John Thompson responds to those Evertonians angry with the Echo

, 24 June, 18comments  |  Jump to most recent
The Liverpool Echo's Executive Editor of Sport, John Thompson, has penned a response to recent accusations by fans on the Internet that that paper's coverage of the city's two clubs is unequal.

In a lengthy rebuttal, Thompson answers the charges levelled against the paper that its coverage favours Liverpool FC and addresses criticism from a group of fans on Twitter at the Echo's decision to edit down the recent Everton Symposium at Old Hall Street for a subsequent podcast on the ownership issue at Everton.

» Read the full article at Liverpool Echo



Reader Comments (18)

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John Crawley
1 Posted 24/06/2015 at 19:16:12
"We believe these campaigning fans want us not just to ask questions and highlight issues of debate and concern, but also want us to join them in demanding sweeping change at Goodison. We do not believe sweeping change is a guarantee of success and would not support it without evidence of a credible alternative ready and waiting."

Interesting comments from Mr Thompson. I don’t think they have to campaign for sweeping change they just have to start asking some difficult questions!

Steve Guy
2 Posted 24/06/2015 at 19:49:08
I see Mr Thompson has published his response promising change on the Echo website. Sounds great until you get to the bottom and it’s immediately followed by an article on the RS’s new signing.......or should that read "increasingly desperate attempts to keep up with the bigger clubs" ?
Kevin Tully
3 Posted 24/06/2015 at 19:54:57
After what looks like THREE failed attempts at finding us a new home, no trophies for 20 years, numerous ballsed up smaller projects (couldn’t even get a badge update right) you have to ask –what the fuck are they doing at this club?

The three OAPs are clearly involved in other projects, EFC is just a sideline to make a killing.

We are DESPERATE for some new input into this club. Some new blood, new money and someone with some new ideas. This mob have failed miserably. They should just take their profits, and move on. The sooner the better.

Darryl Ritchie
4 Posted 24/06/2015 at 20:00:03
Phil, When my rich uncle buys the farm; when I win the lottery; when I discover the secret of cold fusion; I’ll buy the club in an instant....but I will still have to know "How much?"
Phil Walling
5 Posted 24/06/2015 at 20:07:58
Steve, I’ve no doubts that if we had signed the bugger, Everton would have got the lead paras. But come on – Henen? Hardly a ’hold the back page’ signing by any standard!
Steve Guy
6 Posted 24/06/2015 at 20:21:07
Just sayin, Phil. Not suggesting an article about Everton should have been beneath it..... better to not have anything?
Dave Abrahams
7 Posted 24/06/2015 at 20:22:13
John Thomson says the echo can’t make Kenwright and other members of the Board answer any questions about Evertons business, fair enough, but can he tell us which reporters asked any of the directors any questions and what the reaction was, where they just blanked, did they walk away and if so when did this happen.

If any of this happened then let us know about it, and show these people up, if no one has asked these questions then let us know that as well, just don’t treat us like idiots.

Andy Crooks
8 Posted 24/06/2015 at 20:29:37
Phil, to suggest that Everton supporters have no more right to question the dealings of the club than customers of Aldi can question that company,is missing the point entirely.

Supporting a football club is absolutely not the same as being a customer of a bargain supermarket. We have a fundamental emotional commitment which, in my view, renders comparison you have made redundant. We cannot decide to shop with a rival if we don’t like what we get. It is an historic personal allegance like no other out side sport.

In many ways it could be argued that we deserve the contempt we are often treated with and by withdrawing your financial support you have taken what is the best way of showing your disapproval.

I would argue, however, that our loyal longstanding support entitles us to respect from the temporary guardians of the club. It gives us moral rights which count for nothing if the guardian’s of the club have no morals, but we have the right to seek answers and if they are not forthcoming I believe we have the right to insist that the city’s newspaper demand them for us.

Tony Abrahams
9 Posted 24/06/2015 at 20:52:27
Now that John Thompson has made this statement, then I think now is the time to put real pressure on the Echo, to give us answers to this statement, regarding questions that have or haven’t been asked.

It’s a big decision to make, Phil, to stop going to Goodison. How long do you think you will stay away? I haven’t renewed myself yet, but if I don’t get a season ticket, I would only watch Everton away from Goodison.

Your problem is with the manager, but mine is with the way the club has been run for way to long.

Kenwright & Co, have got away with murder for years, possibly because he’s our number one fan. If there not prepared to answer some serious questions, off the local newspaper though, maybe a lot more people might be able to see through the transparency!

Lyndon Lloyd
Editorial Team
10 Posted 24/06/2015 at 21:31:29
The "Recommended" and "Most Read" stories on the Echo are promoted by an algorithm based on traffic and clicks.

I’m told it’s something they are looking into changing but, as things stand, those links are purely a reflection of the amount of clicks stories on the dark side attract relative to Everton stories.

Michael Kenrick
11 Posted 24/06/2015 at 21:37:26
Perhaps the "Recommend in Sport" links could simply have LFC stories filtered out on the Everton pages? How hard would that be?
David Holroyd
12 Posted 25/06/2015 at 00:15:07
The only way to change things at Everton is to stop going. It’s hard like trying to give up something that you love which we all do. But what else can we do this club is falling behind every minute Kenwright and the rest of the board are in power. Remember back in the eighties when there was 13,000 for Coventry.

Swansea yes the team that was in the fourth division not that long ago will spend more than money than we will. I have no faith in Martinez that he can turn us Ito a top six club again.

