How You've Changed

I am of that "superiority complex" generation and agree with almost everything you say. It didn't occur to me that we had really lost our "aristocrat" status until around 2004, by which point it was clear that our mediocrity was no longer just a temporary aberration and we were financially outclassed by at least four or five other clubs.

But, as I read recently, one could argue that we haven't actually been a truly "big club" since the sale of the immortal Alan Ball, our last truly world class outfield superstar, at the peak of his powers. Perhaps the mid-80s success, with a rather makeshift team of non-superstars, was actually an aberration in hindsight.

Either way, I don't see our recently rudderless course ending unless we commit to appointing a truly strong DoF, one who can lay out a new vision for the club, before we plunge into the waters of the managerial market. We desperately need a serious counterweight to the amateurish whims of Messrs Moshiri and Kenwright.

By all accounts, Steve Walsh was never strong enough and always out of his depth. Brands was pretty effective so long as Silva was around, but increasingly marginalized once Carlo arrived. I fear that a good number of talented younger managers, especially foreign ones, may be put off by the lack of a technical director.

As fans, whoever takes charge now, we have to support 200% and forget about Europe or winning trophies. The incoming manager must get the team playing with passion which is all the fans ask for. We don't mind if we lose as long as the players have given everything they can, and if they don't then he has to have strong enough character to replace them with someone who will, even if it's from the Under-23s.

Christ, I saw Liverpool bring on a 17-year-old and he scored. When you consider our motto, we are the furthest in the Premier League from it. We have the best supporters supporting a dinosaur of a club who, for whatever reason, do not want to be proactive; instead, the club has become a snug in-house resting place.

Then comes along Moshiri who, with the best interest of Everton at heart, thought he could splash the cash and get instant success by gambling on Everton playing in Europe every year.

Now we are left with the reality that we really needed stability and ruthlessness. We needed the best youth coaches and the best people across the board.

Now, we are left with a stadium that could actually break us, as I have read Everton FC will be paying most of the £500M plus through loans and an over aged playing squad and sacked manager in the middle of the transfer period.

This, I believe, will be the most critical period in Everton's History – we will either rise from this or do a Sunderland.

I have never believed in the financial viability of the new stadium. The numbers never made any sense. The club expects to build 12k more seats at a cost of over £500M, meanwhile TOC is upgrading their stadium adding around 17k seats at a cost of approximately £250M. There is no reason why the club cannot follow a similar model of stadium expansion at a similar cost, all while keeping and improving the existing atmosphere.

I believe Mohiri is the worst thing to happen to the club, as the money being spent is not technically the club's money, but money that he is lending the club and will have to be repaid by the club to him at a future date.

The club has fallen further behind the traditional rivals since he joined. Other clubs such as West Ham, Aston Villa, Leicester, through good management on and off the field, have now overtaken the club. Newcastle will spend their way to the top within a few years.

With this leadership and management in place, the club is going to keep falling behind its traditional rivals and new rivals until it reaches the Championship.

Some other teams, including Liverpool, have achieved greater consistency and quantity of trophies, but I believe that the quality we had, with the School of Science moniker, has left its mark. It makes our present position of habitual midtable mediocrity unacceptable in a way that would not be unacceptable to most other clubs. I think it also explains the clear obsession that many Liverpool supporters have with us. They had to endure our superior quality until the 1970s onwards, with their workmanlike but effective style of football, and they've responded to it by taking delight in our current position even, and particularly, when they play well and win trophies. It's as if their being successful isn't enough for them.

I suppose these are all ‘legacy issues' from our history, which unfortunately make our present situation seem worse than it would have done without that history.

The next 3 years should see us part with the late 20's high earners and replace them with younger, hungrier players. The likes of Keane, Mina, Allan, Gomes etc have to go and the club need to be built around the likes of Godfrey, Mykolenko, Patterson, Pickford, Richarlison, Gray, Gordon and DCL (if they all stay). We're not going to break into the Champions League, but we do have the chance to start putting together a team that knows each other and can improve together. Let that take hold for 3 years then look to see what we need to break that glass ceiling. We were only ever a couple of players away from genuinely challenging under Moyes and Martinez, we now need to mould a team like that then identify the manager and targeted players who can take us that one step further.

