Are We Running Out of Initiatives?

Jay Harris 24/06/2008 12comments | Jump to last

In my view David Moyes has achieved a lot of success in the absence of a big budget to get high quality players by showing some initiatives.

Up the Pace
First it was get the players super fit and close other teams down by really upping the pace of the game. That caught on and other teams,including some of the quality teams, copied thereby negating our advantage.

Team Spirit
Not really new but he has engendered a team spirit and brought in players of a character that embrace this and that gave us a competitive edge. But again more teams are seeing this and attempting the same ? Advantage negated.

Motivation
I know this is not necessarily an initiative but David Moyes is constantly on the touchline shouting and motivating the players the extra yard.Other managers are now more prone to do that too ? Advantage negated.

Tactics
I know some fans criticise DM's tactical nous but we were one of the first teams to play 4-5-1. It then became fairly common ? Advantage negated.

Chance Buys
We bought good championship players and they succeeded in the Premier League ? Others now feel more confident about copying that and there is now more competition for championship players e.g. Aaron Ramsey ? Advantage negated.

I believe this season will be a watershed for DM and EFC and if he is not given the support to buy the quality we need we will just fall back amongst the also rans.

I never used to believe that it was about spending loads of money buying big time Charlie's who would then piss and moan about not getting in the team and create cliques that undermined the team but now the whole climate of football has sadly changed and you've got to spend big and pay big to gain success. Villa, Portsmouth, Spurs, Newcastle and City all seem able and willing to do that and I hope that that will not now become their competitive edge. Depressing I know but it's the same in any walk of life. Compete or die. But there is hope. After all we've just finished 5th and improved our European standing. So what next?

The next initiative I would like to see is from the Board in improving our income from commercial activities (one of the poorest in the top 12) and to attract some investment by diluting their shareholding. The baton should be passed to the Board who need to improve their contribution or pas the baton on to somebody who can.

Reader Comments

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Tony Marsh
1 Posted 25/06/2008 at 16:20:05

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Nice Piece Jay and your right to point out
the lack of anything of substance from the board.My theory is that Moyes although I dont like his style of play or man management has steadied the club to such an extent that he has deflected all or any real flak away from Kenwright and co.

While most of our supporters seem to be happy with whats going on on the pitch the board gets away with doing fuck all off it. If we were struggling near the bottom with the same team and manager
then do we really think the board would be getting off so lightly? No chance.

John Dawson
2 Posted 25/06/2008 at 16:29:34

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So what you’re saying is, David Moyes is the man responsible for introducing team spirit, improved fitness, tactical flexibility, motivitional skills and better scouting into the English game.

Wow, what a genius this man is, no wonder he hasn’t had time to actually win any trophies, give this man a Knighthood now!

Gavin Ramejkis
3 Posted 25/06/2008 at 16:28:56

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The worrying this is that when it starts to unwind as you can only go so far on good will and best endeavours is that DM will be slated by the majority of the fans for playing such and such and not buying such and such when it reality his hands are tied to what money is actually available and the boys upstairs do the hiring and firing of players and not the manager who merely says who he would like to buy. For far too long BK has sat in the ivory tower (don’t forget he was on Agent Johnson’s board too) and done sod all other than to appoint a very questionably motivated CEO on four times the salary of his predecessor who has a laughable CV and even worse performance at the club.

frank bird
4 Posted 25/06/2008 at 16:55:09

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agree about the board, i think we are playing in the face of danger. if we dont back the manager then the next big club that sacks the next manager moyes will be in the frame. then he will be followed by two or three players, followed by low gates. that will put us back to a bottom half team, thats the fine line we are on at the moment. over to you bill and ben!

sean mckenna
5 Posted 25/06/2008 at 16:46:46

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Nice post, after the semi final agaist chelsea the penny dropped for moyes he said in his interview after the game we needed big funds to compete agaist those top teams, as fans we new that for a very long time. i think this is the biggest summer for everton f.c time to invest in this talented squad! if we miss the boat this year it will be a very long time from now till we see everton where the fans and the manager wants us to be at the TOP. We wont sign arshavin now which is really disapointing, and to be honest the players we have been linked with recentlly doesnt fill me with hope of breaking into the elite, but in moyes we trust, it could be a very long summer. COYB

John Andrews
6 Posted 25/06/2008 at 17:10:57

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Although never the greatest fan of Moyes I do have a little sympathy for him at the moment. He is in a bit of a no-win situation.
If he manages to hang on to fifth place then he will get the plaudits. If he doesn’t then he will get loads of abuse.
But he is not in the same situation as many others in this league in that he is dealing with a Board that is making life very difficult for him.
The Board have constantly lied about Kirkby and it would appear that Moyes is going to suffer for it.
I can only hope that he sees fit to see his contract out as he has done a pretty good job with very limited resources.
Before anybody points out that we have broken our transfer record in each of the past three seasons may I suggest that this was on borrowed money !
Billy Bullshit and Wyness have a lot to answer for and the silence is deafening.

Tony Hawkins
7 Posted 25/06/2008 at 19:02:51

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A couple of points to clear up here.

If I remember correctly Man Utd are heavily in debt to the tune of somewhere between £250 - £350m and Liverpool are pretty heavily indebted also, where as Everton have a servicable debt of significantly less, so I’m not sure the borrowing money part is so much of an issue however I’m sure the resources are running dry as opposed to the availability of funds others appear to have.

