Everton to build a 'golden generation'

There's a media company creating new "fans" sites for a lot of teams, and it's all being paid for by the clubs, so they will be edited / moderated like the true club mouthpieces that they are. No wonder Bluekipper folded. There was a message about it on GOT a couple of weeks ago.

I'm sure they'll be lots of opinion in this thread. So, my personal faves:

"they do have the exciting prospect of a new stadium, which could form part of a regeneration scheme in the North of Liverpool, which may well prove attractive to potential investors, should the scheme develop."

and

"Kenwright has continually backed Martinez — and David Moyes before him — in the transfer market."

Interestingly, this makes 3-4 articles defending the Board over these last few day. Now, they HAD to say something. But, if they keep up a blitz in the press, it will be them keeping the conversation going. Especially, when they insist on including whoppers like the two I quote above.

Most interesting, though, is that this press blitz comes immediately after a little plane circled for a minute or two over some land in Wales. Who knew?

To clarify, Elliott is a match-going Blue, not an impassive Mail writer. That goes some way to explaining the pummeling he took on Twitter from some of the more vocal critics of the Board following the article's publication earlier.

This is a key statement; "it is difficult to understand how the theatre impresario is not given far more credit by fans; let alone these attempts to force him out. He has backed his managers and not interfered, allowing them to do their jobs."

I hope that the plane trick falls as flat this weekend as it spectacularly flopped at St Mary's last week.

Btw, why shouldn't the club use propaganda? The protesters certainly are.

Yes, let's give the Board some time to put things in place, after all, 16 years surely is not long enough.

What new ground is this guy talking about?

If Lyndon is right and he is a match going Blue... God help us !

Take away the Sky income and we're virtually worthless. We're two bad seasons from going bankrupt in a rust bucket of a ground and we're supposed to be grateful?

This board has done precisely nothing in 16 years that anyone else with a couple of brain cells to run together couldn't have achieved. It's lazy management of the highest order. And also in that time numerous people in top positions have left unexplained.

And if the board have nothing to hide, why the ban on banners, protests, AGMs etc? The whole sorry affair is an absolute disgrace.

But it's not just the same old rag hacks regurgitating this stuff, they now have fans doing it to try and give it a bit of credence and make the concerned majority look like troublemakers dividing the Club.

Trouble is it's just the same script given to each one.

That, I think was the crux of this message - others will disagree but I find that particular statement very very exciting and the fact that it is being done on a shoestring.

Similarly the focus on developing youngsters is not something that is new to Everton FC; it has been doing it for most of its existence with varying degrees of success.

The pat on the back for Mr Kenwright's backing of his manager(s) is perhaps on the one hand warranted as nobody can argue that he does indeed allow the manager to get on with his job, with the caveat that at any given moment a player may have to be sold if the club needs the funds to alleviate cash-flow problems or when the manager wants to refresh/renew his squad. Although to be fair that scenario hasn't happened since Fellaini left.

Given the many responses on here and elsewhere, the chances of Everton finding a sugar-daddy are remote, even if the club are actively seeking one.

As I said, the piece is very optimistic and mentions how the club has increased its turnover during the current custodians tenure; however, it fails to admit that most of that increase is down to the TV money and has little to do with the business acumen of those running the club.

Compare and contrast our sponsorship and other commercial deals with others and you'd have to say that a club such as Everton could do better, if they spent a little more time and effort in trying to attract better deals.

Like many, who have concerns about where the club will be in five years, the to-do list is still fairly long and as yet most of the things on that list have yet to be completed.

I suppose it makes a change to read about Everton FC in the national media especially when it is an optimistic piece that is pro-Everton; however, fariy-tales used to make us feel better when we were children, until we realised that they didn't have much use in the our everyday world.

One thing that seems clear: if they let Stonesy go this window, the unrest is going to go nuclear.

However, on the negative side, the club has not properly addressed the issue of a new ground which many people believe is needed to take us to the next level. We need bigger grounds, more corporate facilities and also a physical demonstration that we are a club that means business with a ground to be proud of. That has been BK & the Board's achilles heel. Not saying that it is an easy issue to grapple with but at least the club should a) have a plan and b) be transparent with the fans (re ground redevelopment or move).

Contrast that to current claims of the board plants that say the increased turnover is because the board are doing a good job.

This is not the first, nor likely last, piece in the press that will come out in answer to the protests going on, there was another even more cringing piece in the mirror the other day. Instead of trying to defend against the protests, why not bring back things like the AGMs, listen to the concerns of the supposed 'minority' and provide clear answers. Or is that far too simply an idea?

