State of the Blues 2017

The part about the special values and culture that make Everton truly unique are a timely reminder to this jaded old Evertonian as to why he has persisted for 63 years,so thank you for that particularly.

I look forward to more articles from you.

Not sure Schneiderlin for £24m can be justified when the very useful Rincon (captain of Venezuela) was bought by Juve for less than £7m yesterday.

I too think we overpaid massively for Bolasie which i'm prepared to do with a player who will make a huge difference to our team but not for someone who is only a marginal (if that) improvement on what we have.

Our Community contributions depend on our footballing success, not the other way around. We are customarily patronised as a good old family club, no threat to the winners. We need to be careful that we don't play to that image.

And you are right regarding Bolasie – it was a crazy signing.

I agree completely Everton FC is a football club and nothing should detract from its core business which is to win football matches.

I love the fact that the people involved in Everton from directors to the average fans take time out to help under-privileged people regain their places in society, and that shouldn't be treated lightly, as it is right and proper.

Whilst I don't want Everton FC to become a corporate non-entity, soulless and devoid of any social responsibility, I do want the main focus of the club and its board to fund and help the manager to get a winning team out on the pitch and the other aspects of the club can only benefit from having a successful football team.

The two things are not mutually exclusive. Only in the money grubbing Sky world of the Premier League does one take such precedence and dominance over the other.

Oscar called it knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing.

That is how you end up with the football tourists and glory hunters that infest the so-called top clubs... but a balance can and should be achieved.

My only gripe with your article is your estimate of matchday income in a new stadium... £100 mill per year including an extra 15-20,000 seats. I can't see how that adds up.

Even if this was possible, surely it goes against the whole argument you make about EFC being so much of a community club. The prices would have to be sky-high to generate such money. The advent of a new arena on the waterfront might get us a few more matches on telly, but most viewers will want to see teams at the top playing each other (as happens now). And, even though we may love to look at a shiney new stadium, the average Joe in middle England couldn't give a toss.

Anyway, very interesting and it whets my appetite for this transfer window.

I never thought the two were mutually exclusive but banging the drum for community projects when the club is having a bad time on the pitch or is doing relatively badly with its commercial deals etc, shouldn't be used by the club to deflect attention from its failings either. Balance can be achieved both ways.

I think we may be violently agreeing. Palmer in his original post says that, as a foreign Evertonian, it was these very values that drew him to Everton in the first place. That is one reason why it is important to retain them. It makes us unique and we seem to be good at these softer ethical matters.

What we are not good at is running a successful football club from a commercial point of view but hopefully that may be about to change, but that has no bearing on the community/altruistic aspects of the club or vice versa.

We can and must do both and I hope that the will is there to do so.

To be honest, I feel no sense of that with Everton. As with most if not all Premier League clubs; the role of the supporter is to provide a backdrop and soundtrack for a very expensive TV product.

This club under the control of "the Coronation Street" no mark – is just a laughing stock, & will continue to be - regardless of any of our new monies gained – transfers continue to be under the auspices of our board regardless of Walsh etc.

I would really like to see some light at the end of the road – but I'm not overly optimistic!!!

COYB

With a fan committee to administer and suggest how money is spent. For me it would not be on player wages but maybe on youth or infrastructure but that would be member choice and a list of options could be agreed with Board.

I'd probably sign up and be proud to be a member. Income, eg, 25,000 x £120 pa (£10 pm) = £3M. Useful and if sold and marketed well could be a cool thing to be part of. (I have a horrid feeling I may be showing ignorance and this exists already.)

I note with interest the debate you have re-ignited concerning Everton's role in supporting charitable and community projects, and in particular I refer to the exchanges between Patrick Murphy and Chris Williams. I come down heavily on Patrick's side here; I am very happy and proud to see an Everton with a social conscience but unfortunately the tail that is EitC is now wagging the dog.

I have commented previously on TW about the comfort-zone culture on the non-playing side of the club and the fact that Mrs Barratt-Baxendale was promoted to Deputy CEO of EFC without having to relinquish her jealously guarded high-profile status as CEO of EitC illustrates the complacency behind the scenes. Is there a conflict of interest here? Perhaps not, but there is definitely a case for arguing that the club needs a full-time Deputy CEO who has a laser focus on (and preferably a deep understanding of) football and business, thus allowing Mrs B-B to concentrate on developing the club's charitable work.

As a passionate Blue with, fortunately, the means so to do, I donated a lot of money over the years to EitC. I no longer feel able to do this for a number of reasons, one of which is this structural weakness of governance that allows what should be a commendable sideshow to become the main event. I gave money to the charity because it carried the name of my team; I don't go to watch the team because I like the charity.

Well researched, well thought out and presented extremely eloquently. Very timely, too, as in a few hours the AGM will sit and discuss some of the issues you raise.

Hopefully, our new benefactor will put in an appearance. The first opportunity, if he does so, to directly address the heart and soul of the club, its supporters.

Equally hopefully, there will be some revelation on the stadium question, improved income streams, hell – even about incoming players.

