Everton History

This Week — 29 Years Ago

Bit late with this one – it might be better not clashing with an England game though. Otherwise the 10 people who normally read these might not see it.

 

Something a bit different this week, in which I’ll give some context to the circumstances around the departure of Howard Kendall Mk II, which happened after the home game against Southampton on 4 December 1993.

 

We all know the story. Everton won 1-0. The victory put them in a respectable 9th position. After the match, Howard Kendall found out that the board had blocked his plans to sign Dion Dublin from Manchester United, and he resigned.

 

After his departure, the team plunged down the table and ended up only surviving on the last day. The team were still struggling at the wrong end of the table when he returned in 1997. Yet another last-day escape followed, while Dion Dublin, now with Coventry, was earning England caps and was on course for the Golden Boot.

 

With this information, it’s easy to project the fantasy of what might have been. A top 10 team, augmented by the goals of Dion Dublin, with Kendall staying in charge, would have pushed on and maybe even been on their way to repeating the success of his first spell in charge, with the future Homes Under The Hammer presenter fulfilling the “Andy Gray” role.

 

The bare facts, though, don’t tell the full story.

 

Saying that they won the match and were 9th in the league would imply that the team were chugging along nicely, winning regularly and on course to challenge for the European places. Actually, prior to this game, Everton had won only one of their previous nine league matches.

 

Back in August, I wrote about Everton’s bright start to the previous season (92-93), which soon fell to pieces as the team found themselves hovering dangerously near the drop zone by the time 1992 was over.

 

The autumn of 1993 was following a similar pattern. And although they won this match (their first home win since the Ward/Cottee derby in mid-September, incidentally), it’s worth noting that Southampton, under Ian Branfoot, were arguably the worst team in the Premier League, on their way down without a whimper before Alan Ball took charge and inspired Matt LeTissier into the form of his life.

 

Everton won at the Dell at the beginning of the season, scoring 2 early goals and cruising to victory, with Kendall himself that we’d “dominated the game from start to finish”. They were far less convincing in this game, even with home advantage. In fact, it can be argued that only beating them 1-0 could almost be considered a disappointment – put it another way, if they hadn’t won, questions would be asked. And, to reiterate, this was only their second win in 10, and served as temporary respite from the slide they were on.

 

Having said all that, even I can’t deny that their form rapidly deteriorated even further under the temporary leadership of Jimmy Gabriel, picking up just one point from the next 7 matches. Looking at the fixtures during Gabriel’s time in charge, though, it’s difficult to see that results would have been that much better during this time if Kendall had stayed on.

 

West Ham at home on New Year’s Day 1994 is the only game that I can see the team winning had it not been for the uncertainty and lack of confidence from the managerial limbo. Otherwise, the opponents were either riding high and on a good run (Newcastle, Blackburn), or recent meetings had shown they had the measure of Everton since Kendall’s return (Chelsea and the two Sheffield clubs).

 

There was also a loss at Man City, Kendall’s and now Peter Reid’s former club, and Maine Road had become a difficult place to pick up points since the latter was replaced by Brian Horton.

 

Of course, there’s no telling what impact Dion Dublin would have made had the signing gone through. Which leads nicely to giving some context to the board’s decision not to allow that transfer to happen.

 

During his second spell, Kendall’s track record with strikers – both buying and selling – had been largely unsuccessful at this point. Mo Johnston, in particular, had arrived for big money 2 years earlier and was now nowhere near the first team and ended up being released from his contract before the season was out.

 

Paul Rideout had also been purchased as a goalscorer but was only managing half a dozen or so goals a season. As I said when reviewing 92-93 though, the seemingly journeyman striker would prove his worth the season after Kendall left.

 

The only forward Kendall signed who had flourished was Peter Beardsley – and how – but even this signing was only made after his then club, Liverpool, beat Everton to the signature of Dean Saunders. And after a quieter second season, Kendall accepted Newcastle’s approach to take him back to Tyneside in 1993, where he was now having a terrific season.

 

Another player he let go, Mike Newell, who I’ve also mentioned recently, was sold to Blackburn within a year of Kendall’s return, and ended 1992-93 with more top flight goals than any Everton striker, and over 20 in all comps, despite not taking penalties and often playing in a supporting role.

 

Against this, it’s understandable that the board were reluctant to sanction yet more money – probably a similar figure to the Johnston fee – for a striker who’d suffered a season-long injury shortly after joining Man Utd and had barely played since. By cancelling the transfer, though, it did send a clear message that they no longer trusted their manager's judgement in the transfer market, and to any manager who puts dignity and integrity ahead of money, it leaves only one option.

 

It’s possible, though, that there were other factors at play. A while ago, Patrick Murphy did an excellent weekly piece, in the style of this but better, of what was happening on the corresponding week down the years. When December 1993 came up, he observed that, a few days earlier, treble-chasing Manchester United had won 2-0 at Goodison in the last 16 of the League Cup (and presumably, this is when discussions over the transfer of Dublin began).

 

With a title challenge clearly a no-go, this defeat meant the end of yet another opportunity to win a first trophy since returning; it meant yet another cup exit before the quarter-final stage (the last time they’d reached the quarters was by winning that unforgettable 5th Round against Liverpool in 1991, shortly after his return, when they also reached the Full Members Cup Final).

 

As Patrick Murphy commented, it was a demonstration in the flesh of just how far behind Everton were, and after over 3 years back at the helm, they were arguably further away from the best than they were on his arrival.

 

It’s possible that this may have also played into his decision, or at least made the Dion Dublin thing the last straw rather than the only reason.

 

Intentionally or not though, leaving when he did – going out with a win, leaving the team seemingly in a respectable position, and given the career Dion Dublin would go on to have – well, as his opposite number a few nights earlier, Alex Ferguson, showed in 2013, knowing exactly when to walk away is an act of great judgement. 

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