I supposed it would lead to certain people getting 'bored with the questions' and unable to provide answers to questions like 'how can it be that after 16 years of trying we are still no nearer to finding a solution to the stadium as we were back in the 90s'? Whereas pretty much every other club in the league (regardless of size, wealth or location) has managed to just that. Or 'Why do we not own our training ground but instead pay well over £1m a year in rent when we could have just bought it?'

We should all be insulted as pieces like this are saying 'Fuck the facts, most of these nob-heads can be bamboozled with a few well-chosen slippery words'

'Everton manager Roberto Martinez is actively engaged in making significant signings before the transfer window closes'

Wow, what a scoop, we were expecting '..half-heartedly engaged in making insignificant signings.'

'With Everton having remained resolute in the face of a third bid of £30million from champions Chelsea for defender John Stones, Sportsmail understands that the Toffees are intent on further strengthening the squad in a bid to challenge for the top spots this season'

See, Sportsmail 'understands' we're intent on further strengthening the squad in a bid to challenge for the top spots'

HA! Not like all those other teams who must look at us with envy because of how intent we are.

'However, their desire for new ownership comes at a time when Everton have never looked so strong in recent times while the club's stand to keep England international Stones is absolute proof of the Toffees' ambition going forward.

There you go, we've never looked so strong and the proof of our ambition is our stand to keep Stones (so just to be clear, not our promise to keep him no matter what the bid)

'Everton want to compete and be successful. Gone are the days of the ‘selling club' tag and the Toffees are expected to bring in three more players before the window shuts'

See! Relax will you, those days are gone and we're expected to bring in three more players (hold on..significant ones wasn't it?)

So far, Tom Cleverley and Gerard Deulofeu have signed for the club (with Mason Holgate having also been acquired with an eye on the future) but, with key positions still needing to be filled, some fans have grown anxious at the lack of new faces. However, Martinez wants to find the right characters to build a successful side and it is understood that Everton have decided against striking deals with several players they have been in talks with.

Tut, anxious schmanxious, we've got our eyes on the future. In Five years when every other side is in a state of collapse, they'll be looking at us thinking 'You have to give it to Everton, they planned for the future by..um..signing a young lad and having some younger players like everyone else has got'

Frustration at the club's failure to land a trophy in twenty years has overshadowed the many improvements made by Everton in recent years. A small minority of fans still insist, however, that Kenwright should pack up and go but the Evertonian owner, a staunch Blue since he was a child, is continuing to lead the club in its quest for silverware and success. Challenges over investment and the stadium also dominate the debate, but a solution to both could be linked.

There you go many improvements compared to..um...COUGHsomething and it's a small minority of fans (they've been counted...plus how many were in that plane? Four at most!)

While Everton don't have the luxury of moving in to a ready-made stadium like some of their Premier League rivals, including West Ham United and Manchester City, they do have the exciting prospect of a new stadium, which could form part of a regeneration scheme in the North of Liverpool, which may well prove attractive to potential investors, should the scheme develop.

APPLAUDS THIS PARAGRAPH!!

The exciting prospect of a new stadium. Could form part of a regeneration. May well prove attractive. Should the scheme develop.

This is genius, like making 'nothing' look like 'SOMETHING!!!!' just by talking complete bollocks and using those wonderful weasel words.

While moving to a new stadium is on the list of things to do, the safeguarding of the playing squad is at the top of the agenda. The club has been clear in stating that investing in the team is the top priority.

See, on the list, I mean to listen to some, you'd think there was no list (whistles innocently, looks at feet).

And on an on and on this shite goes, a verbal sleight-of-hand, weasel-word fest intended not to illuminate but to deceive.

"Kenwright has continually backed Martinez - and David Moyes before him - in the transfer market and leads a club boasting a 22-year-old striker with over 100 career goals in Romelu Lukaku, a potential future England captain in Stones and a homegrown hero in the form of Wavertree-born Ross Barkley, another player with a bright future for England. There are also a host of international players in Everton's squad, including Tim Howard, Seamus Coleman, Phil Jagielka, James McCarthy and Kevin Mirallas....'

Blahblahblahblah

My fave though was..

Aiding his managers to build such young, exciting squads with less money than many of his counterparts, it is difficult to understand how the theatre impresario is not given far more credit by fans; let alone these attempts to force him out.

Wow, so he's kind of a fat-headed Mother Theresa only with a load of Blood Brothers spares in his arse pocket (which may be a clue as to how articles like this exist).

Anyone buying into this tripe deserves to be fleeced.

This is a corker: "...While moving to a new stadium is on the list of things to do..."
Brilliant - must be a name for this figure of speech

Waffle mode on:
"It is understood to be alleged to have been reported by an unconfirmed, believed to be a possibly informed source.."

Funny how all this has come out since that " pesky, cynical stunt by so callewd Evbertonians" little flight round St Marys on Saturday.

