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I'm more concerned about Everton....

By Colin Fitzpatrick :  14/10/2010 :  Comments (157) :
... to be worried about events across the park.

Yesterday, on another thread here on ToffeeWeb, a poster from the US (Mike Gaynes) claimed he follows Everton's games but didn't see he UK press so knew little of the off-field history and "information" obtained through the press and media. At the moment, the world's sports media appear transfixed by events across the park, which is all very entertaining and an easy story for the media and the general public to follow with its heady mix of the country's popular obsessions of debt, the banks, a sprinkling of xenophobia and a former media idol fallen on hard times. Like most I've even spent a little time following the story but, not surprisingly, like Evertonians everywhere, I?m actually more concerned that my club are, and will probably remain, in a far worse long-term predicament than Liverpool FC are now and will ever be in the foreseeable future.

This summer, having apparently hit rock bottom and being a football club in crisis, Liverpool FC still managed to spend over £20m on new players whilst we ended up signing a no-cost ex-window fitter from the lower leagues to lead our line. Do you honestly believe David Moyes would have accepted this by choice? If that had happened at Liverpool FC, their supporters would have been up in arms and yet apathetically conditioned Evertonians just sit there and meekly accept our current predicament.

Having turned their backs on the idea of "The People's Club", the Board of Directors have now rebranded Everton FC under the banner of Nil Satis Nisi Optimum. Does the current situation reflect or even merit the philosophy of 'Nil Satis Nisi Optimum' to you? Such marketing is at best inappropriate and at worst cynical and derogatory to those enlightened Evertonians who actually do know their history.

As Liverpool slipped into the relegation zone, last week, The Echo front page screamed about LFC hitting rock bottom when not a word was said the previous week when we were actually bottom of the league; perhaps our beloved chairman and our top-of-the-league spin department suddenly giving interviews and issuing press releases to all and sundry had something to do with it. What a pity our prowess in this area couldn't be transferred to similarly manage the financial affairs of the club and subsequently the quality of those Everton players in front of the opposition goal.

It's said that apportioning blame for a problem can be counterproductive yet it is also good practice to identify the root cause of that problem so that a solution can be found. Too many Evertonians are ambivalent when it comes to identifying the root cause of our problem; unlike at other clubs where supporters actually care enough to do something, to get involved, too many Evertonians do nothing and allow this perpetual state of mediocrity to exist.

Our dilemma is apparent: with October 2010 upon us we find ourselves, once again, at the wrong end of the table; already out of one cup, courtesy of a lowly League One club and blatantly unable to address a striker problem that has resulted in less than 20% of our 2010 goals [52] coming from a recognised striker and with little prospect of addressing the abysmal stadium issue save for another alleged effectively free scheme, the small print of which continues to be conveniently avoided.

To my mind, demands for playing 4-4-2 instead of 4-5-1, or a player here instead of there, are too simplistic and undervalue the complexity of the game; I am in no doubt whatsoever that we'll have a run of results and climb the table. This just isn't the problem ? being where we are, in the league, is a symptom, not the cause.

For me, the seeds of our latest predicament were sown a long, long time ago, but, in essence, these seeds began to germinate in May 2009. Cast your minds back to that long journey home following our defeat at the Cup Final; we consoled ourselves that we'd had a reasonable campaign, we'd reached the FA Cup Final, we had the Manager of the Season at the helm and by once again finishing fifth, we were now firmly established as the team leading the pack to break into the top 4. Our stock had never been higher in recent years and, if we were ever going to be sold, if we were ever going to take the next step forward, that was the time. Predictably, as we have become accustomed at Everton, the moment came and went.

Whilst the rest of us travelled home in defeat, the great and the good of Everton FC were celebrating and pressing the flesh at London's Grosvenor House. The chairman was relishing the final flickers of limelight he'd vainly sought over those preceding weeks, further opportunities to gild the lily with ever more outrageous stories... shamelessly, on TalkSport, in the presence of that Parry creature, he was now claiming to have been with Eddie Kavanagh at the '66 final; one wondered if Elvis and Tommy Steele were there in attendance also!

Back on the long journey home, many of us sought solace in the fact that we'd reached the Cup Final with some of our best players missing through injury; thus we'd hoped that the club could take that extra step upon their return the following season. Perhaps David Moyes thought the same, with a few strategic buys and the rub of the Green, that much yearned for trophy would be secured, perhaps even a Champions League place...

In hindsight, for Evertonians going to bed that night it was like going to bed on the Titanic on 14 April 1912, blissfully unaware that their optimism for the future was about to make a change for the worse. Sadly, many remain blissfully unaware.

In the months following this plateau, we learnt that we'd achieved record turnover for the year, our manager naturally told us he needed to increase the squad with bodies, and that Joleon Lescott was not for sale.

Following the abandonment of probing and difficult to stage manage Annual General Meetings by the Board, the CEO told a forum of shareholders that the Board would be open and responsive to any questions and that no question would be out of bounds; moments later the chairman, Bill Kenwright, immaturely refused to answer a question concerning the sale of the club whilst verbally abusing the shareholder for asking a perfectly legitimate question about a business to which he had a financial as well as emotional stake. This shareholder has subsequently relinquished his shareholding in disgust of the chairman and his arrogant attitude and actions towards minor shareholders.

The 2009-10 season began disastrously ? defeat after defeat, an unbelievable injury list to a paper thin squad, the late sale of the "not for sale" Lescott and last minute acquisitions saw a faltering start to the campaign which only later appeared to flourish after an excellent display against Manchester United, the arrival of on-loan winger Landon Donavon, and the emerging development of Marouane Fellaini in a commanding defensive midfield role. The campaign concluded with early exits from all cup competitions and a final league placing of 8th condemned us to a season without European football.