I for one am very pleased you highlighted the importance of Everton's role and importance within the community. Not wishing to diss or disagree with either Tony Hill or Patrick Murphy that EitC initiatives should not distract or deflect from the club's 'primary' role as they see it - that is, winning football matches and (please mercy, before I die...) trophies, the club's work in the community is something that gives me particular pride as an Everton supporter. It DOES make Everton a cut above the rest.

Dermont references Barcelona in this connection. Let's not forget that it was Barcelona who studied Everton's former player foundation and duplicated and implemented it at their own club (as have other major football clubs). Indeed, unless I'm mistaken, I believe even today something like 1% of all Barca players' salaries is donated to their former player fund.

Once again, in closing, congratulations Palmer on the most readable and enjoyable article on here in many a long day. Thank you.

The signing of players like Niasse and others, the extension of contracts to some, are decisions that, in any world other than the mad unaccountable shite that is the Premier League, would render some unemployable for life.

"Move on", is a nicer term than "ship out" but it is still as pointless. They are people, not chess pieces.

I do think that perhaps Deulofeu should have been given more chances, but on the other hand look at his stats for 90 mins completed. Maybe he just hasn't got the stamina?

Bolasie was shocking business. Pace and power but very little football intelligence. Too much showboating and not enough craft. Insanity in my opinion to pay that kind of wedge for a player in their late 20s who is not going to deliver consistent quality.

I feel sorry for the lad on a human level and hope he returns to full fitness, but he's not the type of player we need.

Tony Hill (#8): spot on. The community thing has become a useful diversion, from the club's perspective, from the unsatisfactory state of affairs on the field.

The £100m extra stadium revenue is the highest estimate. I got that number by multiplying the extra 20,000 seats by £75, an assumed average ticket price for three years from now, times 30 home games for a total of £45m.

Now assume an increase in ticket prices for European games, and for the very expensive club boxes they almost always build into these new stadiums, and another bonus for summer concerts at a beautiful riverside stadium – just look at the 66,000 people who went to see Springsteen at San Siro – and £100m starts to be plausible.

As for players, there is a market for them when you consider not driving a hard bargain. Even getting them off the wage bill, plus the opportunity cost of giving more training time to youth, and releasing players might even be financially prudent. They are people, and they get a say over their lives. For many of them, the chance to play, or make more money in China, or MLS, would be welcome.

There is obviously a balance to maintain between sporting success and community activity, but they are not mutually exclusive. Having Mrs Barrett-Baxendale as the Deputy CEO, and in charge of EitC is only a testament to her operational acumen. Running a club is big work, and the key to success at this level of management is the ability to effectively delegate tasks to the individuals best suited and to maintain the achievement of goals and timelines.

Football isn't that different from other businesses, especially businesses with barriers to entry. She is being rewarded for management skills. Thanks again everyone!

The latter two are a first for the club, while the shirt sponsor is the highest grossing deal in history. Remember that the Umbro kit deal was the first time in history the club was paid to wear someone's kit. This is amazing stuff on the financial front.

That said, if we could only loosen ourselves from the Direct Sports marketing of EFC-licensed products, and get them around the city and country more...

That said, I wrote back in 2008-ish something that strongly agrees with a few comments above that we are a football club, thus our prime reason for existing is to win football matches. At that time I wrote it to support the massive changes of culture that would have been demanded by our move to a new stadium.

Now I repeat it as we have an opportunity to truly compete once more thanks to large incoming investment – I assume I will get a little less opposition this time?

And he and Thomas Lennon and others should realise that nobody is criticising EitC per se. What is being said is simply that the tail is wagging the dog. EitC is highly commendable and it deserves to have its own separate Chief Executive.

Even more deservedly, not to say desperately, Everton Football Club must have a CEO and Deputy CEO whose sole focus is on supporting the club to achieve success on the pitch.

And a good point about the long ball leaving Lukaku isolated up front. Set pieces as well, good observation although this has been the case for years under three different Managers. You just wonder how much we practice them in training, just as you wonder why we don't leave a man up at corners and defend the posts.

Personally, I just think there is a mentally weak squad of players, many of whom are here from abroad for the money. You only have to see Funes Mori rocking up on Instagram in Barcelona the Sunday morning after being knocked out of the Cup by Leicester to see that some of them just don't get it. They do what they have to, they say all the right things, but when push comes to shove many of them can't go the extra mile, the last 20 mins on Saturday being a good example.

Holiday Camp Martinez is still alive and as I'm sure Ronald knows, it's shutting that down that is his biggest priority.

Is Tom Cleverley really that bad he is not worthy of a place in our squad? I think we end up arguing over the merits of certain players because at some point we have shouted "You're shite!" at them from the stands.

When I was (a lot) younger I couldn't see the point of Barry Horne being in our team, but that game against Wimbledon in 1994, if he hadn't been on the pitch we might have gone down.

Managers run the clubs, fans shout their opinions from the sidelines, in such a well considered piece I thought repeating the names of those players a bit unfair.

They are everything wholesome about sports as community organizers. I adamantly hope that EitC maintains a high level of outreach, and not focus only on the pitch. I think that there is no reason why one has to trade off with the other.