Moyes is on a loser even before the season has started. If Everton do not finish in Europe, everyone will say he has failed. If the team finishes 5th, Moyes will have fallen short because he has not improved the team.

I think it was Wyness who pointed out that, for their resources, the Everton team are punching above their weight. I believe they are too however I also believe it’s deserved and because the team are good enough to do so - largely due to Moyes’ astuteness and managing.

Now, Moyes does need supporting beyond what has gone before. The same amount of money doesn’t go as far anymore with the team needing improvements and enlarging, steadying the ship is no longer adequate.

I’ve been disillusioned by the EFC board for a number of seasons and whilst I have been impressed with some of their dealings, many leave a foul taste in the mouth. The question as always tho is "who else is there?". It’s not just a Chairman or owner the club needs - it’s someone with money and also an interest in the game - and they are hard to come by.

Tony Waverleas
8 Posted 25/06/2008 at 20:42:18

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I?d love to know where are all these other fantastically well-run teams in the Premier League. Who are they? Because if you listen to the people on here you?d be forgiven for thinking ours was the only board who didn?t supply the manager endless blank cheques.

He?s hardly everyone?s cup of tea but Stuart Hall (for once not acting the goat) was recently on 5Live and was adamant that there isn?t a single Premiership club ,bar Chelsea naturally, that isn?t up to its ears in debt and being kept afloat on nothing but borrowed money and IOUs.
Furthermore, Hall believes sooner than later a Premier League club will go bankrupt.
Bill, Keith and the rest of our lot at are far from perfect but I think it?s time our fans realised what sort of financial climate 99% of Premier League clubs are working in.

Andy Crooks
9 Posted 25/06/2008 at 22:24:05

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An excellent article, Jay, which goes a long way to showing just what David Moyes has achieved. I disagree on only one point: "chance buys" Joleon Lescott and Tim Cahill have been improved by David Moyes, in fact, so have most of the players he has signed. I believe he is at least the equal of Wenger and Ferguson on that score, therefore that is an advantage we still have and I think that Baines and Gosling will prove that. Both of these players have the ability to play the ball out of defence and maybe this season we will not see the fallback tactic of the back pass to Tim Howard who boots the ball to nowhere in particular .I have not mentioned the Board because while I agree with Tony I think it is going to be more of the same. Every issue seems to lead back to Kirkby. I am opposed on unashamedlly sentimental grounds but I think we are going to be told once and for all that No Kirkby = No money = No future. I hope I?m wrong.

dominic tonge
10 Posted 26/06/2008 at 03:54:45

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*** Tx - LL *** tony, surely if the team are good enough to finish 5th- which is our average last 3 yrs, and DM is astute enough to guide us there, how exactly are we punching above our weight? surely we are doing as we should in that case.....If we are good enough as u say to be 5th doesnt punching above our weight entail finishing higher?

Jason Lam
11 Posted 26/06/2008 at 03:17:40

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This is a great analysis. Moyes has had to improve the team without spending heaps of money which demonstrates his strength in innovation and thinking out-of-the-box. I would add say some pre-match war cry like New Zealand All-Blacks, or holding hands like Brazil 1994. Or even hire a witchdoctor but that would cost the board a few extra pennies. But the Yak showed the way last season, an 11m buy will get you 20 odd goals.

I just don’t get it when fans don’t like so-and-so player because he’s a ’big charlie’ or ’mercenary’. Bloody hell it’s just a player not a marriage. In this day and age players come and go at a whim. So what’s the big deal? If we buy a player and he’s ’too good for us’, sell and profit. If he’s shit, well, he turned out not good enough for us anyway. How many Nevilles do we need as spokemans for EvertonTV? Give me a decent playing professional that can do the job on a Saturday.

Rupert Sullivan
12 Posted 26/06/2008 at 09:16:01

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@ Tony Weaverlass - you are spot on with that. Imagine if a club like LFC, with £400m of debt didn’t play in the Champion’s League for one year - lost revenue of £30m, unable to pay the interest on the loan, unable to buy players... downward spiral.

Ok - it would take more than one year, but I think that Stuart Hall has it right; most premier league clubs are up to their eyeballs in debt. Clubs life Villa and Pompey and Spurs are trying to spend big to break into the CL because at the end of the day only the CL can sustain that level of player, price etc. It Stands to reason with 4 clubs trying to break into the already installed 4 someone is going to lose out - and when they do, they will lose out in a BIG way.

John Lloyd
13 Posted 26/06/2008 at 12:43:37

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I see what your trying to say mate but I disagree, cos you do things first doesn't always give you the advantage, doing it well gives you the advantage. If we continue to do the 4 things you mentioned (although like others I disagree with the ?chance buys? one) we will beat more teams than we will lose to, if we add quality players to that mix we will do what we have been doing in the last two years & ?punching above our weight? hopefully at the expense of Arsenal or Liverpool into the CL places.

Jarrod Prosser
14 Posted 26/06/2008 at 23:10:54

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I see the point that you’re trying to make, but the point of an initiative is that nobody else has thought of it, therefore it can create an advantage.

The reason Moyes & others are successful at what they do is that they have the initiative to create new ways of doing things that the plebs like you & I can’t.