During this close season, most Evertonians realised that the manager urgently needed to address the striker problem and the lack of width on the right following the departure of Donavan. Despite the annual posturing that fools hardly anyone anymore, many Evertonians have long since acclimatised themselves to the business strategy of the Bill Kenwright era, that is of asset disposal in order to fund the business; in other words having to sell to buy, sell to fund wages, sell to compete as best we can. We sell tangible assets, we sell intangible assets; nothing wrong with that occasionally but sadly this is the only strategy that the current board have. The CEO agreed at the public inquiry into Destination Kirkby that such a strategy is not sustainable in the long term. What happens is you either run out of assets to sell... or, as we found out this year, we own assets that people simply don't want to buy for a whole host of reasons.

Almost two months into the current Premier League season, despite playing some decent football, we've only just secured our first win and, with football being all about results, this clearly isn't good enough, so who's to blame? For me, there are only two candidates, the manager or the chairman.

David Moyes became manager in 2002. It's widely acknowledged that Everton, not for the first time in recent history, avoided relegation that season due to his timely appointment ? ironically, the result of a recommendation from outgoing manager Walter Smith. His eight year reign has yet to produce a trophy; his league finishes have been 15th, 7th, 17th, 4th, 11th, 6th, 5th, 5th and 8th; the previous eight years saw Everton finish 16th, 13th, 14th, 17th, 15th, 6th, 15th and 17th.

Highlights of the cup campaigns include a League Cup semi-final and an FA Cup Final that saw Everton lose out to Chelsea on both occasions, whilst lowlights include a litany of heavy and embarrassing defeats in the Premier League, domestic and European cup competitions... coupled with some of the lowest points and goal tallies in the club?s history.

In his time at Everton, David Moyes has been awarded the LMA Manager of the Year accolade on three occasions and has been academically acknowledged as the best-value manager in the Premier League in terms of points obtained against wages paid. Objectively, his record on bringing players in can be best described as mixed (whose isn't?) ? great success with the likes of Cahill, Arteta, Pienaar and Lescott; less so with Beattie, Johnson, Davies and Bilyaletdinov... the less said about Per Krøldrup and Andy van der Meyde, the better.

Bill Kenwright?s appointment to the Board in 1989 coincided with the club's decline from the heyday of the mid 1980s. Mr Kenwright?s performance as a director of Everton Football Club has seen him supportive of the decision to sell Duncan Ferguson and complicit with the precarious financial position the club found itself in under Peter Johnson. Indeed, it is intriguing as to why Mr Kenwright publicly endorsed the proposed recent move to Kirkby whilst just a few years earlier he sought to undermined his then chairman, Peter Johnson, by covertly financing the activities of the Goodison For Everton [GFE] group who were opposed to Johnson's original Kirkby relocation plans.

Following Peter Johnson's demise, once installed as owner, through the now defunct vehicle known as True Blue Holdings (TBH), Bill Kenwright was the person responsible for overseeing the advance spending of the never-to-materialise NTL media money which was wasted on abysmal signings such as Alex Nyarko ? ridiculously recruited on a 5-year contract but with only a 4-year work permit ? after the sale of then club captain Don Hutchison.

The failure to secure the £30M investment from NTL is surprisingly overlooked by most commentators due to the demise of NTL... yet, in a stroke, the advance spending of the money doubled Everton's debt and significantly worsened the already precarious finances of the club. Of course, the implication of this event and the uncertain nature of the finances were easily passed off as being down to the previous chairman, Peter Johnson.

The consequence of the NTL affair paled into insignificance when compared to the mishandling of the Kings Dock opportunity which saw Everton left in an unsuitable and out-dated stadium with (then) record levels of debt and administrators waiting in the wings ? just as they do at Anfield as we speak; events which eventually precipitated the controversial sale at a knock-down price of arguably Everton's greatest talent of the modern era: Wayne Rooney.

Whilst other Premier League clubs, with better foresight, continued (indeed, continue) to invest in their infrastructure, the failure to secure funding for the Kings Dock left Everton in a poor position in relation to their ability to generate increased matchday and, due to the proposed 49% ownership structure, non-matchday revenue streams. The claims to the council that our contribution for the Kings Dock stadium was "ring-fenced", when it wasn't, and Bill Kenwright's refusal to allow Paul Gregg to deliver the financial package which would have secured the iconic waterfront stadium for the club, albeit dispensing with Bill Kenwright as owner, left Everton's board appearing amateurish, unprofessional and untrustworthy in the eyes of many, particularly the officers of the local council.

Post Kings Dock, the increasing debt situation was accompanied by a power struggle between Bill Kenwright and the Gregg family, Paul Gregg having a similar number of shares than Bill Kenwright whilst his wife, Anita, had lent Bill Kenwright the money to secure his shares from Peter Johnson through TBH.

CEOs came and went; one, Trevor Birch ? an insolvency practitioner who infamously lasted just six weeks before leaving ? highlighted the near catastrophic debt situation at the club. The initial solution, in 2002, was to consolidate the debt and take out a then fashionable securitization loan with the Prudential against the stadium and serviced through future ticket revenue over the next 25 years. This didn't remove the level of debt within the club which had by then had reached the disastrous level of 126% of the club's annual turnover! This was only reduced some years later when, following emergency lending from Singer and Friedlander, Wayne Rooney was sold to save the club.

The Greggs eventually took a back seat after Bill Kenwright produced a bogus investor in the shape of Fortress Sports Fund ? their supposed representative, Chris Samuelson (attempting to pass himself off as an Evertonian), delivered a memorable and embarrassing performance at the 2004 AGM. It goes without saying the promised investment from Fortress, as with NTL, failed to materialise; even after Bill Kenwright told all and sundry "the money will be in the bank tomorrow."

After a season where we appeared to be slipping back into our old ways, a former director of the club claims that the board, headed by Bill Kenwright, had concluded a deal to replace Blackburn-bound David Moyes with Celtic's former manager, Martin O'Neill, who is said to have reneged on the deal and a similar one he is alleged to have had with Leeds, at the last minute, and joined Aston Villa.

