Southall: Everton need to give fans a clear message

Essentially, the key points he makes is its all about the Board, not having a clear direction and philosophy, and the lack of trust in the Board is the real source of supporter's anger at Martinez. Meaning, if we had a Board worth a damn they would have let the manager know months/a year ago that he needs to get a defensive coach in. And we as supporters would have known what the Board expected so we wouldn't be here questioning whether Martinez will still be here.

Makes me wonder, what would changing the manager really do with this same Board, assuming nothing has changed with Moshiri joining, and BK still running the ship? I think what we should be demanding is that the club's ambition is to win the league, and the Board should come out and say this. And as part of that, whether it's Martinez or somebody else, that is their goal. If Martinez stays then someone must sit him down and tell him where we failed and what must be done to address it (defense and tempo), and that he must watch his words and stop with the BS in press conferences because the supporters won't have it.

It's also pertinent to consider what the board want from any new manager. This is a major problem for me, because BK has been heavily involved with transfers and even identifying targets, he's playing at managing Everton by proxy, and he wants his managers to put up with his interfering. Remember the recent story about him being "the transfer conductor" next season? Moyes saying he rang him every single day?

That means he won't want a big name who will tell him to go and look after his own business. Kenwright needs to go and retire before we can move on.

He expresses exactly the level of ambition (the league) we need as well as clarity in communication, ambition, goals etc.

The straight-talking would be a breath of fresh air though a bit chilly for our comfort zone board.

However, it will be interesting to note, as the thread develops, how many people agree with him and if any of those people were slagging off the Blue Union a few years ago.

The couple of meetings I went too at the Casa, if I recall correctly, asked for something very similar.

Changed days eh ?

We need an ass-kicking, no nonsense manager, with a big rep that players fear and Chairmen don't dare mess with.
I don't like him, but Mourinho fits the bill.

That said, I hope they give Martinez the sack next week now that I've lashed out on the gear.

Link

(keep an eye out for me tomorrow, upper Gwladys).

Let's hope a new brush sweeps clean and someone finally tells Bill to ride off into the sunset. But then this is Everton and change is always at a snail's pace.

And this it: our grievances about how the current state of affairs are ignored.

That's the message.

We can rant online, we can send planes up with banners, we can write firmly worded letters of protest. It's all irrelevant to the club, water off a duck's back. Maybe that's because the board feels unaccountable to us and the club exists in increasing financial independence from us.

Or maybe it's because the club knows that Evertonians have bought into the "Everton Way" con (yes, here I go again). That we won't dare be militant or too affirmative in our protests, lest we appear like Kopites.

Kevin Ratcliffe appears to have been rolled out to push that line again in the past day, with words effectively rendering the definition of an Evertonian as "not a Kopite".

It's a cheap scam designed to keep us in check. And so far it has worked.

Everyone was chuffed when we got rid of Johnson but in Kenwright's time here what has been achieved?
Have we moved stadium?
Have we done anything to the stadium?
Have we won a trophy?.

Kenwright basically had an easy time when David Moyes was here because Moyes kept the pressure off him with punching above the financial weight almost every season and finding cheap gems in players and getting them integrated into a team that could finish in the top 5, 6 or 7 in the majority of his time here.

When all is said and done if Moyes hadn't been wooed by the bright lights of Manchester United we wouldn't even be having a discussion about Roberto Martinez because Mr Moyes would be halfway through a new 5 year contract that was waiting to be signed in 2013.
There is no way Kenwright would ever have sacked David Moyes.

The problem, at least the deeper problem lies with the board at Everton and the lack of ambition.

Remove Martinez sure, that will make people happy short term won't it?

But unless there are some serious men on Everton's board who will put words into action and show leadership (over to you again Mr Moshiri) then I don't expect anything to change anytime soon in terms of big thinking.

When someone of his standing speaks out - an indisputable True Blue Legend - you have to listen. He has always been forthright in his views, kow-towing to no-one and never toeing the party line, even in his playing days!

He makes some valid points about the goals and ambitions the board should be setting at the club. Namely, not merely making up the numbers, hoping to fluke a cup win or achieving European qualification via a high placed finish in the league. Rather, they should be telling the manager and players alike: win the league.