If we expect instant success now, we're onto another hiding and another managerial sacking. But as long as we have a plan and we can see what we are trying to achieve, and are prepared to take the inevitable defeats on the chin knowing that we're building up to something better, we'll be alright.

LFC had no real issue with that, as they only had around 5,000 people meeting the category, so there was a good chance of getting a ticket if you wanted one.

We, on the other hand, had about 24,000 who were eligible.

An interesting and novel approach to explaining the club's present problems.

I suppose I fit into the baby boom generation. My first game was October 1963, a night match, Everton v Arsenal. Everton won 2-1 with goals from Alex Young and Derek Temple, if memory serves me right.

I don't think I had a superiority complex in the seasons that followed; it was more an expectation that we would see good, competitive games and with a fair share of success, no doubt with the reassurance of the John Moores money in the background

However, football, like everything else, moves on and unfortunately we haven't moved with it. History, tradition, nostalgia are all important factors in our identity but are less than helpful in planning our future.

The old adage “If it ain't broke don't fix it” implies we have got the right formula for success. We haven't; we should be constantly looking for new ideas so our mantra should be “If it ain't broke, break it”.

That's never going to happen at Everton, however, until Moshiri and Kenwright are gone from our club.

I'd like to see what the clubs growth plans and stratedgy for now, as survival this season is a must.

I'm hoping that the board, have learnt enough from last time Martinez was here, not to contract him again.

Interesting days ahead for all matters Everton.

My concern would be that it might not get the number of TWers reading it that the article deserves with the preoccupation over the change of manager. Let's hope it becomes a slow burner because it should raise some healthy debate.

First off, what a great title! I did not know this song, How You've Changed, but Mike is right in my case certainly: it sums up perfectly my lifelong unconditional love for Everton Football Club and how, somewhere along the way, Everton stopped loving me back. And "you know I still love you even though I feel like a fool."

There were various times when I suspected that Everton had stopped loving me such as when the club acquiesced to the disgraceful lifetime ban of Tony Kay, when Catterick sold Alan Ball, or when Carter decided that his loyalty to the Conservative Party was greater than that towards Everton and did not oppose Thatcher's ban on the 1987 Champions playing in Europe, but we always made it up somehow.

At least I thought we did. Then came Kenwright and the King's Dock fiasco and by then being a bit older and wiser I knew not only had a priceless opportunity gone forever but my love could no longer be unconditional.

Year after year since then I've lost a little more of the old feelings until by now I look at the composition of the Board, the people "leading" us in our bid to become a great club once more, and I can only shake my head in utter contempt.

A few words to each of Mike's five sections: I see that one or two might be uncomfortable with the term "superiority complex" and I think I'd agree, preferring personally the expectation we baby boomers felt that our beloved club would never accept anything less than the best. NSNO rings very hollow now when you look at that excuse for a Board.

"Fanbase erosion", I take the point above about locally based season ticket holders but, to be fair to Mike, he does say that we have more match going youngsters than them but nonetheless a warning is being sounded. When I was at school there were far more Blues than Reds (mind you it was a grammar school and as we know intelligent people in this city are Evertonians), when I started teaching in the 1970s that was still the case but by the '80s things had pretty well evened out. We (that's you EFC) need to give our 21st century kids something to be proud of, some hope and belief.

"Mind the Gap", well some off the field nous would not go amiss. Of course a successful team on the pitch generates a huge income but the lack of business acumen over the last 25-30 years has hampered the club massively. All those clubs whose revenues dwarf ours have professional backroom teams (legal, marketing, PR etc) who are focused totally on supporting the growth and development of their club. We have L'i'l Miss Dynamite and her coterie of yes-men and women.

"Stuck between a Dock and hard place": nice play on words and surely the most contentious section of the article. I don't know anyone in my circle of friends who can't wait to see the new stadium and yet Mike raises some really worrying issues about the whole thing. There is some saying to the effect that if you want to lull people into a false sense of security, just tell them the truth. Ryazantsev could not have been clearer: the debt for BMD will be loaded onto the club. Moshiri will sell and we'll be in a Glazer/Man Utd situation, albeit without the global reach and revenues of that club. Why is this not a concern for us all? Why are we not asking more questions?

"Calculated Gamble" well my view, Mike, is that there is less calculation and more blind hope. None of Moshiri's gambles have come off so far and if the team's slide continues BMD and his expectation of a big payday down the line are in severe jeopardy.

