The Impossible Dream

The 2 need not be mutually exclusive

Levy said the capacity had to be around the 60,000 level to generate enough income to allow 'Spurs to compete. It had nothing to do with just matching The Emirates for the sake of it.

52,000 for B-M would be to waste the opportunity of a lifetime. The carrot being dangled, to appease fans, is the future prospect of being able to increase capacity, in areas designed for safe standing, by a ratio of 1 to 1.5. Surely other clubs would also be able to increase capacity in this way?

We certainly need to unload the dead wood from our squad. The contracts for Mirallas, Bolasie, Williams, Niasse - all out on loan, but we are paying most of their wages, total £300k a week, so £15m a year plus they cost us nearly £60m in transfer fees. Only Mirallas ( signed in another era really ) has given anything like a return on what we invested.

When you factor in the money we are paying long term servants like Jags and Baines for very little playing time plus the likes of Walcott and Tosun, who still have a lot to prove, you can see our player investment has been questionable to say the least.

As mentioned many times before, Spurs are what needs to be our guiding light. Get the team heading in the right direction on the pitch, without paying crazy money, whilst building a stadium to be proud of. As you say, Paul, if we get cold feet over the size and spec of the new stadium it will be another own goal. This isn't the time to be weak.

Sighs.

Hopefully Moshiri, has seen the folly of just getting anyone in, and throwing money at it, and we are now going to see a much more sensible and sustainable model coming into play, once Brands has sorted out the wage bill?

Honestly still think Usmanov, is the man who is really behind Moshiri, but will he choose to stay in the shadows, or is it more about the bigger picture, which is the total transformation of this long neglected area?

Bill, that's a good point what Levy said, but my “four season tickets” have just cost me £923, because three of the seats are for under 16's, so unless Everton rapidly change the pricing structure, I'm not sure how much of a difference this will really make?

The signs are positive that this has improved under Brands and Silva. We need to beat the big boys to unearth up and coming players, and then move on the older members of the squad - kind of like Atletico Madrid have been doing. This is not easy by any means, but it's our only hope of getting back to the top. We will never be able to outspend the bigger clubs.

What will be will be off the pitch. It's not going to be enough to take us to the promised land, however. Only recruitment can do that.

We learned what was planned at Kirkby which would have made the Reebok look like a palace.

Now Spurs have really upped the ante.
Although we will get the "London" factor thrown in surely our expectations should aim high regarding the stadium.

We should be in the semi-finals for one of these trophies every season. From there we have a chance of a kind draw, and/or the chance to bloody the nose of one of the “top 6”. If we win a trophy or two, players start to think it's a fun place to be as well as a well-paid job, older supporters are encouraged, and the younger ones are rewarded for their faith.

Build the future of the club on some success on the pitch.

Before I knew of any other Supporter outlets, I tried to join the Supporters Club at that time (in the late 80s) mainly to receive the Evertonian newspaper, but found that, although an adult, I was sent a pack for an under-12 fan, with an Everton Shooter certificate – and no Evertonian newspaper.

On contacting the Club, I got a very nice middle-aged lady, who seemed to think that someone part-time had got it typically wrong. I was sent the same pack again. I never got the correct certificate, but was able to buy the Evertonian second hand in a newsagents, where the owner (a Supporter) resold his copy. His wife who worked the till use to laugh knowly when I bought it. Being in business and having appropriate qualifications I could work out the lack of everything that resulted in my experience.

For myself, it has been obvious that the revenues resulting directly from Premier League membership has acted as a subsidy that Everton has lived off for some time. The main objective prior to Marcel & Marco (the first time an effective plan was put in place, though only on the playing side) has been to survive in the Premier League and to pursue a matey policy to keep the fans sweet, so as to get them through the turnstiles and buy something from the Everton shop. The online shop was the only innovation.

This was all going quite nicely under Moyes, until he got carried away with his actual ability and left – fortunately, to balls up Man Utd. It was then that the fans started to ask questions and the status quo, became unacceptable.

The resulting below-par Moshiri era is the result of the regime, as described above, being given money and not having the ability to utilise it effectively, except get a new title with wages to match. They never had to do much before that, lucky ducks, only lift their wages. What they did do was reinforce their sponger mentality on the club. They still are fundamentally in Premier League subsidy-dependent mode.

Any resources provided – whether it be money for players, funds for a new stadium and progress in the Premier League on the playing side, is seen as a bonus on top of the Premier League subsidy to the maintain and advance their position. This is why the lack of vision from Everton is so apparent to Paul, when he seeks some crumbs of positive direction from those that manage Everton.

There is no doubt that the deficiency in non-broadcasting revenue, the high wages percentage (wages / turnover), the stadium plan scaling back and lack of a Mission statement are the direct result of this regime's continuing mentality and culture.