In October 2006, Paul Gregg purportedly sold his shares to Robert Earl's British Virgin Island registered company BCR Sports, but Paul Gregg has since confirmed he was actually paid for those shares by a certain Sir Phillip Green, a person recently described on Question Time as an individual guilty of tax evasion on an industrial scale. Presumably Anita Gregg was also repaid around this time period. Bill Kenwright claims Philip Green has nothing to do with Everton, that he is merely a friend of his ? and therefore a friend of ours! Another former CEO, Keith Wyness, begged to differ when, following his resignation in 2008, he, through The Times, initially cited concern over interference by Philip Green in business decisions at Everton as the reason he had resigned.

Since 2004, Everton had planned to move to a new state-of-the-art training facility at Finch Farm, Knowsley. This plan came to fruition in the autumn of 2007. The land, having been earlier acquired by Everton from Knowsley Municipal Borough Council (KMBC), was sold to a development company, ROM Capital, from which Everton now rent the purpose-built £8M complex for a figure in excess of £1M a year over a 50-year lease agreement.

The sale of the old training facility at Bellefield was later intended to provide some of the capital required for Destination Kirkby, but an over-ambitious planning application meant that council planning permission was refused and a futile appeal was dismissed by the government. The chairman has since begged the new council to approve the latest, more modest, application as this, he claimed, was meant to provide David Moyes with his summer budget for 2010. At the moment, no approval or sale has been secured for the old Bellefield property, nor did we sell any players of note, so the manager was unable to secure the much needed winger and recognised striker prior to the start of the current season.

Following the demise of the Gregg family connection, Everton embarked on perhaps the darkest hour in its illustrious history ? the quest for Destination Kirkby. In the opinion of many, the current Board, headed by Bill Kenwright, attempted to sell Everton down the river in return for a £52M addition to their balance sheet. The chairman stood by whilst fans and shareholders were misled with promises of £10M a season in funds for the manager, of a world-class stadium facility as part of the development, served by the best transport infrastructure in the north of England; it was claimed to be the "Deal of the Century", a stadium that would be effectively free as Tesco ? according to "director" Robert Earl ? were giving Everton a irrevocable cheque for £52M. Indeed Mr Kenwright even contributed to the scaremongering when in December 2007 he told TV viewers that Goodison Park would soon fail to get a safety certificate ? that was nearly 3 years ago.

In reality, Destination Kirkby was a plan that was officially described as a con by both Liverpool and Sefton councils, a plan that once again left Everton embarrassed when the Government's planning inspector, through the office of the Secretary of State, heavily criticised Everton's inability to provide evidence of their capacity to deliver the £78M required to build the stadium; criticism also directed at Tesco and Knowsley Council for their initial reluctance to reveal where the alleged £52M cross-subsidy was actually coming from until it was finally admitted, by both of them, that it wasn't actual money at all; it turned out to be simply the increase in the land value once planning consent was secured. In other words, just like it was previously described, it was a con; another con perpetrated under Bill Kenwright's chairmanship and documented for all to see.

Armed with the knowledge that the Destination Kirkby application effectively died a death on 4 June 2008 when it was "called in" for review by the government, some enlightened shareholders urgently attempted to curtail Everton's bizarre involvement in this charade by securing an EGM later that year. Whilst the majority, said to be approaching 80%, of those shareholders in attendance at that September EGM voted for Everton to end their association with the application. The Board wouldn't listen and used the voting power of their 26,000 or so shares, and those of a very small minority of sycophantic followers, to inflict a predictable heavy defeat against the resolution.

Just over 12 months later, the action of those enlightened Evertonians, the ones with only the best interests of the club at heart, was endorsed when on the 26 November 2009 the Secretary of State announced the official rejection of the application. Everton were left with nothing; the board had wasted four years and untold many millions of pounds on a ridiculous and undeliverable pipe-dream. Tesco has subsequently submitted an amended planning application and, now unsurprisingly uncontested, will now build something twice the size allowable under local planning regulations. The truth may now just start dawning on the naive as to what Kirkby was all about and they may start to understand that somebody, willingly or obliviously, had been played like a violin.

It's now almost a year since that announcement by the Secretary of State; in that year we've ascertained from the chairman, whilst we were bottom of the league, that four potential owners have approached the club, due diligence procedures had been conducted but, when asked to provide evidence of funding, all the parties disappeared. As usual with Everton, no names have been provided; supporters of Bill Kenwright immediately offer claims of confidentiality agreements being adhered to but surely if they've disappeared, the discussions have been curtailed and they've wasted our money and our time ? why can't their names be revealed?

The chairman now tells us that Everton are now in discussions with yet another three unidentified parties, but another self-publicist, Keith Harris, the person who one minute is then isn't employed by Everton to seek a buyer, claims nobody is interested in Everton at the moment.

Taking into account all these details, my position is clear: your own position may be different and that is your prerogative, but I firmly believe that to move the club forward there's only one course of action that can be taken ? and it doesn't concern the manager playing a more attacking formation or replacing him with anyone who can operate more effectively on a budget that reflects a bottom-of-the-table Premier League club or a mid-table championship outfit.

The other week, I was at Goodison late at night. I was leaving with Tom Hughes and, as we walked along the deserted corridors, we were looking at the team pictures of old. I was pointing out the old players in the squad of 38-39; Tom, as expected, was pointing out the newly erected Leitch stand they were standing before! Passing the boardroom, we laughed at an imaginary imprint of Moyes?s size ten on the door where he had kicked it in asking for money. Of course, there?s no footprint ? that?s not Moyes style, he keeps his counsel on such matters. The next day, after half-time at Fulham, Moyes ran along the touchline in front of the travelling blues to take his seat; all of us stood and applauded him, as the youngsters were singing his name he saluted the crowd and mouthed ?thank-you?.

