View from the Street
Columnist: Rob Fox

Billy Liar or Walter Mitty?
14 September 2004

So the world is back on its axis again, and we have returned to something approaching normality.  What’s more, the team has made a great start to the season and once again Blues everywhere are filled with optimism as David Moyes has the team playing well and getting results.  Then of course there is the promise of several quality new signings in January to reinforce our push for European football next season.

Whilst I am delighted at the start we have made, I have to admit my main feeling is one of relief and any optimism is severely tempered by a feeling that things have not really changed all that much.

The main difference is that the media circus seems to have packed up and left Goodison Park to return home to Manchester, booty in tow.  Yes, Wayne Rooney has left Everton to move to a club where he can fulfil his ambitions, leaving the nation with a lasting image of bitter Evertonians spitting out their collective dummy at the injustice of it all.  Bitter Blues indeed.

Grief — and make no mistake, that’s effectively what we have all been feeling — affects people in different ways.  What the nation failed to understand as it turned its nose up at our displays of anger, frustration and disappointment, is that it wasn’t all about a young lad betraying his boyhood club.  It was also, and more crucially, the fact that one of our own didn’t think we were good enough for him.  We were wrong, everybody else was right.  That hurt.

Truthfully, deep down, most of us knew.  We just, arrogantly I suppose, assumed that as he was ‘one of us’, we would be enough for him.  I know some people aren’t ready to hear this, but the truth is clear.  If he hadn’t seemingly been ‘one of us’ nobody would have expected him to stay.  We can understand the motives of Wayne Rooney, professional footballer.  It’s just the motives of Wayne Rooney, Evertonian, we can’t come to terms with.

Personally, it took me a few days to pluck up the courage to pick up a newspaper, but a few minutes of staring at his mug shot in a red shirt proudly holding a scarf aloft was enough . Nice touch that, Wayne, but I suppose it’s all just part of the job.  I no longer saw Wayne Rooney, carrier of the Eternal Blue Flame, but just A N Other greedy young man who has been encouraged to believe the world is his for the taking.  His choice.

Last Thursday, Everton announced the arrival of a new Chief Executive in Keith Wyness, headhunted from Aberdeen in an audacious swoop by our erstwhile Chairman.  His credentials are reputedly very good, which is just as well as he is now one of the people most crucial to our future.

His arrival, despite him having left his old job several weeks ago, neatly coincided with the Extraordinary General Meeting called by shareholders to ask the Board, or let’s be more specific, Bill Kenwright, for assurances that the club was in good hands.

From what I have read, the EGM seems to have been intense, as you would expect, but generally dignified.  There doesn’t seem to have been open hostility, at least not towards Kenwright, and most people seem satisfied by Bill’s explanations and promises enough to give him a stay of execution.  It would seem that Moyes’s support of Kenwright, coupled with Bill’s acceptance that mistakes have been made but would be rectified, has persuaded many to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Now, I’m going to put my neck on the block here.  David Moyes, Bill Kenwright, Paul Gregg, Trevor Birch and Wayne Rooney have been at the epicentre of the events of this summer.  Strangely it is the two Evertonians in that group who have received the most criticism.  Clearly something is awry.

Maybe it’s time to lay a few ghosts to rest.

First off, Wayne Rooney is not a ‘phoney’.  I do not believe for one second it was all an act.  The 16-year-old Wayne Rooney who ripped off his shirt was as Blue as you and me.  In the two years since then, something happened to make Wayne Rooney desperate to leave Everton.  Judas?  Perhaps.  Naïve, arrogant and impatient?  Almost certainly....  Phoney? Definitely not.  I am as certain as I can be that, when he displayed that T-shirt, he meant every word of it.  The unanswered question is; did he jump or was he pushed?

Secondly, Bill Kenwright is not hellbent on ruining Everton Football Club.  If anything, he is absolutely desperate to make us great again.  He is Everton through and through.  Whether he is capable of achieving his objective is another matter.

Thirdly, David Moyes is a highly talented and ambitious young manager who will leave Everton like a shot if the day comes when he feels he cannot take the Club any further.  It would hurt him to do it, but he would do it because he would have to.

Clearly, though, something went badly wrong regarding Wayne Rooney.  Somebody is seemingly not telling the truth.  Or perhaps I should say The Truth.  But then, doesn’t the truth depend on who you ask?  Or more accurately, doesn’t the perception of the truth depend on who you ask, and also when?

Billy Liar.  No room for misunderstanding with that moniker.  Our Chairman is exposed as a bare faced liar, merrily leading the Club to oblivion purely to satisfy his own ego.  Black and white, no grey areas.  Liar, Liar, Liar.  Billy Liar.  Perhaps...