Whilst there is a positive change in the Everton Culture on the playing side and Brands has started to sort out the backroom staff, the Senior Management of Everton is still dominated by the old regime mentality. Unfortunately, the pleasant and not so former Everton in the Community Chief Executive is their figurehead in a Club that has no effective performance targets at Senior Management level.

To achieve the necessary changes that are apparent from Paul's excellent analysis, Moshiri needs a clear out at Senior Management level. Bringing only Brands onto the Board, which I think was inappropriate, is only a sticking plaster approach to the continuing complication of symptoms evident in Paul's analysis, that has Everton as it is today.

I also like the fact that when we eventually win something, and we will at some point (I have to believe that) then it will mean so much more to us than the aforementioned clubs. They now think they have a devine right to win things and it's just run of the mill for them. Dare I say it but the RS fans are pretty much in the same boat as us in that respect. The proper RS fans in Liverpool who I know are so excited at the fact that they may win the league. I mean they are really nervous yet really excited, the way we woukd be if we were in that position. That comparison won't sit well with most evertonians but it's true that there is still a lot of magic in football in that you go years without winning anything, then when it all comes together it makes it all worth while. The money clubs have lost that and it's their cross to bear. I know I've gone off on a bit of a tangent but for me, regardless of all the diving and prima donnas and money that's plagued football there is still magic there. Ask Watford or wolves this weekend when they play their semi this weekend. I believe our time will come with brands at the helm I just hope that it's sooner rather than later. Always optimistic in spite of all the disappointment we endure.

However, I don't agree that supporters of the elite and big-moneyed clubs (Chelsea, City and Utd) have lost that feeling of magic. They just love winning stuff and watching great football, just like us when we were one of the wealthiest clubs. I know a City supporter who does get cynical about the cheating that goes on in the game, but that goes for a lot of us, and it doesn't seem to diminish his pleasure at winning stuff, and he seems in 7th heaven.

Thankfully, Williams is out of contract this summer, so that's one less for Brands to worry about!

Tony #9

My fear is that the lower the capacity of B-M the higher the ticket prices will have to be. With our current season ticket holders and waiting list, coupled with around 2500 sat aside for away fans, I reckon 52,000 would sell out for most games even with the chaotic recent seasons we've just had.

I think most fans spend very little inside Goodison (I spend nothing at all) Surely, the aspiration must be to be nearer 60,000 which would be another 8000 to sell stuff to, apart from the ticket price.

As I understood that, ANY club will need to offload players who do not work out, so they can bring in other players who are hopefully better. And today EFC's roster of aging players on too high wages are very impossible to sell! But a player aged 25+/- who don't work out for us in the end, will still maybe find someone willing to pay top dollar for the potential they still see there!

Business as they say is business, and EFC, hopefully has now crossed the Rubicon, in terms of business planning, but this and the stadium planning, commercial planning are all locked in. A difficult balancing act.

I would say if EFC had a great stadium on the Mersey which we all hope will happen soon, then great but, after all this time you'd think like the club, motto, only the best is good enough, would be realised in the stadium design and build.

As many of us have said the last three years, it's the chance of a lifetime, and must be seized.

My Spurs ma8, sent me a picture from their first home game which I will try and add to this forum over the next couple of days.

It's inspiring to any sports fan.

EFC must aim to be getting as much income as possible from semis, concerts etc.

As ever Old Nick, casts a shadow, but this can be removed for good in many ways if a new state of the art 60k stadium can be built.

No rational for an 8k upgrade, after the initial build. The club must start a crusade to promote, grow and nurture the EFC fan base and grow it more now than ever.

Perhaps soon the Uzbek financial might, may join, consolidate with EFC.

But if he does or doesn't the club must plan to be strong, and as I freely admit the game has changed, and in life you change, become adaptive, agile and hopefully flourish and prosper in health and wealth.

Wealth prosperity isn't all about money, and being happy within, the family and friend and good health counts more than money. And EFC, is family and brings its challenges, as we all know, but we love the club.

Sadly football is not the game it was, and never will be.

Paul, I hope the club, does take on board the economics, and reality of the times for EFC.

But I live in hope for the promised land and hopefully in my time..

Now to do the business against the Gunners. Let's hope we can do it and in style.

Good weekend TWrs.

I would say we are in a position where we can take some losses on some players and really thin the squad that's when we will see how good Brands is.

Its all too sad to know that its highly unlikely that we will ever reach the top... made more gauling because tge shite are still up there...

However nothing last forever so just maybe we will rise to tge top and watch the reds sink into oblivion back were they belong...

Bitter maybe but justified...

Now lets just win more games than we loose but in style and live up to our notto...