Based on his track record, my opinion of David Moyes, for what it?s worth, is that he isn?t the best manager in the world and that some of his tactics drive me to distraction, but he?s an honest man attempting to do an honest job. Over the course of a season, he?s most probably the best manager we could get and, considering the meagre resources on offer, he?s most probably better than we deserve at the moment. So, on balance, while he?s here, I support him fully; when he goes, let?s hope we're in the position to attract someone better... but, on reflection, I think that will be a big ask.

After examining the track record of Bill Kenwright, my opinion is he?s a phoney, an actor who regularly watched Liverpool as a kid and someone who cynically overstates his Evertonian credentials to aid his perceived (by him) popularity. His relationship with Philip Green appears to be far more than what he describes and this should be of great concern to all Evertonians. In company law, a shadow director is someone who is not a named director but who directs or controls the company; this is what the Companies Act says about the identification of shadow directors:

"The Companies Act defines a shadow director as a person who instructs other directors what to do and those directors follow his instructions. Individuals who act in this way are deemed to have the same liabilities as properly appointed directors.

A shadow director can be any person, but are usually majority shareholders that threaten to replace them if they do not follow their instructions.

A properly appointed director's responsibility is to the company and not to the shareholders. Directors have an obligation to act in the company's best interests."
In my opinion, Bill Kenwright has repeatedly misled the fans and shareholders alike; his performance of delivering what is required by Everton is abysmal. His apparent mythomania means he can?t be trusted with Everton's future and that leads me to believe that the solution to our current malaise is staring everyone in the face: Bill Kenwright needs to be removed, both as chairman and from the board, along with several of the other passengers within the club.

I find it amazing when a few diehard believers of the PR bullshit we've had to endure, point across the park and proclaim that mess is somehow a measure of the success of Kenwright's tenure; it's analogous to recommending a garage on the basis that, whilst they never actual fix a car, they never make it worse. Has nobody ever realised why we aren?t in even greater debt than we are, those amounts of debt that apologists of the Kenwright circus happily point to at Liverpool and Manchester United??? It?s because we have nothing left to borrow against, British banks won?t lend any more so we scurry off to a South African bank and borrow against not just current revenue streams but streams we won?t even receive for another two years!!

Everton supporters need to start showing some of the passion seen across the park and elsewhere; they should be outraged at their own treatment by this board. Sadly, even when it's blatantly obvious they're being shafted, too many of our fans stand there and do nothing. Quite a few of the shaftees, some tapping merrily away here on ToffeeWeb, even applaud the shafter when it is to the detriment of the club to which they supposedly support. Having read comments and articles posted on this site by characters such as ?Sur Jo? and Richard Dodd, passing themselves off as Evertonians, I have concluded that such folk and opinions have to be a complete wind-up. With specific regards to Richard Dodd, I'm just pleased that society is now sufficiently enlightened enough to allow patient inmates access to computer skills courses!

Removing Bill Kenwright is more easily said than done. Accusations of lying would probably clear most of the boardrooms in the country; accusing him of not fulfilling his fiduciary responsibilities, of not acting in the best interests of the business, a legal requirement under the companies act, is equally subjective. Kirkby, for instance, would have added value to the company balance sheet and even though the attendance levels were laughingly optimistic (don?t forget they had to add six fictitious events to make it look respectable), the board members will simply direct complainants to the figures produced by Deloitte which highlighted an increase of £6M on the contribution currently (2008) received from Goodison.

The question is: how can Bill Kenwright be removed? If the directors were to undergo an annual assessment on their performance, as they are required to do so, how many would be endorsed as proficient? Just look at Bill Kenwright?s track record, it?s absolutely appalling and, as previously stated, many remain convinced that he is responsible for introducing, and being under the command of, a shadow director and has allowed the presence of a nominee director in the shape of Spurs-supporting Robert Earl.

If they could be removed who would you replace them with? Personally, I'm certain you'll all have your opinions on this, the only current member of the board I'd leave in place is Jon Woods ? as big an Evertonian as Bill Kenwright proclaims to be but without the bullshit or the baggage, he?s been a reluctant director but I?d like to think he's decent enough to put some of the recent wrongs right.

I'd make Robert Elstone Managing Director, under the strict instruction that no contact be made with the former members of the board or Philip Green. The current CEO is a sports business professional and in my experience has treated all with honesty and respect. I'd ask John Suenson-Taylor (aka Lord Grantchester), whose disdain for the Kenwright regime is well known, to join the board and a qualified representative from the Shareholders Association to act on behalf of all minority stakeholders, shareholders and fans, to complete the board. And I'd ask the newly formed collective to work towards the sale of the club to an individual or organisation who, without relying on leveraged buyout plans, has the capital resources and the best interests of the club at the heart of their business plan ? not simply someone who is going to hand over the most money for the shares which, in my opinion, is what you'll get with the make-up of the current board who appear to take their instructions from elsewhere.

Bill Kenwright told the shareholders at the 2004 EGM that he did not own shares for profit or involvement. If only for once such words are to be believed, after spending a decade in his fruitless 24/7 search for investment, he should allow other more competent and better qualified individuals to conclude the process that he appears demonstrably unable to complete. The alternative is to simply accept the position we're in, one where we just wait for the next effectively free, "something for nothing" scheme masquerading in place of a cohesive business plan that would actually promote organic growth.

So, Mike Gaynes, there you have it. You see we all understand that in business some things don't go to plan, but on balance the law of averages states you get some things right ? even a broken clock is right twice a day; look at Bill Kenwright's record, that type of performance is impossible. Some people, the type who are unable to face up to the reality of the situation and the media, who haven't the time, inclination or fortitude to ignore the difficulties (they would endure) in exposing the myth of having a good old, holes in my shoes, ex-Boys Pen Toffees supporter at the helm, prefer to ignore the mass of evidence that tells you Bill Kenwright is a liability to our club and needs to go, as soon as possible.