A well composed, well argued piece that will get TWers thinking.

The club is nothing short of a disgrace imo, and the list is endless for the reasons why.

Most people have got their wish now that Benitez has departed, but it really does seem that Moshiri is making it up as he goes along.

Martinez, Koeman, Walsh, Allardyce, Silva, Ancelotti, Brands and now Benitez have gone, but we've still got the same Chairman, a CEO, who does very little anyway suddenly (allegedly) trying to leave, an absent owner, and a club driving their fans crazy, whilst the talk in the media is about a manager who got hounded out years ago because he was taking our team backwards.

This will extend the Everton problem over a longer period. Unfortunately, 27 years could turn into another 27 years. I don't think that Cup glory is part of the plan. It is more like Premier League survival.

The "superiority" thing is bang on and has fed a death spiral for the club going back decades. What a great piece, Mike

From that time on, Everton seem to have made a whole series of blunders one way or another, falsely raised our expectations, and habitually let us supporters down with all the disappointments. The latter probably sting all the more precisely because we used to be so damn good.

I think I love Evertonians more than I love Everton. After 1971, I've had more pleasure from discussing Everton with fellow Evertonians than I've got from actually watching Everton, which has mainly been a pain in the arse.

Mike so many open and honest pieces about our history had me nodding my head in agreement of how we were and where we are now and realising that none of us have any great expectations of how we will fare in the coming years, n fact t would be foolish to even think we will be part of the elite in the near future but stay with our great friend HOPE, he always keeps us going even if he has to drag us along with him now.

I think one of the hard parts of growing old is looking back and seeing how wonderful it was to be young, but then being grateful for living through those lovely happy times and Everton were a large part of those days and it's easier being old to forget all the grief they brought us as well.

Thanks for the post Mike I really enjoyed it and thanks again Gerard for suggesting I/ we should read it.

Gerard -superb post

According to Darwin to continue to exist a species must adapt or become extinct. EFC have never adapted to the EPL and as a consequence have spiralled down and down. You cannot recreate the environment in which you previously flourished. It is impossible and BK has never, ever realised this and like the last mammoth wondering where has all the snow gone and how it can survive on a planet warming faster than it can physically change. For me EFC are that mammoth and have been since the EPL was formed. I have never felt so low being an Evertonian as I do right now. Before my very eyes we are heading for extinction as a PL club. Our debts are enormous. The new ground will be a millstone around are necks for years to come. If we don't go down this season and thats a big IF given the current circumstances, we will do soon as I fear we will need to sell our best players just to pay off our debts. God help us, though it maybe beyond him or her right now.

Paul H, I am sure some other people might also think of your point that toc apparently has only 5,000 season ticket holders with a Merseyside postcode, while we are said to have 20,000 or more.

But I believe that is still consistent with my point about fanbase erosion.

The proportion of local Evertonians actually attending games is higher than the percentage of local toc supporters attending games.

As you know, such is toc's popularity that the demand for tickets to get into their home games is intense. Many of their local supporters have now got into the habit of watching their games on TV, either at home or in a pub. Ask pub landlords how many people they get in to watch a toc game and how many to watch us.

I have had this belief about our Merseyside fanbase eroding for 20 years. Sadly, I come across more and more "evidence" in conversations with parents, grandparents and young people themselves. I used to think north Liverpool had more resistance to this erosion, but I'm not so sure these days.

4, John Z, yes, I have noted you raising questions about stadium funding. And I think your grasp of the finance/accounting issues is more in-depth than mine.
I have been sceptical since the Commonwealth Games was awarded to Birmingham rather than to Liverpool Council which had centred its bid on a Bramley-Moore stadium. And I have noted Paul Birmingham mention this. For there would have been huge government financial support.

I don't know how many of you have actually played that 1965 song by The Animals on YouTube.
As Ged said, some of the words strike home.

Stan, an interesting thought, "I think I love Evertonians more than I love Everton." I know I have learnt over the years to enjoy a good day out based around Everton without letting the result get me down too much, or as much.

Too many supporters don't want to face the facts that we are out classed on and off the field by the usual top 6 clubs for a start, never mind a few other clubs who appear to be better run than ours.

Changing the manager every 5 minuets and hoping he can perform miracles with for the most part moderate players has not and will not bring us success.
I'm sorry to say the only way that we have any chance of climbing to where the top 6 sit now is spending a mountain of money and I mean a ridiculous amount. Even then its a longshot.

