Rafa Benitez can revive Everton after Ancelotti 'betrayal' and 'inebriated lottery winner spending'

Crikey, something worth reading in the Echo!

Gotta love Dr Everton! :-)

Dennis - I share your surprise at the publication but similarly, the article is well worthy of a read and being posted on a few walls around Goodison Park for those with responsibility for the club on and off the field to read and digest.

What a great man Dr France is.

I had the privilege of meeting Dr France and his wife briefly in Orlando and this article says everything that Evertonians need to buy into. Unrivalled support for the team and the club until we get to our new home on the "banks of the royal blue Mersey".

Geez, for a doctor he doesn't seem to understand player acquisitions very well. Since Dr. France is held in such high esteem I suppose I'll just leave it there.

Well, predictably the previous manager is portrayed as a betrayer and failure, and the new manager is given plaudits before the season has started. Seriously? I’m guilty of being over-positive before the start of most seasons, but on this occasion it has to be recognised that it’s early days with the new manager, and that the old manager got us off to a very good start whilst ultimately disappointing us.

Only time will tell how good a manager Benitez turns out to be for us, so let’s see what happens. David France’s article is simply another fan’s premature positivity over yet another managerial appointment, whilst criticising the old manager in terms of betrayal when in fact none of us fans knows the full details behind his departure.

Stan,

He is entitled to have his view and, if making the comment several times he wanted to lead the team to Bramley-Moore Dock, then doing one quickly a week or so later, is not a violation of supporters trust, I don't know what is. I for one am happy with Dr France's phraseology.

Ken, I take your point, but at the same time it’s pushing things too much to imply someone (Ancelotti) is guilty of betrayal without actually knowing the facts. It’s opinion, but not high quality opinion.

Tactful Stan, I'll stay in the back seat.

Geez, for a doctor he doesn't seem to understand player acquisitions very well.

Dale, what makes you say that as I couldn't find evidence of that anywhere in the article?

but at the same time it’s pushing things too much to imply someone (Ancelotti) is guilty of betrayal without actually knowing the facts.

Stan, maybe he does know the facts.

I'll stick my neck out here as I know the esteem Dr David is held in and he is certainly better educated and a more experienced Evertonian than me.

I think his comments on good players but having a thin squad replicate what many of us said last season. I certainly did many times. Regardless of manager, we need more better players. I don't need to be a Doctor to recognise or have recognised that and our manager and squad suffered from that ultimately.

Bang on the money (excuse the pun) with the lottery winning squandering of money. We have behaved like a punch drunk Danny from Speke spending irresponsibly on the back of a good win over the past few years.

I get his point about the irony around the current Barcelona and Real Madrid managers not being able to turn Everton around. But then back to the original point. Better players and more of them. Then it almost, and within reason, becomes less important who the manager is for most teams.

Considering what I've heard and read about the guy, I felt very indifferent about that interview personally.

When are the Norwich home tickets on sale? I'm still punch drunk from Saturday!

Brian@9: If he does know the facts, perhaps he could enlighten us all?

Each to his own but I really enjoyed and also agreed with what David said, especially when talking about the members of KEIOC, who definitely should have some kind of memento at our new stadium imo, and reading Mr France, I had visions of Sir John Moores, and the way he talked about Everton and it’s fans, on that famous history of Everton video from all those years ago.

I think the following is of more interesting (and very related) news:

Everton's Financial Director Sasha Ryazantsev to Leave Club

Be interesting to see where he washes up and doubly interesting to see who replaces him at Everton given where we are in the stadium build.

“𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆’𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀
𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗮 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗳𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗱."

Patently they not good players and every year some club or other flatters to deceive and falls away. We were that team that season.

Carlo couldn't get out quick enough, no doubt about that, but we really don't know the whole story.

For what it's worth I think he thought he was joining the new Man City and realised half way through the season it was a sham and shit himself but I DON'T KNOW.

Dr Everton having a mare I'm afraid.

Barry - I would argue we have a lot of good players if played to their strengths.

Pickford is England’s best keeper. Coleman and Digne are decent full backs. Like it or not, we have 4 Premier league centre backs. Allan, Doucoure and Davies are decent midfielders and James, Richarlison and DCL are all very good players.

I’d say it’s more about a manager playing to players strengths than labelling them all as not good.

Think it's a bit rich to talk about "betrayal" when Everton agreed to the "get out" clause in Ancellotti's contract. I mean I'm not the sharpest but even I would conclude that if a guy insists on a "get out" clause when accepting a new contract...he's highly likely to use it?

Meh, nothing new.

Everton supporter cliché-speak all the way thru.

The cynic in me says the Club got the biggest off field name they could find (I mean, who don't like Dr David?) but still a none official Club source to put out a puff piece.