Reader Comments (157)

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Michael Kenrick
1 Posted 14/10/2010 at 17:22:03
Wow!
Bill Slater
2 Posted 14/10/2010 at 17:27:59
Kin El. Not read it yet, so now back to top of page. I was waiting on this.
Peter Laing
3 Posted 14/10/2010 at 17:31:11
Colin I doff my cap to you mate, that is the most concise report that I have ever read on ToffeeWeb concerning the Kenwright years. I will re-read the contents and many thanks for your efforts which should be a 'must' read for any Evertonian concerned regarding the long-term future of our once great Club.
Graham Atherton
4 Posted 14/10/2010 at 17:30:49
I think most fans are happy with the team that gave us safety & stability after an horrendous 10 years or more prior to Moyes's appointment.

Investment in the squad has been substantial (capital expenditure balanced, investment in wages vastly increased, we are no longer forced to sell cheaply), the football is improving...

Is it enough? ? no it never will be.

Disrupt this steady improvement by a good old 'sack the board/sack the manager' protest? If successful, history shows that that is a fool's approach. Chop & change is expensive and doesn't work in the long run. Most seem to realise this, possibly why most sit on their hands. It's not lack of passion.

David Thomas
5 Posted 14/10/2010 at 17:43:37
Colin,

"apathetically conditioned Evertonians just sit there and meekly accept our current predicament."

What exactly is it that you would like your fellow Evertonians to do?
Brian Waring
6 Posted 14/10/2010 at 17:43:20
Excellent piece Colin. If this doesn't convince the apologists that the man is a completer joke, I think they are beyond help.
John Daley
7 Posted 14/10/2010 at 17:46:04
Impressive article Colin. I think it can be safely said that you cover all bases there in regards to the reign of the self serving succubus known as Bill Kenwright. Still, there will always be those who choose to stick their head in the sand and blindly refute all allegations of misconduct and mismanagement levelled at the leech-like luvvie. He's an Evertonian after all.
Bill Slater
8 Posted 14/10/2010 at 18:06:17
Graham, did you read, digest and understand this article or just skim throught it?
Mike McLean
9 Posted 14/10/2010 at 17:57:14
The majority of match going Evertonians are, it seems to me, to be beyond help.

And there, in a nutshell, is why the club won't progress. The Doddites are in the majority and we're sailing toward mediocrity at best. The "New Preston" perhaps? Rich history and fuck all future.
Peter Laing
11 Posted 14/10/2010 at 18:34:43
Graham ? your response reads mediocrity; mediocrity breeds apathy... apathy breeds stagnation, stagnation breeds a situation that we find our once great Club in. Whilst we have been amused by the actions of the great massed unwashed ranks across the Park, you can sure bet they will rise like a phoenix from the ashes.
Jon Cox
12 Posted 14/10/2010 at 18:04:06
A good read Colin. The only problem I have though is this. Everything that you say is true and because of it we get relegated year on year and we end up with a ground falling to bits and playing our football in the Blue Square league.

Well for me I would still be an Everton fanatic. Why, becuase it's in my blood.

And who else would you go and support? Manure, Blackburn, Tranmere, who.

Who ever it was you'd be sitting there watching the game but all you'd be thinking about is Everton.

Your article is elloquently scribed but it can't change the way a lot of us feel about our club.

Lets get Sunday out the way first and then write another piece proposing exactly what you think on a practicle and pragmatic level, you feel we should do.

COYB
Denis Aghaizu
13 Posted 14/10/2010 at 18:15:01
@ Graham 4 - not sure if you actually read the whole article but the past years of 'over achievement' may not carry on for much longer if the manager only gets £1M a year to spend on players!

Seems like the Rooney and Lescott money, as well as higher Sky money. is what is has kept the club from drowning... Wonder how long it will be before another crisis of debt hits and we have to offload Rodwell to clear it?

Excellent article ? just not much you can do against someone with a controlling stake in the company, unless people stop going to the games... but I would hope we never get to that stage.
Chris Bannantyne
14 Posted 14/10/2010 at 18:01:42
Great article ? more of a mammoth tome really. Well there you have it, I needed clarification as to why people hated Kenwright, and now I have it. Instead of just calling him a 'con' or 'liar' you have explained succinctly exactly how and why he deserves these titles.

I had always been a bit of a fence-sitter regarding the chairman, he appeared to be an honourable sort of chap, but I kept reading people's disapproval of him. After reading your article, I find myself swayed wholeheartedly towards your position. Unless Bill and his mates can come up with some solid evidence against your statements, then I imagine I will remain this way inclined.

I do have to disagree in one respect though. I believe Moyes to be a better manager than you give him credit for; I believe the lack of trophies and achievements directly corelate to the lack of funding and depth that he is so clearly frustrated by. I don't think it would take Manchester City sized funds to have him winning us trophies; however, as you have made so obviously clear, it's unlikely that he will ever see the funds necessary to test my theory whilst languishing under the chairmanship of Bill Kenwright.

If I lived on Merseyside (or indeed anywhere on the UK side of the planet), I would be demonstrating on the streets. Here's hoping some more local Evertonians do!

Michael Kidd
15 Posted 14/10/2010 at 18:37:35
This is a very well-written and enlightening article. When you say that the seeds of our predicament were sown a long time ago, I assume you are talking about Heysel and its consequences. That's what shafted us.
Colin Potter
16 Posted 14/10/2010 at 17:33:49
One hell of a great article, Colin!!!!
Eamonn Byrne
17 Posted 14/10/2010 at 18:48:11
Colin,
Really enjoyed your dissertation but it is better when you back up your claims by email links to press stories for example.

I know who you are and what you are doing for this club.

Brilliant timing for your article, and whilst I don't agree with all you say, I admire your intent.

The main problem is no serious buyers show public intent to buy Everton.

There is no media interest in Everton, but there is grandstanding in LFC.

Like you, my concern is Everton.

Howard Don
18 Posted 14/10/2010 at 18:54:57
Colin, as Michael says Wow!