This season and Leicester have shown it is not a fanciful belief. The playing field, with the bumper TV deal effect, is possibly more even than it has ever been in the 'Sky era.'

Where I part from some of Nev's comments in the interview is when he states Roberto has not been 'supported' by the board.

Now that can be interpreted in various ways, but consider the following:

* under RM's watch, the board has provided him with the monies to purchase 4 of our top 5 buys EVER! Lukaku, McCarthy, Niasse and Funes Mori.

* even before he arrived, the board established Finch Farm as one of the best training facilities in the land. Just recently, plans were revealed to improve the facility further.

* 'the Everton Way' and a well-respected academy (to which RM has added to and from which he wishes to draw on in the future) was established, funded and supported by the board long before RM arrived.

* on announcing RM's appointment, BK declared the manager had told him he would take Everton into the CL. No lack of ambition from either the manager or the club there.

* after one season, BK supported and endorsed RM even further by extending and improving his contract. (Best not mention the ill-conceived Martinez mural on the main stand at the start of his 2nd season, eh..?).

* As recently as our LAST WIN (the quarter final win over Chelski, a 'mere' 7 games ago...) BK came out in very public support for RM with his ill-judged "What a manager!" statement.

The above examples undermines to a degree some of the claims Big Nev made that the board 'hasn't supported Roberto.'

To close, I endorse the underlying message Nev made: think big, act big, state clear goals of what you expect the manager and players to achieve.

Hopefully, before much longer, the new main player at the club will be implementing such an ambitious philosophy, which - make no mistake - requires a ruthlessness and professionalism too long absent at the club.

Moving on to Big Nev's comments tho do highlight a bigger problem with the small club mentality of our board but I don't think it's the problem staring everyone attached to Everton in the face...

Question: no matter how rich you were, would you honestly pay £100m (waiting to be corrected on that one!) and then pledge another £100m via Boys Pen Bill and THEN not demand a seat on the board but instead install your mate AND appoint Elstone (who has been overseeing our small club mentality for the past few years) to the board!!??
Sorry lads - I smell a rat with the whole Moshiri = Messiah thing...

However, I fully agree with Jay - 22 - RM has had remarkable support if only through non-interference if nothing else. He has uttered such nonsense for so long and on so many occasions, yet he wins one big match and we get "What a Manager" in front of television millions. Praise from the board (or at least the Chairman) for slowly strangling the life out of the team and dragging EFC down into his own familiar Wiganesque league positions.

I love Big Nev but some of this interview is misguided in my opinion.

BK always spoke of investment, seems he just does not want to let go.

I don't understand that side of business much, will never claim to, but is Moshiri just here to double his investment by propping up BK till let's say this new ground (apparently) is built. I mean isn't their plenty of money now with this new TV deal for players? Smoke and mirrors?

Until this mushi monster comes out and shows us he's here and this is how it is, as far as I'm concerned we are exactly were we have been all along.

If the board had any wisdom at all, they would have sacrificed Martinez on the altar of fan placation.

But nooooooooooo.

As a consequence, they are now being exposed as the root cause of the malaise and consequently fan displeasure (at least among some of us) is turning towards them.

Don't ever try to take away the heat that is their due by plopping it back on Martinez. Remember, Martinez is the symptom. The board (and the fans' addiction to "the Everton Way") are the disease.

Nev the best keeper in the world in his day yet the club don't seek his opinion or listen to him. How we could've done with Butland this season!

The thing that still worries me is that I still remember that every Everton fan wanted Howard Kendall to be sacked, we were far worse then than we are now and if there had been social media then he would have gone.

What will happen will happen though, I'll just get some beer and popcorn. My bet is that in the absence of any other confirmed feedback RM is here for another season. Moshiri is doing the right thing by staying out of the running in the initial period.

Big Nev says it like he thinks, a spade is a spade and all that, quite refreshing considering the innane SHIT babble we've been suffering lately!

Go on Nev!

When a legitimate Everton legend has such strong feelings on an issue, surely Bill 'True Blue' Kenwright has got to listen?

First step: get rid of Roberto as he cannot continue, regardless of the plans.

Second step: Moshiri tells us his vision.

Third step: Kenwright retires.

