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Are things really that bad?

By Viv Sharma :  13/02/2011 :  Comments (18) :
YES.

No strikers in the squad, no money in the bank, not enough points on the board... No hope?

We were all disgusted a few years back when Benitez called us a small club, but the fact is that finacially, this is the case. In fact, it's an understatement. We have a negative manager who sets out his team to 'hopefully not lose by more than 3 or 4' and occasionally get an amazing incredible draw.

BK has been shaping our club for the last decade and this is where we find ourselves. It is a fucking disgrace because although we have become a financial minnow as a result of all the BULLSHIT (from the Fortress Sports Fund lies to "Watch this space...") showering on down from above, we STILL have a solid and passionate worldwide fanbase that the club should be more than capable of capitalising on and making us a genuine Premier League team again.

I know that my article will be easily dismissed as "typically negative TW" but I believe that TW genuinely reflects the current status of the club from the point of the more genuinely passionate and informed fans. (Believe it or not, when things are going well, we are happy to give praise when praise is due, it's just been a long long time since this has been the case, week-in and week-out.)

What really worries me is the long term. It's going to take a huge push to keep us up this year playing the way we are with only one decent striker who is not allowed more than 20 minutes pitch time per game and if, and when we do go down, we will have to sell our key (and only) assets such as Felli, Baines, Arteta and the likes, and being on the back foot, we certainly are NOT going to get top dollar for them when we do.

So, the ability to re-invest is therefore nullified and, with our squad as small as it is, we are going to genuinely struggle to come straight back up.

Yes, we are all very proud of our history but that doesn't count for shit in the modern game. Look at Portsmouth: recent FA Cup Winners and they couldn't avoid a disaster on a Leeds United scale. The general view from outside of our club these days is that we are a scrappy little club punching above our weight.

So, what can WE do?

Obviously, I don't have a genuine answer, simply because, for us regular fans, there isn't one. The supporters trust that has been mooted is a good idea but unless we sell our souls to a Saudi King, I can't see how we can continue in this ridiculous league. Boycotting will not help as our trouble is financial and we simply can't afford to hit the board where it hurts because ultimately it will just hurt the club.

To be fair, the way that money has overtaken passion in world football is not BK's fault and I even empathise with him for trying to keep our heart and soul, but clearly this isn't going to be possible.

I genuinely fear for the future of our club to the point where I almost couldn't bring myself to watch today against Bolton because I'm just so disallusioned with the whole thing these days.

The last straw was watching Anichebe today. Sulking over a new contract, so we sign him up and then he spends the day strolling around the pitch without a care in the world. If I was DM, I would have hauled him off after 10 minutes and honestly called for his contract to be terminated IMMEDIATELY. I'm more disgusted with his effort today than I usually am watching Gerrard.

Where we once had a passionate and diehard commitment to making this work until we got the money to grow, it is clear now that the malaise and terminal apathy that has infected our club has even reached the players; they too know that there is no future for us in the big leagues under the current regime and ultimately any effort on the pitch is futile and postponing the inevitable. They should still not be excused for not caring, but I see where it comes from.

I will, through thick or thin or thinner, always be a Toffee... but, right now, I wish I could just turn it off and walk away.

You will (I hope) read this as an extremely overly negative piece and things will work out ok in the end, but this is honestly how I see the state of our once great club.

I could very much do with someone putting together a reasonable and realistic argument to the contrary to give me a lift and help me regain my optimism because right now, BK has sucked the life out of all the joy I used to get from EFC.

Reader Comments (18)