As you say spending so much money on a new stadium is a very risky business, we are likely to have a great stadium but with very makeshift team.

How come we get the only billionaire around without these qualities? Did he win his fortune via a PPE contract?

I am as excited as the next blue about the whole stadium project but have a lot of similar serious reservations. The still unanswered questions regarding the financial and transport models etc have been masked by shiny new stadium imagery and fly-throughs and "banks of the royal blue mersey" slogans.

There has been a whole litany of poor decisions and failures, yet we are expected to just accept that they've got this all right. Moshiri's debts have essentially been equitised into a greater share-ownership and the stadium could easily be construed as the best way of packaging the sale of a basket case of a club that has been run into the ground.

Truth is, we've probably been getting carpet-bagged for decades.

What a fall from the greatness of last century to where we are now. It's quite sobering reading an article like this feeling yourself nod to unpalatable truths. I remember the swagger, and yes, the superiority of being an Evertonian. Now I just feel embarrassment.

During lockdown, I hated the phrase 'The New Normal', but I am coming to terms with a new normal of mediocracy for Everton. And even that might be too ambitious.

I remember distinctly in the Moyes era that one commentator mentioned that 'Everton doesn't change managers frequently. They back them.'

Something changed in the Moshiri era and we all know what happened next.

I remember seeing screams by fans at Kenwright in a blood curling after the 2-0 home loss to Norwich, demanding 'Silva out'!

Sure, the football under Allardyce wasn't pretty, but he did his job. There were similar chants at Goodison.

I see fans boo the introduction of one of our own players (Rondon). Terrible in my opinion.

The recent fan efforts to destabilise Benitez were not helpful either. Managers are trying to do their best, and there has to be a plan.

The current situation of Benitez being fired, after seeing two of the best players at EFC leave, as well as the DOF, and head of medical is just plain INSANITY. Where is the plan?

Something has to stop. Unfortunately, given the instant gratifying nature of football and who embedded it has become in people's lives, this behaviour is likely to continue.

Do fans love really love EFC or are just looking for more short term, instant success, trying to 'keep up with the Jones'?

They probably love EFC, but their way of expressing it is slowly killing it.

From it the point I take most is that winning a few trophies over the next decade or so could solve quite a few of the issues outlined!

I'm not being greedy. An FA cup, League Cup and charity shield over the next 10 years?! Gives the club more profile, more fans, makes us relevant and generates money.

Not too much to ask yet seems a million miles away!

In my article, I said:
"A narrative built up that we were splashing out on players (the figure of £500m for the Moshiri era has been casually bandied about).
But this overlooked the fact that we also had large sums of money flowing into the club through player sales."

The Swiss Ramble gives a net figure of around £300m, for the four seasons up to 2020.

"In the 4 seasons up to 2020, they splashed out a chunky £566m gross spend (£294m net)"

I don't know what the figure would be for up to 2021.

https://twitter.com/SwissRamble/status/1483082730791391233

The net spend has been astonishingly high by any measure. Truly tragic against your measure of goals and appearances. Truly tragic in terms of just how little of that money we have recouped from sales in order to reinvest.

I think the delusions of grandeur you talk of are part of the problem. There's a lot of vanity wrapped up in transfers – and people like to feel as though they're keeping up with the Joneses.

In fact, we were only ever pretending to be rich – even at the height of our spending spree – acquiring players who had already peaked below the level we needed to take the club forward.

A few years ago, we'd have spent a fortune bringing in players of the quality of Townsend and Gray, because we basically sought out the most expensive average players that money could buy.

Benitez had his head screwed on in that respect. Hopefully it is a point not lost on our owner.

Bringing in low-cost and relatively obscure or unfashionable players must be our future from now on – and accepting that we'll have to sell and move on every so often.

We're a much bigger club than any of Leipzig, Hoffenheim, Brighton, Brentford and Wolves so we should be able to come up with our own way to make it work.

Anyone reading this - and I would, as a previous poster said, have this article re-posted following the manager debate - should also read Mikes' excellent book on Everton in Europe, "Der Ball Ist Rund". (The ball is round). Unfortunately, Mike, I cannot see you having to re-issue for updates anytime in the near future, pal.

Take care,

Keith