Bring it on. However I really do fear that Kenwright has found the mug he has been looking for and Moshiri is happy to stay in the background and we continue down the same path as always under the Kenwright regime.

Why did they not dispense with Martinez after the semi-final defeat? Why is he still in the job, long after his peers would have received their P45s for similar, if not better results?

Here's why: football to the board is a business, not about trophies. As long as the figures are totting up, that will do nicely! Martinez, apart from his lack of a Plan b, has turned Everton FC into a very viable business proposition, al due to his activity in the transfer market, be it by chance or astuteness. He also had the good fortune of inheriting John Stones and Ross Barkley, who came into the limelight on his watch.

That is why, after years of trying to flog EFC, Kenwright suddenly had a line of very interested investors, all salivating at the prospects of further development under Martinez, who to them might be a shit Manager, but is a very good judge of horseflesh. I doubt very much if the interested parties even understood ' the offside rule'.

That's why Kenwright is having problems ditching Martinez. To them, he is still a good business proposition. Who cares about the fans at Goodison Park? They can easily be replaced by fans in Thailand or elsewhere in Asia, maybe China, as that's where the business is starting to be done. Nurture and sell players to China and the sky is the limit.

And who better to judge the horseflesh to be sold than Señor Martinez!!

No-one knows what goes on behind closed doors!!!

James Brand #24, cant agree with Martinez is the nicest guy in the world. He is a snake, a prize bull shitter who has treated the fans like morons from day 1. He treated Distin like dirt, did away with what most Evertonians prize alongside great football, which is putting maximum effort in every game, blamed all and sundry, not least the absence of luck for every godawful defeat/draw from the jaws of victory. He doesn't get Everton in the slightest. If he did, he would be honest from the off. Instead he lies, distorts the truth and shifts blame where he can, even putting a share of the blame for our wretched home form onto the fans, unforgivable in my book. No he is a nasty piece of work who is only interested in Roberto Martinez. He thinks Everton FC is his stepping stone, to try out his idiotic philosophy until it finally clicks and he can get his move to Barca or some other fantasy dream move he has imagined. He deserves nothing more than our contempt and the sooner that fuckwit fucks the fuck off then we can finally start repair the dreadful damage he has inflicted on us in less than 3 short years. A RS infiltrator couldn't have done any more damage if he tried.They must be pissing themselves across the park. Nicest guy in the world? Only if you are classing "nice" as a complete incompetent who has utterly fucked us over at every opportunity.

John Keating, Quintuplet G and Ts are definitely the way forward and bubbly is downright decadent......expecting celebratory news out of GP??

Eugene, cant wait to see you in your shiny whites at GP tomorrow complete with racket......maybe you can hit Martinez in the dugout with a tennis ball

It's very clear what motivates the hierarchy of our club and is their long term plan!

A genuine lol moment!

Only Everton, eh..?

Still chuckling...

You mean this one I take it? Couldn't agree more. Totally ill advised!

Link

He only got involved with the club 2 months ago, give the guy a chance!

Amit - brilliant :)

Love it!

http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/665766/Next-Everton-Manager-Odds-Joachim-Low-Roberto-Martinez-news-gossip

Dave Ganley @41 - I cannot believe you have taken one throw away couple of words in a reasoned post and ran with it for a couple of paragraphs! I understand we are all frustrated with Martinez but read the post in its entirety...!!

By the way never heard of that combination before, beer and popcorn, still each to his own

That became famous over here years ago due to some fellow showing up at so many televised sporting events wearing one. American Evertonians will remember him.

The rainbow wig guy. He went to prison.

He's got it spot on.
The next Manager would do well to bring him in a goalie coach, I know he's put a bit of weight on but I reckon he'd still do a better job tomorrow than Tim Howard.

I shouldn't be surprised at my age, and I'm not really, but I do hope that we will no longer listen to shite about "fabric" and being "chosen" and how the Club is all about the supporters and is one big, happy, charitable and gorgeously warm-hearted community love-in.

There'll be more such bollocks tomorrow with that irritating bloke on the half-time PA and his special "Everton In the Community Is What We're Really About and Never Mind How Fucking Dreadful We Are at Football" voice. That's the authentic tone of Everton under Kenwright.

Fuck them all the lying, cheating, greedy bastards.