When you take into account all the players we have sold, Rooney, Fellaini, Rodwell plus others for big money our net spend isn’t that much. At the present time look at the squad looks unbalanced there is not a midfielder who can score six goals this season. Thirty long years almost since we won the league it’s not good enough. Please Mr Kenwright leave before you ruin yours and our club.

Jim Lloyd
13 Posted 25/06/2015 at 09:16:35
First of all, he could change the title spread of the Echo. It’s all bloody red with a sodding Liverbird carrying the paper. That’s now the copyright of the other lot. He could have the wide band Blue for a couple of years and see how the other lot react.

The income question, I don’t know much about but I can guess that his paper has lost lots of Evertonian readers (including me) because of the fawning, biased coverage they give to the other lot.

So if it is a question of income, he could look at how much the paper is losing by
a) the loss of local Blue readership, and b) how much the paper is losing when Blues stop looking at... say... NewsNow Everton because any article on EFC is surrounded by red articles. That’s a negative I know but to me there’s a vicious circle going on. Blues stop buying the paper, so the paper thinks that it’s read by mainly Reds. We stop looking at NewsNow Everton for the same reason... and the paper thinks the Reds massively outnumber the Blues on the site.

Well the that’s likely to be a false reading, because of the vicious circle effect. More and more Blues turn off the paper and more and more Blues don’t bother looking at the paper’s internet pages, so the percentage of Red views will increase, and so on.

So the paper might well look at the headlines they have used over the years, the way that Blues look at the perceived cosy relationship of the Echo with Kenwright and his Board.

Over so many issues from The Kings Dock to the Kirkby episode, to the lack of success that our True Blue leader as had looking 24 bloody 7 looking "for investment", the Fortress Sports Fund malarkey, and so it goes on.

Just now, Aston Villa are selling their club and I seem to remember their Chairman saying that he has chosen one of the three bidders to proceed.

Now Mr Kenwright has said "there are no Sugar Daddies out out there" ages ago. Since then, the other lot have been bought and sold twice and a number of other Premier League league clubs have been taken over.

Maybe the Echo can’t vilify Kenwright for not finding a buyer but surely they could ask the question about the two unsuccessful consortia looking to buy Villa and have they been approached.

Or put another way: could the Echo ask if our Chairman if he is still actively looking for buyers!

When the Echo start looking like they understand the supporters concerns (justifiable, I would think) and when they start giving us more equal coverage, then I’d consider buying the paper again.

But at the moment, it’s like the mother paper The Mirror and could call itself the Kop Daily.

Brin Williams
14 Posted 25/06/2015 at 10:27:16
It would help our cause and give the Echo something ’Evertonian’ to talk about if we sorted out and got Deulofeu to sign his bloody contact.

Let’s face it, the Echo like ourselves are dealing with a bunch of morons who couldn’t run a public toilet let alone a publicity project.

Don’t blame the Echo – we are the culprits and it is up to US to get things changed – then they WILL have something positive to report in their rag.

Christine Foster
15 Posted 25/06/2015 at 10:15:23
For me, the essence of the rebuttal was that the Echo cannot make the board talk to them, no more than they will talk to the supporters either. The Echo has a position of privilege in that it does has continual access to the club and its management. Something that even shareholders do not have.

They have the opportunity to question and to ask of the concerns that we as supporters legitimately have. In the absence of information or communication, all we are left with is silence and conjecture. From such arise discontent and anger.

The Echo are in the business of reporting news and opinion, theirs and others. As supporters, we have an opinion that the Echo has tacitly ignored and failed to ask of those concerns on our behalf. As Dave Abrahams (7) points out, at the very least we should know if our concerns are being raised and what, if any, response the club has.

It is not about a witch hunt of any member of the board or management team, despite what strong feelings (including myself) that many supporters have about the way the club is being managed; it is about the ability to support. How can the club ask us to support it when they have manipulated truth, conned supporters, and closed ranks to any approach to communication?

We can support a team but not the club. The two are not the same. I want to support my club but in the absence of truth or communication and its recent shameful history of abuse of supporters and shareholders, a vehicle (the Echo) must realise it is in a position to assist us in that aim and engender trust once more.

For me that trust in the present guardians has gone and will not return. It's not naïvety or a lack of pragmatism, it's the lack of trust. I would like the Echo to understand that's how I feel. Because the club doesn’t care.

Phil Walling
16 Posted 25/06/2015 at 10:44:39
Not as long as they are’ up the arse’ of Elstone and crew by needing to retain the programme and magazine contract, Christine.

In modern terminology, the two are ’business partners’ and you cross your partners at your own peril. The relationship stinks and works against ’a free press’!

Derek Turner
17 Posted 25/06/2015 at 10:58:13
Michael 11, exactly, how hard would it be, and whilst we are at it, could they not at least make the Everton FC article labels blue instead of red? I hate reading the Echo because all it does is remind me of our neighbours which I don’t really need reminding of at the best of times. Bastards.
David Chait
18 Posted 25/06/2015 at 17:20:11
Not being from Liverpool, let alone England, I don't see what locals do. But one thing I do appreciate is during transfer season they often bring expectations back in line to reality. <

For instance I trust them when the Dann hype was overboard they let us know he isn't the first target. That is clearly info disseminated to keep us from going completely off track and I appreciate it. They assured us Dela was a go and no matter how many believe signing a player before open season commences is protracted they reminded us its on.

I don't have issues with them.


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