The Art of being Bournemouth

This is Everton, Stu. We're not here to enjoy ourselves, we're here to win - & to suffer until we win!

Nice article, Stu.

It feels to me that quite a few people write off Eddie Howe because he comes across as a nice guy - why they would do that is beyond me. His managerial record has a few blemishes, but it’s mostly excellent.

On the face of it the Cherries certainly look like a well-run club on and off the pitch.

I think it was the summer that Benitez was appointed, Andy Dunn, the Mirror sports journalist was touting Eddie Howe for the Everton job… if only !!

It would be fine if it was only Bournemouth who had played catch-up with Everton and if it was only them of the non-elite sides who now regularly enter matches with Everton as favourites, but it isn't is it? it's Brighton, Brentford, Fulham et al who have little to fear from the once mighty Everton.

I suppose if we look at things from the perspective of the 21st century alone, Everton haven't been that mighty and even when doing well in that period, the Blues only managed to do, what the current lesser lights are doing now, competing in the places just outside Europe but being unable to break that concrete / glass ceiling, by winning silverware.

A point or win against these so-called lesser clubs is as important to Everton, as a point or win against the super clubs that we aspire to be part of. These lesser clubs deserve more of our respect, than we may have given them in the past, and we have to hope that our staff and players always have a healthy respect for these sides and don't believe that they have to try any less against them than they do when they play the elite sides.

Perhaps, we should understand the current footballing landscape better and realise that until we start beating the so-called lesser lights regularly we have much road to travel.

Perhaps, our history does weigh us down, and our hunger as supporters to see our club return to past glories, hampers and hinders Everton more than we may like to believe.

Good luck to the likes of Bournemouth, for being able to manage their clubs well and have them compete in the top-flight, until Everton FC begin to do the same, we will continue to go into these type of fixtures as underdogs, as much as we may hate to admit it

Sliding doors. We've passed them in the corridor, us heading down while they've gone in the opposite direction. If we stay up again this season it will be the fourth time in a row we've escaped the noose. Our luck must run out eventually unless there is significant change. We've escaped previously, simply because there were 3 pretty bad teams below us. I'm getting the feeling this time that first Wolves & now Ipswich are improving with every game and it makes me really nervous.

One of those blemishes, Peter, was at Burnley where many of the supporters rated him as the worst manager they have ever had. Obviously that was long time ago. Any manager can find himself in the right job but at the wrong time.

John#6, agreed. But I believe Howe had family troubles at the time (I think his mother was ill, and his wife and children struggled to settle).

We sit apart from such vital things, often forgetting that managers and player are ordinary human beings, frequently suddenly shunted into alien surroundings.

Didn’t Dyche take over at Burnley, not long after How’s left and do a brilliant job?

So Howe returned to Bournemouth and things got better. The old "never return" mantra put to the sword.

Hmmm...which ex-Everton manager might be available right now?

Always admired Bournemouth until a friend of mine told me he has a mate who supports Bournemouth, and this mate of his referred to Everton as a "nothing club"!!!

Now, if you want evidence of just how far we've fallen, then a fan of a club who have never won a major trophy and only got the SECOND tier of English football for the first time ever in the 2010s is taking the piss out of us!!!

Ever since I heard that I've wished them nothing but relegation, petty I know.

When a Club becomes better run off the pitch, even in straitened circumstances, they will do well once they get the right Manager..At last that is about to happen at Everton.

Enjoyed the Bournemouth story Stu.Tnank you.

A nice story - I lived in Lewes then Brighton earlier on in my career, and my boss encouraged me to go to a few Brighton games with him. They were really struggling - under owners who were hated, they had a few top flight relics in the team. It was natural I would have an affinity for them.

They were taken over but by then their ground had been sold by the previous owners. (My boss was related to one of the new consortium). I saw the last ever game at the Goldstone, when ex-Evertonian Stuart Storer scored the winner against Doncaster - which lifted them off the bottom of the now League 2, on goal difference. The final game of the season was away at Hereford - who were now bottom. I went, and a 1-1 draw sent Hereford down, and kept Brighton up. That was 1997.

They had a few more trials and tribulations - now homeless, they played at Gillingham for a season, before settling into a temporary stadium in the city whilst a new one was built at Falmer.

There were a lot of similarities - particularly about being competitive in a lower division.

I've never subscribed to the view that if Everton went down, we'd be okay, might even enjoy it for a season or two before returning. I don't think it works like that.
- There's a risk that with cost-cutting etc. we'd drop like a stone.
- We'd be everyone's scalp in a competitive league
- There's a risk we'd stay down a while, a la Leeds Utd

Then of course once getting back to the holy grail it'd mean transforming the budget, and trying to stabalise to then build up - always at the risk of a bad season causing havoc again, and dealing with PSR constraints.

Personally I'm also incredibly proud of our historical record of the most games in the top flight.

I'd rather not risk that thanks.

Matt#12

Totally agree with you regarding Everton being relegated.

I suppose that it one achievement of Moshiri and money staying in the Premier League.

Peter (7), Very true Peter how off the field troubles can affect how players and managers contribute to their game, that’s one reason I think McNeil might not be as good as he can be this season, his partner had a serious illness problem not all that long ago and although her operation got her through at the time it was stated she still had a long way to go before she was completely better.

I am a bit biased over Dwight, think he is a much better player than he is given credit for and I hope he can come back soon and help to improve Everton’s attacking game.