I agree with everything he says here except not protesting yet he even explains why we feel the need to... proving again he has his finger on the pulse. The bloke's a legend.

Good night.

Link

Either this clown is completely deluded or he is going absolutely no where any time soon. This sent shivers down my spine...

"I have been here three seasons and there is an incredible amount of understanding and know-how of what we need to do. Is this a massive transfer window coming up? It is. Massive. Probably as big as the summer window in 2013. We have to be stronger at the end of it."

Oh, and 'much worse than we are now? Kendall never achieved the worst home record in our entire history

The interview made me realise there's two aspects to the modern game: competition and business. Fans (including ex players) want to win the League. Investors want a return on their money. And there lies the problem. Our current major shareholder isn't an Evertonian. He's invested money into the club and as a bottom line he wants a better return on it than he can get elsewhere. If he can do that without winning the League well, unfortunately, he's happy. There's no doubt his return would be greater if we win the League but that will involve more risk (refer Leeds United).

It's unlikely any Premier League club will reveal their true intent which is to make money for their shareholders. Unfortunately winning trophies is a lesser focus. As supporters we really need to get used to that fact.

Just read that article

"We have been built to take control of the game".

Well we must have been built wrong 'cos it ain't working.

Make of that what you will.

Surprised? You should not be, because its the fact that Kenwright has not come out publicly and defended his Manager that says it all.

Knowing of his previous backing and gushings, he is plainly quiet when you think he would be aggressively supportive. Enough not said!

The Mail also has a feature on the Programme today covering the JFT96 campaign. I thought I was dreaming, until I found an article saying Guardiola is going to sign Stones for City. Phew... was worried we had a positive newspaper then....

"Have Carragher interview him but don't let any negative comments through".

Of course one surmises that Carragher, who is the worst kind of ex Toffeeman (i.e. one who helped bring more success to the arch enemy), would have been glad to do his bit in perpetuating Martinez's tenure.

We've toured the world in these columns looking for Martinez's replacement but I don't think this regime will have looked any further than Preston !

"You consistently and annoyingly refer to the away record being good, but you have failed to win 11 away games, so it's a myth you're hiding behing to shield away from flak about the disgraceful home record isn't it?"

Get a real quality manager like him in and our best players will stay plus he will attract real top talent. If Moshiri doesnt go after Simeone or someone of his quality, then we can safely write him off.

That interview with Carragher is pure farce. Martinez talking more rubbish as ever.

What's the betting if we lose today, he gets the bullet today as well?

No, me neither.

A beacon of honesty and common sense. He did not give a speech, but just answered our questions and pulled no punches.

Someone asked him if he would get involved at Everton if asked. He replied, "Depends what the role is." As he expanded on his answer, it was clear he would tell it like it is, but not be hamstrung by any Corporate line. It's probably why he hasn't been asked.

That said, just because I read the DM doesn't mean I espouse its vibe. For me, it's not even conservative; it's more of a social engineering / propaganda device, just like the other rags mentioned above. And the restricted commenting it has enforced on the Martinez interview is just another example of how it tries to manipulate opinion.

You're living in the type of fantasy world Kenwright lives in if you think Simone would come to us.

He's already at an established CL club who have the chance to win it, plus La Liga this season. Dreamland stuff if you think we'd get him.

If he was available some of Europe's richest and most powerful clubs would want to acquire his services. Us, in our current state, would stand no chance.

This interview clearly places Big Nev as Evertons greatest living Evertonian. Not a single wasted syllable.

Farhad Moshiri, LISTEN to the greatest goalkeeper of all time. He has never claimed to be an intellectual. Yet he has laser guided insight.

His Evertonianism is on par with that of William Ralph Dean, peerless, and states exactly where Billy & Nev expect Everton to be.

Read and learn the Latin motto !

Then obliterate the "grey men" like Moyes & Kenwright from our proud history.

Give us "History not Misery".

Nil Satis Nisi Optimum !