I normally end up skimming long articles, but yours kept me hooked until the end. Difficult to comment concisely as there are so many points there and I don't have anything like your level of knowledge on the facts and figures. However it's certainly true that the failed Kings Dock scheme was a major turning point and something I suspect the club will rue for many a long year. As a recent poster said, I want to spit everytime I go to The Echo Arena and stand there thinking what could (should) have been.

Full marks for giving Moyes credit for what he has achieved under dreadful circumstances, despite your misgivings in some areas. That level of balance is often missing from some of the more hysterical posts here. I don't know enough about the John S-T situation to pass comment except the guy does have money, presumable business acumen, and a degree in economics. Does he actually want to get more involved?

Only point I'd take issue with is your line - "complete the board and ask the newly formed collective to work towards the sale of the club to an individual or organisation who, without relying on leveraged buyout plans, has the capital resources and the best interests of the club at the heart of their business plan". Well, quite... but isn't that what every other club in the PL outside of the top five would like? Trouble is, those guys are like the proverbial hen's teeth.
Tony I'Anson
19 Posted 14/10/2010 at 19:08:44
Colin, I imagine you have been bursting to write all this and looking for the right moment.

I will have to read this quite a few times to take it all in. This is a cracking piece of writing that deserves to be made known to the likes of the Sunday Times. I believe this is a story worthy of national interest given the events across the park.

The question is - Where will Everton be in 5 or 10 years time?
Martin Handley
20 Posted 14/10/2010 at 18:33:05
Ok, Colin, very good impassioned article but let's stop the tub thumping and chest thumping "Kenwright Out" and think who would replace him with. You have come up with some great suggestions no doubt, but one problem with them they're all skint!

Now I've heard a lot of talk about Lord Granchester and his financial worth and why he won't stump up any cash. Some say it's because he won't deal with Bill Kenwright, some that his mum controls the money... Nearer the truth was an article in The Mail some months ago that basically said he only has a passing interest in Everton and football and is more of a rugby and tennis man so I hope that helps there.

As for Robert Earl, as has been stated, he may or may not be the money behind Kenwright and, in reality, other than bringing Sly or Bruce to the odd game, doesn't really give a toss about 'soccer'.

This leaves us with a very interesting interview broadcast Monday gone by a very rich ex-pat scouser now living in the states who is head of a similar conglomurate to that of NESV, would-be redshite buyers, who said that talks were at an advanced stage with Everton but the big problem was that of lack of direction on the stadium front. Now he was honest and explained that cash wise they're not in the Man City bracket, but who is? But they have considerable clout financialy and also a lot of sporting knowledge, similar to NESV. I really don't care one way or the other about Bill Kenwright but I do care about Everton.

On a lighter note, come Sunday: 2-0 Big Felli and Fat Yak ? I got 65-1 at Betfred yesterday!

David Chait
21 Posted 14/10/2010 at 19:21:51
My thought exactly Michael (#1) .. guess I better actually read it based on the other comments...
Terry Maddock
22 Posted 14/10/2010 at 19:28:29
Lots of noise at work that Fellaini is out of the derby... anybody heard?
Dennis Stevens
23 Posted 14/10/2010 at 18:51:52
I can't agree with you re Moyes, Chris. I don't believe the man has what it takes to be truly successful, even if adequately funded. Sadly we'll never find out as there's no prospect of him receiving that financial backing. However, the real problems at the club are undoubtedly at Board level & without progress at that level there's little any manager could do to make us successful on the pitch. I am critical of Moyes & feel he may past his 'Best Before' date, but I do have some respect for what he has managed to do in difficult circumstances.
Andy Crooks
24 Posted 14/10/2010 at 19:27:57
Colin, a superb impassioned, thoughtful and insightful article. I only disagree on your generous attitude to David Moyes. In my view, Bill Kenwright bought his silence and acquiescence for £3.5 million a year. Everton need rid of this double act.
Art Jones
25 Posted 14/10/2010 at 17:37:10
As ever Col, superb!
Christopher McCullough
26 Posted 14/10/2010 at 20:01:22
"The chairman was relishing the final flickers of limelight he'd vainly sought over those preceding weeks, further opportunities to gild the lily with ever more outrageous stories... shamelessly, on TalkSport, in the presence of that Parry creature, he was now claiming to have been with Eddie Kavanagh at the '66 final; one wondered if Elvis and Tommy Steele were there in attendance also! "

Colin ? He told me he went with John Lennon and slipped him the lyrics to 'Instant Karma' at half time.

I'm starting to believe he talks shite sometimes.
Drew O'Neall
27 Posted 14/10/2010 at 20:15:19
Like Chris (#13), I've wondered what all the hatred toward BK is all about for a while but I don't accept a single-source, highly subjective account on which to completely base my opinion but, like him, I appreciate the efforts you?ve gone to in order to share it.

Having said that, I don't want to be accused of apathy either so I will put up £2,000 if 50,000 others will too so we can put BK to the acid test. That would raise us a cool £100m with which we could legitimately publicly announce an interest in buying a majority shareholding (I think) in Everton FC which BK would have to publically denounce or accept.

He couldn?t argue we didn?t have the funds or didn?t have the best interests of the club at heart. Who?s up for it?

While we are sitting on our hands as Colin points out, over the road they already have ?Share Liverpool? ? the scheme to buy part of the club (and eventually all of it) for the fans, and presumably the reason they can raise (at least) the interest in such a scheme is because of the global fanbase of LFC (the shite) which has been built on their ?mythology?.

You can cite any of the crap surrounding LFC?s history to any Evertonian worth his salt and he?ll trump it with tails from our own illustrious past so why are we not getting our own mythology (brand) out into the global market place? If we had 500,000 people worldwide prepared to dip in instead of 50,000 (or more like 25,000 if you go on season ticket sales) the possibilities for capitalising our club would be endless.