We have to stay up.

Peter @7 and Dave @14 – good posts.

Tony # 8, a very good point indeed – but one which will be generally glossed over.

Another point worth mentioning is just how heavily Bournemouth have invested in their playing squad in recent years.

After Eddie Howe got Bournemouth relegated (another point that will be glossed over), they bounced back into the Premier League for the 22-23 season.

That summer, they had a net spend of €83.10M which included the signings of 5 very good players in Zabarnyi, Semenyo, Tavernier, Ouattara and Senesi – plus the loan of a quality left-back, Vina, from Roma.

After staying up, they then went on to spend €125M (again net) on Adams, Traore, Scott, Kerkez, Faivre, Kluivert and Aarons – as well as loaning Unal, Sinisterra and Radu (the goalkeeper from Inter).

Now, if you bear in mind our entire squad cost about €220M, you can see that it was relatively easy for them to catch up – and then overtake.

This summer, they lost Solanke of course, after he finally hit form in the Premier League. But they still had a net spend of €40M – signing the likes of Evanilson, Sinisterra, Unal, Huijsen and Araujo – and also Kepa on loan from Chelsea.

In the same period where Bournemouth have invested €245M in their playing squad – we have negative investment of just under €100M. Obvious I know, but that is a whopping €345M difference in spending between the two clubs in just 3 years.

Player for player, they're now a fair bit better than us and have much more balanced / better-assembled squad.

Now, many fans which be thinking, "Well who the fuck are Huijsen, Kerkez, Zabarnyi etc when they're at home?" The answer is three of the most highly rated young defenders in Europe – all of whom are now being heavily linked to Champions League clubs. And the others are all generally internationals with very good pedigree.

For example, I expect Bournemouth fans consider Zabarnyi to be at least as good as Branthwaite – and Huijsen is already heading in the same direction. Kerkez may well be playing for Liverpool or Man Utd by the end of January.

In just three windows they have bought 7 players costing over €20M – compared to our one in Beto (where the cost was inflated by the £0 payment in year one).

Indeed, in our entire squad we only have 5 players (Beto, Keane, Mykolenko, Doucoure and Pickford) who cost over €20M – and it's getting on for 8 years since we signed Keane and Pickford.

It's fair to say that Howe did a good job at Bournemouth until he got them relegated (despite being backed financially) and Iraola is doing a good job now (with financial backing again delivering a really good squad).

But their story since promotion at least is not really "apples v apples" with Everton, given how close we've come to going bust and the impact of PSR limits.

Despite all that, I think we stand a decent chance away, because we're better without the ball and without the pressure of playing on the front foot at home. As I often say on the matchday threads, good organisation, hard work and a good attitude and we can come away with 3 points. COYB.

Robert, great information there which shows that managing a clubs resources properly is so important! I wonder how wages between the clubs compare?

We seem to have been overpaying average players for some time, many of those contracts are coming to an end so perhaps a more sustainable strategy will emanate from this.

Very good piece, thanks Stu!

Rob # 17, there are a few different "blocks" of wages within the Premier League:

1. Man City, Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea (over £3m p/w)

2. Liverpool (£2.5m p/w)

3. Villa, Spurs, Newcastle, West Ham (£2m - £1.7m p/w)

4. Palace, Everton, Fulham, Leicester, Forest, Brighton, Saints, Bournemouth, Wolves (£1.3m - £1m p/w)

5. Brentford and Ipswich (£0.8 - £0.65m p/w)

Our biggest earners by a fair distance are Doucoure, Pickford, Gueye, Tarkowski, Calvert-Lewin, Harrison and Keane.

So you can make own your mind up as to whether we're getting any value for the wages paid...

Thanks Robert. From that, I’d concur that only Pickford is really earning his worth, Tarks and Gueye the best of the rest. DCL might be worth it, if he were getting some decent service and having plenty of touches in the opponents box…

Fred Quick @4
Brilliant post mate, the most honest and realistic post I've read on our current situation. Well done

Good piece of writing, Stu.

Literary romanticism had its place and time in the history of literature, although I'm afraid our increasingly beleaguered gaffer is closer to social realism; if the new owners happen to belong to the same school, which I suspect they do, he'll probably be gone soon. If that happens, who are we going to bring in?

Germans and Portuguese seem to be all the rage at the moment in the top two echelons, so why not the guy at Sheffield Wednesday who certainly has a good press? Or our old friend at Craven Cottage, who has probably done enough to deserve a second chance?

I like the story Stu, it makes good reading, and maybe there is a similar tale to be told at Brentford. It seems to me that regardless of managerial appointments Everton the Club have been badly managed for most of my lifetime and I am 80, and one doesn't have to look far to see what a well managed Club looks like.
For too long our main focus it seems has been on the first team manager who in fairness should just be one part of a stable and well organised team. We have survived the last few seasons because we have United as a unit with remarkable backing from the supporters. But this season feels different the manager is critical of his players, and the supporters critical of the manager and his tactics. So above all else what we need now is strong leadership and that has to come from the New Chairman and from him to every employee.
On current form we look like relegation candidates and we need urgent action to get the whole team back on track. Those who are unable or unwilling to get on board should be shown the door.
Given the right leadership we know the supporters will respond, but leadership has to come from the top and all those employed by the Club have to play their part or leave. Relegation in our last season at Goodison Park would be a complete disaster and on present form it is a clear possibility. So Mr Chairman what's the Plan.