Permission to Plan
With a clear Plan we can unite, and, even more importantly than that, we have a chance of understanding what we are trying to achieve and how we are going to go about it.
If, like me, you watched this morning's Allardyce Press Conference you may have spent the rest of the day swinging between panic and confusion, laced with a dollop or two of disbelief.
- Are we really going to start next season with “him”?
- We can't surely, can we?
- Hang on, we just might… wake me up!!!!
As the Football Club sticks to the Dad's Army communications policy of “Don't tell 'em your name, Pike!” rumours abound more than ever:
- Moshiri was surprised there weren't more protests at the Newcastle game, so if none more materialise v Southampton, he's going to stand by his man!
- Bill wants Sam gone, but Moshiri doesn't;
- Sam is “definitely toast” once the whistle blows at West Ham; Board meeting today will ratify that;
You pays your money (aka renews your Season Ticket), you takes your choice.
The one thing that does appear clear in the fog of confusion is that we / the Board / Farhad Moshiri do not have a plan. As I have said before, there is not a plan in the world that could have included Koeman, Unsworth and Allardyce.
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In the absence of a plan, I'll give you mine for you to comment on/tear apart/laugh at/share. Whatever you think of it, it's a plan and every business needs one in order to succeed.
Here goes:-
It's clear that we can't just buy our way into the Top 6/Big 4, in fact, we have spent £200m+ on going backwards. It's also clear that Steve Walsh was not a Director of Football, he has not set a style of play, a philosophy and recruited for that. He's been in conflict with both Koeman and Allardyce — hence the surfeit of No 10s and absence of No 9s.
So we hire a new DoF: Marcel Brands looks to be the man to me: great track record in Holland, rightly a man in demand. Go all out for him and sell him the Plan, the vision detailed below.
As far as a Manager is concerned we need to stop dreaming about getting a top-drawer guy in with a proven track record; it's just not going to happen, especially after the carnage of the first two years of the Moshiri era. We aren't attractive to Tuchel, Emery, Simeone and others; we need to be realistic.
So we need a young, hungry guy who can learn from the DoF and work with him to develop a plan, a 3- to 5-year Plan. This Plan would see us moving into Bramley-Moore in 2022 (we can't mess that up, can we?!?!) properly competitive for a place in the Top 6 and cemented as not being worse than 7th. The Top 6 are not set in tablets and we are there to capitalise on their problems (look at Arsenal and Chelsea alone this year, and Man Utd, Spurs, and Liverpool before that). It's a tough competitive world.
For the next two, maybe even three, seasons we accept that we may come anywhere between 7th and 16th whilst we develop and establish a “new” Everton way, rooted in entertaining, attacking football with pace, flair and a bit of steel. We play full-strength teams in both domestic cups and go all out to win one of them when the big boys have bigger fish to fry.
Crucially we become truly competitive in our League fixtures against the Top 6, home and away. No more surrenders at Spurs, Arsenal, Old Trafford. A better haul than the truly pathetic 3 points earned from 12 fixtures against them this term is essential and a vital KPI.
These are the targets that the Director of Football and Manager buy into, and that, subtly, the fans are educated on by a newly appointed Chief Engagement Officer.
The new Manager and DoF are introduced to the Media at the same time by Moshiri himself who takes the opportunity to explain his Plan (in broad terms obviously without the specifics). Both men are given contracts of at least 3 years, ideally 5, and fans can, hopefully, buy into the new vision. We understand the direction of travel, the vision and the objectives.
For far too long the Club's appalling communications policy and utter mistrust of every outside party has led to complete disengagement with fans and other stakeholders. It has set fans against each other and led to a disconnect between the players, manager, and those who should be (and really want to be)Â supporting them.
With a clear Plan, we can unite, and, even more importantly than that, we have a chance of understanding what we are trying to achieve and how we are going to go about it.
As I said before, we need a young man with a desire to prove himself. I think we are struggling to convince even Fonseca and Silva that Everton is a risk worth taking, which is why we are dithering over Allardyce.
Assuming we fail with both of them, I would pursue a “name”, but a name as an ex-player, not yet proven as a Manager. It's a risk, yes, but a risk worth taking, in my view.
Zidane had never managed before and he's done alright at the Bernabeu; a bloke called Kenny beat us to the Double in his first season across the Park. For every one who succeeds there is a John Barnes, Teddy Sheringham as counters; intelligent players who never cut the mustard as Managers, I know that.