To my mind this is the biggest failing on the part of the club. Inadequately marketing Everton FC, as one of the most successful teams in British history, throughout the world in such a rapidly expanding marketplace.
Drew O'Neall
28 Posted 14/10/2010 at 20:19:33
...If BK genuinely wanted to sell the club to the right investors, he should build the brand and sell the shares to small shareholders..
Shaun Brennan
29 Posted 14/10/2010 at 20:18:52
Colin, this has to be the best piece I have ever read on here. People like you and these types of articles are why I keep coming back here. You've spent a lot of time and effort in researching / constructing this. I take my hat of to you. If this piece fails to convince the Kenwright fans then we are doomed.

To quote the Beatles: "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see". To me, that sums up the Kenwright apologists.

I certainly hope this article doesn't get pushed down the list and remains on the front page so more can read and make a more informed decision. You may have fermented revolution and one day it may come to fruition.

Onward and upwards.
Bill Slater
30 Posted 14/10/2010 at 20:33:19
I have a cheque for £2000, where do I sent it? I'm serious.
Tommy Coleman
31 Posted 14/10/2010 at 20:43:24
I love this article and read every word. A brilliant historic reminder of just how useless BK is and has been.

I've been hoping someone would write something like this as companies fall over themselves trying to buy LFC while not a single word from anyone at any time has reported an interest in our club. I'd love to ask Lim if he'd looked into buying Everton; if so, what put him off?

There's no point asking Billy Liar, I will never trust a single word that man ever says. The horrible things is, how can we get rid of him??

Tony I'Anson
32 Posted 14/10/2010 at 20:44:27
Drew, the first port of call would be to contact Supporters Direct who would help set up a Supporters Trust. From there, they can help set up a bank account for any funds raised to be held in Escrow, until it's decided what to do with it.
Robert Moore
33 Posted 14/10/2010 at 20:55:43
Excellent read, Colin, totally agree with all; if it was any other company he would have been long gone. Strange times for football all over the world at the moment, sit tight!!
David S Shaw
34 Posted 14/10/2010 at 20:50:50
Put Robert Elstone in as Managing Director?

I wouldn't have him in charge of managing paper clips
Robert Daniels
35 Posted 14/10/2010 at 21:22:50
I've just ringfenced my two grand. My cheque's in the post.

No seriously, I can scrape two grand together, and nothing would give me greater pleasure.

Where do i send it?
Ken Buckley
36 Posted 14/10/2010 at 21:49:52
Having read the article, I am a bit confused. It seems to suggest the fans should rise up and oust Mr Kenwright... yet the article also suggests that a Mr Green may well be the man calling all the shots, which reduces Mr Kenwright to a mere mouthpiece. Now if that is the case, what would be the point of fans producing banners and going on marches to oust a mere mouthpiece?

I think what we really need is a bid for the club from a party that goes public with a bid that the fans can evaluate and then, if the club won't sell and the vast majority of fans are for it, then let the banners be unfurled.

Until something like that happens, the fans will have no idea if anyone is blocking deals or if any serious offers have been received... and, unless a suitor goes public, how can they.

I fear if the fans are urged to go for the throat without any public offer even on the horizon for them to evaluate, it could do tremendous harm to the club I love.

Gerry Grimes
37 Posted 14/10/2010 at 22:23:52
First time anyone has pulled together a proper analysis of the Kenwright years. Thanks Colin.

Can't help but feel that, of all the mistakes made and opportunities missed, the failure to close the Kings Docks deal was the greatest. To have a waterfront modern stadium in the heart of the city would have given Everton a fantastic footprint and made a real statement as to our presence and power in the city. The monies involved were manageable but Kenwright failed to deliver. IMWT

David O'Keefe
38 Posted 14/10/2010 at 22:33:23
Ken, I don't think the fans rising up will ever do as much damage to the club as Mr Kenwright. What they could do by rising up is shatter this fevered ego that has done nothing but harm to the club.
Peter McPartland
39 Posted 14/10/2010 at 22:34:54
A fantastic article which cant be argued with although I just don't think the supporters could raise enough pressure along with the media to force what you're suggesting to happen due to what has happened over the park. Unfortunately, things will have to get a lot worse to remove Kenwright from his position.
Richard Dodd
40 Posted 14/10/2010 at 19:57:12
Whilst honoured that this great scribe finds me worthy of mention, I can only say that he is a deluded fool who offers no sensible or workable alternative to the excellent leadership our great club enjoys under Bill Kenwright.

Taking up a lofty position and deriding others` support of Everton is not merely enough for this wind-bag as he seeks to destroy the very men who have kept our club in the higher reaches of the Premier League for so many years.
Moyes is judged as just about good enough whilst Blue Bill ? widely regarded as the best chairman in the business ? is dismissed as a charlatan. Great shame on you, sir, another club deserves you. Go soon!

David O'Keefe
41 Posted 14/10/2010 at 22:42:43
Doddy, you're beyond parody.

You have my sympathies.
James McGlone
42 Posted 14/10/2010 at 22:42:43
As someone else has already mentioned, I would probably rate Moyes higher that you seem to... but, other than that, it's the best article I've ever read on this site.

I think you have Mr Kenwright down to a tee...
David O'Keefe
43 Posted 14/10/2010 at 22:44:28
Peter McPartland: My concern is that you're right as things are going to get worse in the next few years.
David Thomas
44 Posted 14/10/2010 at 22:37:10
Ken Buckley (#35) ? Talk about hitting the nail on the head. Agree 100%.
Dick Fearon
45 Posted 14/10/2010 at 22:06:34
An excellent piece of flawed research that Goebels himself would be proud of.
The pre-Kenwright financial situation is barely mentioned yet it was atrocious mismanagement during the 60s, 70s and 80s that dragged the club to its knees. From that parlous position, Kenwright has been fighting an uphill battle for survival.

Since Kenwright appointed Moyes, any honest assessment would point out that Everton with its aging decrepit infrastructure has been fighting above its weight. Almost as if Bill had nothing to do with it, Colin credits Walter Smith for Moyes's arrival. That is just a cheap shot at downgrading the importance of Bill's role.