Why wasn't this gushing praise of a club being peddled before? Has the Daily Mail forsook it's love affair with the Dark Side and fallen for the Boys in Blue?

What most of these articles fail to acknowledge is that we are/were a giant of English football that has fallen so far down the pecking order that we are being reduced to having patronising statements like Everton finishing 4th is the achievement of the premier league era said about us.

For me, the protests are all about trying to restore our position at the top table of English football. We have been staring into the abyss for 25 years and counting and as Evertonians, I think it is right that patience is running out and we should shout it from the rooftops. Imagine if the RS or United had had 25 years like we have had? The media would have a field day with recriminations about who was responsible. As it is BK is the custodian of EFC so he takes the flak for not restoring us to a trophy winning position.

Nil Satis Nisi Optimum still means a lot to me and we should not ignore our motto and accept our lot like the media think we ought to.

Golden generation? Golden nursery more like. Ready to be picked off by the top 5 that has money to burn with real infrastructure in place and AMBITION!

Be grateful to Kenwright? his off the pitch record has seen us continue to go backwards against our peers.

Anyway up the blues...

Didn't you hear?

If a certain confluence of events were all to occur at the same time, and the stars align just right, we could possibly have the prospect of a new stadium to look forward to at some unspecified time in the future. We've got it made, man.

Seriously, all it's missing are the words: "When the Jews return to Zion...and a comet rips the sky...and the Holy Roman Empire rises..."

Why don't we earn more other than TV? We lead the way in providing affordable tickets, encouraging young fans for the future, compared with our peers.

Where is the value in owning a football club? If not a marketing tool, ultimate value rests in the pockets of the fans. Sadly Everton fans have no proven history of spending on merchandise - in fact they have a history of leaving unbought stock in the shops prior to the present deals. There are signs of enough fans wanting to attend matches to make a bigger stadium worthwhile though!

There is no value in spending to compete with other CL clubs - cost/benefit ratio is too small/risky unless you are a FAN.

When Kenwright goes expect a bumpy ride, not a sudden releasing of funds. Few will want us to spend as much as we have over the last ten years (including wages). Those old enough will remember the tense few months when Peter Johnson announced the club was up for sale. Did we fight off potential purchasers (@㿀million was it?) with a big stick? Nope.

There is hope. Build team & infrastructure strongly, gradually. Seize any chance at a new stadium with both hands. We are 2 years into the Martinez project, youngsters are coming through but expect 5 years of transition, he has to sell them the dream. If they want to go however, they go and go early (for the right price). Impossible dream? Probably. But entertaining it is!

The sad thing about the current situation is that no blue below the age of 25 has any recollection of the club ever winning anything. All the trophies we have are simply part of long gone history for them and don't really mean much. I'm 40 and can thankfully remember the highs of the mid 80s as well as '95. The trophies that came before that are part of our history but they were before my time and I can't really relate to them for obvious reasons.

The winless decline has gone on for so long now that there is a whole generation of blues who are accustomed to us being basically shit. This is the really sad thing about it and if it goes on for another 10-15 years then these protests will never happen at all as most of the fanbase will EXPECT us to be shit anyway.

I 100% back the protests and for anyone saying they will have no effect, they should just take a look at the panicked defensive PR the club is now spinning. Hopefully the protests will carry on at each of the next few games as a one off is not enough.

I've gone on the people's group website and made a donation and would encourage those that can to also do so - the quicker we get a change the better. No doubt the club are now going to panic even more and make a 'star' signing before TDD so they can then say they are doing something, 'look at our new signing' etc.

Keep the presuure up.

Firstly, Chang can't even spread their own brand name over 1/8th of a supermarkets 'Foreign Booze That Tastes Like Buffalo Slash' shelf. How has being tied up with them increased the clubs global profile? They can't even be arsed featuring Everton in ad campaigns in their own country. Last time I was in Thailand they had a few billboards and some ads slapped on the side of buses featuring Premier League footballers, but the only problem was they were all fucking Chelsea players (Drogba mainly) for some reason.

Anyway, that was me getting sidetracked. What I really wanted to ask about was the (seemingly ludicrous) claim that Everton are among the five fastest growing brands in world football. Any idea where he got that notion from? I'm pretty sure someone else brought it up the other day as well.

The back up seems to be percentage growth in revenue. Which is an interesting measure given that as soon as you give an even split of TV increases to the Premier League clubs you impact the lower earners far more than the top earners in percentage terms.

I would wager that if growth was measured in monetary terms then we'd be nowhere near. Nor would the 'fastest growing brand', Southampton.

You know what would have been better? Four corners of the square.

Elliott 'the psychic' Bretland, Daily Mail.