth.

The Club will not survive under Bill Kenwright. Change is required and it has to be the right kind of change. The club needs new owners? with money, a plan and a new way of doing business.

The difference on Saturday was that a team which had spent £120 million on new recruits, even if it was not spent wisely, beat a team that has spent £5 million... Resources matter.

That is what the current Board can?t provide for the manager. The identity and ability of the manager is irrelevant in this context. To compete, you need the financial resources.

As for the current situation, David Moyes is entering the final year of his contract; the squad is small, old and, like the clubs finances, overly reliant on loans. The squad needs serious investment to maintain its current position and hopefully improve upon it, but it will not be provided by the current board.

It?s going to be an interesting summer at Goodison with no money to increase the size and quality of the squad, a manager that may leave, and supporters staying away in their droves. A perfect storm is brewing and a turbulent few years are ahead of us ? barring an unexpected turn of events for the better.

Reader Comments (81)

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