Anyhow I'll give you three names:
- Patrick Vieira
- Thierry Henry
- Frank Lampard
I would favour the latter, working alongside Brands, but would take any one of the three. They each have a reputation, presence and experience who would have credibility with players of all ages and phases of development. They would have contacts and be able to attract players both proven and emerging.
It might be sensible to retain Craig Shakespeare as Number 2; someone with Premier League experience who could guide Patrick, Thierry or Frank through the first couple of seasons in the Premier League.
Right, that's my Plan. Make of it what you will, but, as I said at the top, a Plan is something we lack and have lacked for a good few years.
Keep the faith, however hard that is right now; we will have a bright new dawn on the banks of the Royal Blue Mersey, won't we?
Reader Comments (19)
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2 Posted 27/04/2018 at 19:29:06
I'm not sure it's the road I would prefer but it may be one of the few open for us.
I wanted Tuchel but you are probably right that he wouldn't want the job.
I do wish more people would email the club with their discontent, it may grease the wheels - please god
3 Posted 27/04/2018 at 20:08:05
Is there a specific email address ??
Can we all get our arses into gear and get emailing - quickly ?!?!
4 Posted 27/04/2018 at 20:10:17
5 Posted 27/04/2018 at 20:35:41
6 Posted 27/04/2018 at 21:39:01
What we've missed since Moyes left was a fully-fit squad, which should be a base-line absolute. Haven't had that since he left.
Leaving aside whatever qualifications you think he has to manage, I don't think a guy nick-named Fat Frank is what we're looking for.
7 Posted 27/04/2018 at 21:49:00
8 Posted 27/04/2018 at 22:52:33
9 Posted 28/04/2018 at 00:20:41
11 Posted 28/04/2018 at 09:02:16
12 Posted 28/04/2018 at 09:07:42
Rodders is already a millionaire thanks to us and has now gone AWOL at Sunderland.
As far as the original post is concerned, you can't make any realistic plans whilst Kenwright, Woods and Elstone remain.
13 Posted 28/04/2018 at 09:55:25
14 Posted 28/04/2018 at 10:37:17
Let's put the stadium to one long side.
Just get Mancini!
16 Posted 28/04/2018 at 11:54:48
I emailed servicedesk@evertonfc.com
I even got a reply with a case number
17 Posted 28/04/2018 at 12:10:03
For now Moshiri is just playing Football Manager every once in a while and throwing the balls in the air. So we lurch from one extreme to another.
The only thing stopping us sacking the gravymeister is we can't attract a replacement, which is a dreadful indictment on the current wasters on the Board & on Moshiri himself.
And yes I would take “Fat Frank†with Brands over Big Sam & Walsh all day long.
18 Posted 28/04/2018 at 19:23:47
Fonseca followed by Howe (when he is more experienced) is another.
I don't actually care who the manager is, they aren't as important to me as they once were - modern football has killed long term-ism so we won't see the likes of Moyes, Ferguson et al again.
Managers don't have the same influence they once did, it's more about owners now.
What does matter is that we keep striving towards that top group and not settle for mid table mediocrity (or worse)
I remember a time when the Premier League top 4 was supposedly impregnable and then Man City and Tottenham shook all that up so why can't we?
We should definitely try harder in the cups too as a priority - trophies keep fans happy!
19 Posted 02/05/2018 at 13:49:10
We need to get this out of our heads in regards to Howe – look where his team are, below us, and I'm not going to accept that we have better players than them as that's just an excuse. We don't have any superstars just like them (let's be honest about that).
The Plan should be get Brands in asap, and tell him to search for the coach, someone like Pelligrini (Ex Man City coach) or even Benitez, someone who has Champions League Experience not relegation fighting experience. Someone who has a mixture of entertainment as well as defending.
20 Posted 02/05/2018 at 22:06:37
21 Posted 02/05/2018 at 22:13:30
So mate, tell me again, do they really not work?
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1 Posted 27/04/2018 at 19:23:18
Where is the evidence of him having a successful working relationship with anybody, does his ego count?
A manager to take us into Bramley Moore with exciting adventurous football – that is a must, if we are going to push on into the top 6 consistently. A current big-name manager probably won't have the patience.