Just one little fly in the ointment, given that our manager takes every opportunity to sing Bill’s praises and has publicly backed up the chairman’s position on Wayne Rooney.  If Bill is a liar, then seemingly Moyes is either extremely gullible or he is a liar too.  Or perhaps he is just loyal to his employer as he quite likes his job.  This is not meant to be a slur on Moyes, but clearly if he is in agreement with Kenwright, it doesn’t really make sense that only one of them is honest.  Therefore we have to really accept that it was entirely Rooney’s decision to leave, otherwise we have to look more closely at Moyes’ integrity and reliability.  My personal gut reaction is to believe Moyes.

My point in all this, if I have one, is this.  We are Evertonians, therefore we expect to be challenging at the top.  As this prospect is clearly some way off, we need somebody to blame.  Let’s face it, Bill makes it pretty easy at times.

The only thing that is clear is that, once again, Everton supporters are in the dark as to what is really going on.  At this present time, though, we are reasonably happy.  The Premiership table is the main reason for this.  If Everton were to win the Premiership, Bill could tell all the lies he wanted.

However, I shudder to think what the atmosphere would have been like at the EGM if we had lost our first 4 games.  Thankfully for Bill, David Moyes is doing his job extremely well.

Of course, when push comes to shove, that is really all the matters.  The plain fact is the overwhelming majority of supporters, minority shareholders included, are rabid Evertonians for whom only one thing matters and that is for Everton to win football matches.  I would also include Bill Kenwright in this category.  I’m sure few would disagree.  The only problem is that these days the amount of football matches is you win is in almost direct correlation with the amount of money you have.  And we don’t have any money.

So what has gone wrong for the man now known as ‘Billy Liar’?  A trip back in time might shed some light.

Before I was born, Everton was known as The Millionaire Club.  With John Moores at the helm, we could afford to live up to our motto.  We had a state-of-the-art stadium and training facilities; we could to buy World Cup winners; and Liverpool was the hippest City in the world.  Since John Moore’s ill health forced him to relinquish his control over Everton, we have been in steady financial decline, in line with the City of Liverpool.  Worse, Liverpool’s success on the pitch in this period has given them a lasting legacy as European greats.  The reasons for our decline are multitude, and are for another article.  However, the lack of a wealthy benefactor, coupled with poor management in many areas, on and off the pitch, have clearly been major factors over the years.

Since 1970, we have had only 3 seasons where we can honestly say we have lived up to our motto on the field, and that was solely due to the outstanding managerial reign of Howard Kendall.  It was him, not Everton’s millions, that brought us glory with the squad assembled on a shoestring.  In those days the League Table was a more accurate measure of ability rather than wealth.  Even then, we couldn’t hold on to our best players, or manager, but the European ban was the main reason for that.

Through no fault of our own, we were unable to build on our success and establish ourselves as the equals of our neighbours in terms of European profile.  Under Colin Harvey, the team declined and when the Gravy Train rode into town it was Alex Ferguson who was able to commandeer the First Class section for his emerging Manchester United team.  Sometimes, it’s just about timing.

As the Gravy Train gathered speed, we frantically looked for a compartment near the front, to no avail.  Matters came to a head when Ebeneezer Marsh refused to allow Howard Kendall to sign Dion Dublin.  We were skint, we couldn’t afford to ride First Class any more.

We needed investment if we were to hang on to the coat-tails of the likes of Manchester United and the rest of the Big Five.  Fortunately for us, Peter Johnson came to the rescue with bold promises and the spending began.

Joe Royle threatened briefly to bring Johnson’s vision to reality, but he lost the plot and everything turned to sand.  Walter Smith came, spent more money we didn’t really have, and things came to a head once again when Duncan Ferguson was sold behind his back.  Soon Peter the Red was ousted and Blue Bill rode to the rescue.  At last, somebody we could trust.

To give Bill his due, he told us the truth from the off.  He had bought the club but had emptied his pockets doing so.  Little did we know he’d been dipping into a few other people’s pockets as well — but that’s another story.  It would be hard work, he told us.  The club was massively in debt, our stadium and training facilities were outdated, and the squad was weak.  We all knew where we stood.

At last, Bill had realised his dream.  He owned Everton Football Club.  How great is that?  Being an Evertonian, he knew what was expected of him. Nil Satis Nis Optimum.  We would always be on hand to remind him.

So here’s Bill, all spent up, in charge of a mediocre football club with high expectations.  Sensibly, Bill quietly set to work.  Except, being theatrical and being a passionate Blue, he couldn’t be quiet.

At first, it was just the odd proclamation of how great Everton were, how proud he was of being in charge of this great Club, with such History and Tradition.  We were moved, but after a while it became a bit like hearing your mad Uncle at the family knees up.  Yes, we were fond of him, yes we knew where he was coming from, but he was beginning to sound a bit mad wasn’t he?  A bit like Walter Mitty.