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Ted Smeethes
1 Posted 13/02/2011 at 21:47:43
2011 FA Cup winners - no doubt about it
Andrew McGreavy
2 Posted 13/02/2011 at 21:56:15
Ted, can I have what you've been puffing on please, as it will maybe take away the pain from today.
Andy Crooks
3 Posted 13/02/2011 at 21:51:35
Bring back Walter Smith. Cheaper than Moyes, more trophies than Moyes, more attacking than Moyes, happier than Moyes, more flair than Moyes,err, better looking than Moyes, more open to contradiction than Moyes, dresses better, actually much better than Moyes, more trophies than Moyes, sorry. No point bringing back Walter, because Moyes is Walter mark two ,but at ten times the cost.
Ian Edwards
4 Posted 13/02/2011 at 21:59:01
If we are to win the cup, we will need to win at Chelsea... which Moyes has never done.
Roman Sidey
5 Posted 13/02/2011 at 22:29:38
Probably more of a post reply, Viv, but fair collection of thoughts nonetheless. What you say about us not having the capacity to come straight back up if/when we're relegated is spot on. We struggle right now to fill 18 positions for 38 games + cup games (albeit not many of them these days). So, with 46 league games + occasional an extra round of cup games, how would our threadbare squad get through a season??? Easy answer: we wouldn't.
Kunal Desai
6 Posted 13/02/2011 at 22:27:39
Whether Moyes is still at Everton in the summer or not won't make once bit of difference. The malaise we are in is hurtling down the plughole so fast, it's unthinkable. If positive changes at EFC do not come about sooner or later (within in six months) I do fear certainly next season or the season after we could go down and become a Nottingham Forest. Relegation really is a possibility over the coming season. BK, living in cuckoo land probably thinks all is still nice nd rosy in the garden.
Peter Rogers
7 Posted 13/02/2011 at 22:30:10
Viv spot on you have put in to words my feeling exactly. Even if we do stay up (i think we will) we will never be playing on a level playing field until BK does the right thing and sells his train set, lets just hope that day is soon.
David O'Keefe
8 Posted 13/02/2011 at 23:17:34
Andy your upset, but don't rewrite history.
Roman Sidey
9 Posted 13/02/2011 at 23:48:05
Just noticed something though guys and it is all positive!!!!!!!!!!

If Fulham lost by 3 to Chelsea tomorrow, we actually move UP to 12th this week, even though we lost 2-0.
Dave Lynch
10 Posted 14/02/2011 at 00:02:26
We definitely need someone to stabilise the ship.
I think Moyes will keep us up this season but if the unthinkable happens and he walks within the next couple of weeks.
Then i would prefer big Joe Royle as a short term to the end of the season.
Kieran Kinsella
11 Posted 14/02/2011 at 01:29:04
Alan Curbishly basically said Moyes should leave cause he is stale today and he should know cause he was at Charlton so long. Only snag is, where are Charlton now ?
Matthew Lovekin
12 Posted 14/02/2011 at 09:33:39
Viv, your last 3 paragraphs sum it up perfectly for me.

I will always be an Evertonian, but I'm fucking struggling right now to find anything positive about the club.
James Hollister
13 Posted 14/02/2011 at 12:08:43
I am not entirely convinced we'd survive financially if we got relegated.

Consider the books now, then remove the Premier League money. How much more in debt would we go exactly? I'd wage quite a lot, so much so in fact that I can't see us surviving going down.

I suppose if we did go down, we could go into administration, then get ourselves out of that mess, but the devastation would be a disaster that would end up taking us years to get back to the point where we would be able to not only get promoted but at the same time have enough money to buy players who are of Premier League quality, or we would likely end up a poor man's Hull City.

Sometimes going down will give the entire organization a kick up the arse... they would be forced to take immediate action.

Let's not dwell on a nightmare situation, and hope we can pull ourselves through this till May. Regardless of how bad we are, the league this year is far more competitive and as such I suspect the amoount needed to survive will likely be something like 38 points? Maybe those with good math skills could find out what we need to be aiming for at the minimum to survive.

As for Chelsea, I don't know, we seem to raise the bar significantly against the bigger teams and this is the FA Cup where anything can happen... let's try to get positive and get behind the lads at the Bridge at the weekend... you never know fairies might exist and we might get past Chavski!
James Hollister
14 Posted 14/02/2011 at 12:32:46
Next league match home against Sunderland, we should be able to get all 3 points. Saha should be back or he could be back against chelsea.

2 wins could easily propel us to just inside the top 10 and right behind Bolton / Sunderland, think they will both drop form they aren't very good.

Too much to play for and while there is still an outside chance of breaking into the top 10 and maybe even trying for a Europa place is still on the cards who knows, I mean everyone is slipping up week after a week, and if these lads can sort themselves out, a decent run will put us right up there, such as competitive the league is with such few points
Dave Lynch
15 Posted 14/02/2011 at 13:23:00
James @14.

How the hell did you slip out of the asylum.
Andrew Gilbert
16 Posted 14/02/2011 at 14:56:40
Bizarrely James@14 is right. Nothing wrong with a bit of optimism. After Saturday it seems that's exactly what the players need.

I hope none of them surf this site.
Mick Gallagher
17 Posted 14/02/2011 at 16:05:16
We cant beat the teams around us and we've still got to go to Wolves, Wigan, West Brom. We've got Birmingham, Villa, Fulham at home. How many wins in that lot? ? 6 hopefully or we could be in a lot worse of a mess then we are now. We can still win the cup.
Brian Waring
18 Posted 14/02/2011 at 16:36:10
Andrew, the problem is with what James said, is that we seem too be saying it quite a lot this season, but we still find ourselves deeper in the shite.

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