But he say what most already have in their minds now...
No, it can't go on.
Yes, we have to trim the fat etc, what there is...and its not just us either (Barca £1.15B in debt for instance).
No, it won't happen over night and Benetiz is here for the long haul...or what passes for the long haul in football.

What remains now is - has "The inebriated lottery winner" sat, morning hangover head in hands on the edge of the bed and thought through his misery...shit I've got a stadium to build, I'd better get a grip.

One can o not hope so.

We've had two halfs of real football, the 2nd much better than the first, if the season goes on to contain more good halfs than bad - well we can live with it...and Benitez.

Like we have a choice.

Finished tenth with the 8th best squad.
Played the ugliest football in the world.
Very publicly threw his players under a bus to mask his own shortcomings
Ushered his devoted fans up the garden path with promises of leading them to BMD.
Repaid Moshiri for throwing him a career lifeline by relieving him of around seventeen million quid. offering only a season and a half of cowardly zombie football in return.

Why do we need to know the whole story ? The stuff we know is painful enough.

Rafa must be pinching himself. Seven million quid a year and all he has to do is be better than Carlotakethepissio

The article didn't add anything that wasn't known and as Brendan(#16) says, there were two sides who agreed that contract and we don't know what was agreed that wasn't in the contract. It also appears that the people (family?) that came with Ancelotti were caught unawares which could make you think that promises, terms and conditions may have been broken or misrepresented and perhaps somebody in the know needs to clarify matters before the name calling starts.

As for the present incumbent being the best applicant, can anyone name all the others who applied or were considered and approached to take the job? As for being the best man for the job, well, the position at the end of the season may be the best way to judge followed by next season's improvement.

The only interesting point for me was the acknowledgement of KEIOC
Fully agree

If 2 parties agree on a clause 'that if an offer to manage a certain club comes along, it is accepted', it is not betrayal if the clause is taken up.

He says he wished Rafa was appointed after Koeman. After Koeman, seriously! That's like deciding to go on the pill after getting pregnant.

Contracts are legally binding, and therefore like others say, if Ancelotti has a negotiated get out clause, there’s not a lot can be done.

Personally I couldn’t give a shite what was written into “Carlo Notsofantastico” contract as long as him and his waste of space coaching team are out of our club, the football last season was diabolical, cowardly and mind numbing, I still cringe with embarrassment about that ridiculous “Carlo Fantastico “ flag that was adorned in the Gladwys Street when the fraud first arrived, he was lucky there were no fans last season to watch the shite he served up, good riddance as far as I’m concerned

Mick(#24); So you are saying you are glad there was a "get out" clause in the contract?

Carlo left because a couple of fucking retards held his daughter at knifepoint and robbed his house.

There were rumours just before he left that there had been a meeting between Brands / Ancelotti / the board which hadn’t gone well. I think it’s obvious looking at our summer transfer business that Carlo was informed we haven’t got a pot to piss in. He had seen the way we had ended the season and decided to jump ship. I don’t think we can hold it against any manager leaving us to sign for Real Madrid! They are not exactly the Dog and Duck!

We really have become a mess. I just hope that Rafa is given time now. It’s easy to support him when we are winning games. He will need support when we have a bad run. We’ve moved on from Ancelotti - let’s get behind Rafa and the team.

Hey Brian, I didn't mean to hit and run on that but Stan was handling it so I hid out.

The comment I made is a dig at Dr France's observation that Carlo had the team sitting in 2nd mid-season and slipped to 10th without any mention of whether the squad justified a 2nd place. Additionally, neglecting to comment on our transfer window not helping an effort to finish higher than 10th was irresponsible.

I understand Dr France deserves a good deal of respect but when I hear talking points that could've been written by Moshiri to duck his responsibility, there will be words.

Despite all the "I knew it would happen" hindsight merchants, I happen to believe that Ancelotti could have succeeded and was unlucky that the early season form last year was not sustained (perhaps because of injuries?).

I don't recall many objecting to James, Allan and Doucouré being signed and they transformed the team to the benefit of Calvert-Lewin.

I have seen statistics which seem to show that James' injury record was no worse than others in the squad and would you really prefer the likes of Gomes and Delph to him?

I think the jury is out on Iwobi but only just!

I confess that it will take a lot to convince me that Benitez is a better option, but over the past 60 years of supporting Everton (I'm 70 but admit not following them until around my 10th birthday) I have experienced lots of ups and downs and so far on balance the ups exceed the downs but it is essential to keep the faith!

You know the phrase 'Out of the mouths of babes etc.'

Well, my young daughter said, of Carlo:

'Dad, why are your lot so upset, about losing a guy who achieved less than Sam Allardyce?' Err....

I'm surprised how many people still stick up for Carlo. He is a gobshite. Took the dosh, shite footy, ran like hell, and left us with 'I enjoyed my time at Everton but' as his explanation for leaving at the dead of night.