But the questions got harder: we wanted to now what was happening now, not thirty years ago.  Then the promises began.  Put yourself in Bill’s position.  You’re an Evertonian, you’ve bought the club, you’ve realised the job is a little bit harder than you first thought and now people are beginning to ask questions, some are even beginning to make demands.  But these people are Evertonians, just like you, and you want to make them happy.  So you tell them what they want to hear, because you are like them and want to please them, and then work as hard as you can to make it happen...

But of course, it doesn’t happen because the problems run too deep, and Bill doesn’t really know how to solve them.  No shame in that, because the problems are indeed huge and will take a long time to solve, if they ever can be.  But by now Walter Mitty seemed to be in complete control of Bill.  I don’t think Bill is a liar; I think he believes every word he says, maybe the odd white lie to buy some time, but overall genuine in his intentions.  Some would say this is more dangerous.

This, in a nutshell, is my problem with Bill Kenwright.  On the day after Wayne Rooney was sold, I was gutted.  So were you.  So was Bill Kenwright.  Of course he was, he’s an Evertonian too.  So what now, Bill?

Picture the scene, there we all are drowning our sorrows, and in walks our Chairman.  We all look expectantly at him, awaiting news of our future.  Bill, walks over, pulls up a chair and pours himself a whisky.  And that’s it really.  He’s gutted too.  Oh, that’s alright then, Bill.  We know how it is.  Fill your glass and join the wake.

Except it’s not alright, is it Bill?  We don’t want to hear how gutted you are; we want to know what is going to happen next.  More than that, we want to see that you are in control.  We want to see some leadership.  I’m sorry, but “I got the best deal I could for Everton Football Club” sounds like you are trying to appease us — nothing more.  I know you are an Evertonian, Bill.  I just don’t know if you can do anything about the fact that we are not good enough for an 18-year-old boy.

In the event it was left to David Moyes to lead the rallying call and remind everybody that Everton are still a great club, with or without Wayne Rooney.  Thank heavens for Moyes, even if it is just us who are listening now.  Moyes displays leadership qualities every time he opens his mouth.  He is a man of action as well as wise words.

Bill, it would seem, is not.  But I can live with that.  I don’t think you have set out to deceive people, I think your intentions, still, are basically honourable.  I accept that it is impossible to tell the supporters everything we want to know without telling everybody else as well.  I accept the job is very, very difficult and the problems are massive.  You don’t have to remind me any more.

In fact, I don’t want to hear much from you at all for a while.  If you don’t make promises you can’t back yourself into a corner.  I don’t know if Wayne Rooney is a greedy, disloyal Judas or the victim of a conspiracy to save the Club from financial meltdown.  I probably never will.  All I want to know is what is being done to safeguard Everton’s future and to make us prosperous again.  Hopefully, Mr Wyness is more in the mould of David Moyes than our Chairman.  A realist, with enough romance to care about the football side, rather than a fantasist who’s grip on reality seems more slender by the day.

Last week, Blackburn quietly lost their manager who left for a better job.  There was no wailing and gnashing of teeth, no protracted wrangling.  The deal was done quickly, quietly and without fuss.  Blackburn Rovers came out of the episode with dignity intact and giving the impression of still being in control of the situation.  They simply thanked Souness for his contribution, talked the Club up a bit and got on with the job of finding a new manager.  As Moyes’s odds shortened, Evertonians panicked.  The fact is, Blackburn Rovers are no better off than us financially and are a smaller club, yet they still seem more secure because they don’t wash their dirty linen in public.  They sold their best player last year too, and are still to recover, but they just get on with it.

So where do we go from here?  Well, Bill’s been at it again, claiming that the future of the Club is all but secure.  Is it really?  Spin, lies, fantasy or a ‘definite possibilty’ to coin a Kenwright phrase?  Who knows, but I am pretty sure we are far from certain of having a secure future.  I am by no means a financial expert but even I can see we are not out of the woods yet.

Given that we are struggling to make an operating profit, disregarding transfer fees, it is clear that any investment can only offer short term solutions unless the management structure of the Club is radically overhauled.  If Bill Kenwright has made one major positive contribution as owner of Everton Football Club it was the appointment of David Moyes.  Let’s hope he has made his best business decision in appointing Mr Wyness.

With Mr Gregg seemingly back on board, maybe we have turned the corner.  I suppose I am cautiously optimistic.  But Bill, please, stop trying to please us with words, no matter how sincere.  Just show us you mean it with some decisive action before it’s too late.  If you can’t do this, then please be realistic enough to admit it to yourself.  Then maybe it won’t be so hard to admit it to us.  After all, we are Evertonians too, and deep down we understand.  All we want is to be told The Truth, whatever that may be.

Rob Fox

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