For all Kenwright's faults he has invested in the club by pulling in money from his friends and acquaintances the problem being it was never the multi millions that the like of Reds, ManUtd, Arsenal and other could call upon and that is down to the fact that Everton is a small brand in the global economy. A failure from past boards to push for success (even in the sixties and especially the 70s) means that we are were always going to be a poor relation. At least Kenwright has tried to expand the visibility of the People's club beyond the borders of Liverpool to places such as Thailand (Chang may not pay hundreds of millions but the club badge does get a bit of exposure in Thailand) and China. That said he has failed in two crucial areas, he fails to recognise when he needs a new manager to take the club to the next level and in providing the new stadium that we so desparately need (putting a second tier on the Park End would have given us some help).

The failures of Kenwright are in my opinion symptomatic of a bigger issue with the Chairman. His is a hopeless romantic! He longs for the days of passing elaborate football and pleasant victories without effort. That such time never existed is the fly in his ointment. It is this romantic nature that allowed him to appoint Martinez, a manager who has a record that shows worsening league positions in each year he is at a club and who expressed Bill's dream of winning the Champions League with Everton.

Some on here have mentione Kendall and how "all Everton fans" wanted him out. That was not true then and not true now, and as someone who stood on the Gladyws St. in those days I remember pretty well the frustration but in his first three seasons he finished 8th and 7th twice. A level of consistency that Martinez as a manager can only dream of.

If any manger wants to win the Champions League then the first thing you need to do is win the Premier League. I would forego a cup if that objective was within reach as until you beat those around you in your domestic league you are never going to get in to the Champions League Semis. On top of that you need to finish consistently in the top four as a failure to do so means that your squad is not deep enough or good enough to win the Champions League, while Moyes was not the greatest of managers, his consistency in performance of his teams was something that a judicious replacement should have been capable of using to take the next steps to a Champions League position every year. Hence my criticism of the board he failed to make that cold blooded decision for the good of the club and instead being nice to a good a manager but one who coud not take the next step up.

The current board is still the closed unit that the majority of shareholders are excluded from and have no influence over. Moshiri needs to come out now to the fans to tell us what his ambitions are, that he hasn't worries me. If you buy a business you have to tell your shareholders and the markets what you aiming to do simply to build faith and establish confidence you know what you are about. His failure to do so increases both the insecurity of the customers and staff, reinforces the positions of those who are underpeforming since there is no incentive to improve, and worst of all allows the existing board to take the benefits without focussing on the new reality. Any businessman worth his salt needs to go the record now (or at least before the end of May) to tell the world how big a success that Everton are going to be and what steps he plans to take to get there. A failure to do that will simply mean that we can assume it is the same old same old and I fear for next season.

So Nev is right in saying that the board needs to be open with the fans and to tell us what they want from the club and team next season. And that statement is needed sooner rather than later since it will hopefully reassure us and more importantly put on notice any manager who thinks they are ready to take on a slumbering giant and turn them in to the next big thing.

The DM is a scumbag of a paper - worse than The Sun.

Fact is he borrowed money and used it to buy shares in the club. Note not a penny of this money actually went INTO the club, it went to whoever sold him the shares (a load of which he has subsequently sold for a vast profit). Since then he has not put one single pound into the club (unless you're referring to him not taking a salary for the 3-4 hours work he does a week!) So saying he has 'invested' into the club is a bit of a red herring. I own shares in the club but would not say I have provided investment into the club - whoever I bought them off got the dosh and I can sell them whenever I want.

You then say you have to win the premiership before you can win the CL....you may want to look up a certain Mr Benitez and Mr di Matteo and ask them what they think about that.

So many things I could argue against but I won't. Suffice to say the root of the problem at the club is a Mr B Kenwright.

The question is whether a man who is now the biggest single shareholder is willing to raise his head over the parapet and tell the fans what his ambitions for the club are? Kenwright told us his ambitions at the start his failure to deliver has been damaging but at least he told use what the ambitions were. So far Moshiri has said nothing other than there's a substantial investment planned for the club. That could be for a number of things, from investment in Goodison Park, to the down payment on a new ground, to boosting the wages of the players they want to keep and to buying new players. Exactly what proportion of the investment will be allocated to what part of what is needed?

In selling some of his shares to Moshiri, I do wonder whether Bill's romantic nature has once again resulted in a bad business decision for Everton? Until Moshiri actually gets in to the habit of talking to the fans and the media, then we are blind to the future and whether or not Bill will continue to be able to play with and abuse his toy.