I acknowledge the fact that during Kenwright's tenure, many things have gone wrong, but it is plainly misleading to ignore the dire environment and dangerous predicament we were in before he assumed control ? it is a wonder we are still a formidable force in the world's toughest league.

Robert Daniels
46 Posted 14/10/2010 at 22:46:27
Let's not beat about the bush here... the shenanigans going on across the park, and maybe at Old Trafford, are manna from heaven to Bill Kenwright! Every time a buyout goes wrong, it makes him stronger in the eyes of the media.

One thing about the mess thats happening across the park (snigger, snigger) is they got a gate of 22,000 for the cup game with Northampton... of which, 5,000 were cobblers fans! So I feel sorry for the real supporters the diehard 17,000 of them!!!
Tony McNulty
47 Posted 14/10/2010 at 22:51:41
An impassioned piece (nearly five thousand words) which sets out to present a fact-based view of history. It is a good read.

But why on earth did you ruin it with a gratuitous insult at the start about ex window-fitters? In making your point, it is not necessary to look down on people in any job, or have I misunderstood your meaning?

Regarding the main point of your article, even if people might not agree with every aspect of your interpretation of history, you make a strong case for change. For me, the main change required is an immediate £30-50 million investment (not borrowing) for Moysie for teambuilding. Without this first step, we will continue to spin our wheels.
David O'Keefe
48 Posted 14/10/2010 at 23:09:12
Dick, you have just godwinned this entire thread. You haven't even made a case for BK, so what do you have to add exactly?
Gavin Ramejkis
49 Posted 14/10/2010 at 22:50:49
Doddy: 0 out of 10 again, try harder.

Colin, a fantastic read and I hope Mike Gaynes reads this and responds with a thanks too. I would happily see the back of BK and his hangers on and the truth about Green finally seeing daylight. As you quite rightly pointed out, he has been called a tax dodger on biblical terms and if he did pay for Earl's shares, then he is a bloody paid up director, just hiding without the title.
Derek Thomas
50 Posted 14/10/2010 at 23:02:58
In a fuckin NUTSHELL ? one of the biggest and longest nutshells I've ever seen, but nutshell none the less. You couldn't make it up.

If Tom Sharpe or Terry Pratchett presented this or something of the same ilk to their publishers, they would be sent away with the words 'Sorry mate, just a little bit TOO far fetched this time'

Speak as you find, they say, by their actions judge them. William Stanley Kenwright, this court finds you, Guilty!

CLANG.
Jay Harris
51 Posted 14/10/2010 at 23:12:38
Excellent piece Colin from a "True Blue" ? unlike the shyster you wrote about.

Although I think you gave him too comfortable a ride on Kings Dock, where the council had spent two years getting £195 million in EEC grants (now that is effectively free money) in support of a truly world class stadium and location. Throughout the process, Kenwright constantly assured LCC that Everton's £30 million contribution was "ring-fenced". Needless to say, many in LCC refused to ever work with the man again.

Regrettably there are still many who will blindly follow him until regrettably it is too late. We need investment in our club and we need it now. If there is no imminent buyer why, cant the club have a rights issue? But again, this is something Philip Green (aka William Kenwright) refuses to do because, if he dilutes his shareholding, he won't be able to line up a deal that will make the retail millions he so despreately seeks.

For what it's worth, if there is enough interest in a Fans Trust, I will certainly pledge money as long as Kenwright is no longer on the board.
Eugene Ruane
52 Posted 14/10/2010 at 23:32:30
A genuinely great piece.

Obviously not up to the standard of a pro like David 'I accept that Kirkby offers an outstanding financial deal for the club' Prentice ? but still excellent.
Bill Slater
53 Posted 14/10/2010 at 23:59:44
If it is proved that Green is a director of a UK company, does this mean he would be eligible to pay income tax on all his income? Now that would be interesting for HMRC to have a good look at as I bet they are just dying to get him.
Kase Chow
54 Posted 15/10/2010 at 00:04:11
Drew (No 26) , I'm up for it ? seriously. £2,000... I'm in.
Drew O'Neall
55 Posted 15/10/2010 at 00:07:05
At the risk of a landslide of emotion, does anyone know what Bill Hicks... I mean Bill Kenwright values the club at? So far we've got about 8 grand. Does anyone know the Market Capitalisation?
Dennis Stevens
56 Posted 14/10/2010 at 23:48:00
Richard Dodd, your posts are so devoid of any content that I can only assume you are some kind of wind-up and/or attention-seeker.

Dick Fearon, you are quite right to say the club hasn't been well run for decades, even in Kendall's first stint, the Board were considering selling Bellefield to generate transfer funds! Kenwright certainly didn't inherit a healthy situation; however, one has to consider whether he has made a bad situation better or worse.

It also hardly provides any mitigation for the catalogue of deceit & incompetence we've witnessed over the last decade. Even if you believe that Kenwright has endeavoured to do what he feels is the best he can do for the club, his best is patently not very good. The only points seemingly in his favour are that, having been pointed in the direction of Moyes, he decided he'd found the right man for the job & that's proved to be a fair decision.

The other 'achievement' is that he hasn't taken us into administration... so far. Oh, & he's not some dodgy foreigner!

Nick Swallow
57 Posted 15/10/2010 at 00:35:36
Spot on. I hope he read's this
Bill Slater
58 Posted 15/10/2010 at 00:22:11
Ken 35 - if we get to the Stoke home game with no more points, I reckon the masses will start to turn. Lose at home to Stoke would be unthinkable, but could happen.

So by the end of the month, nine games in and on 6 points, I think Bill would not be seen for dust. These next two weeks are just as important for us as the Red Sox II. Too scary to even think about at this stage...
steve dow
59 Posted 15/10/2010 at 01:14:00
The best article I have read in 30 years of supporting Everton.

Brilliantly written and researched and highlights everything that is currently wrong with the current running of this great club.

I hope Colin has sent/given this to the club. No doubt Kenwright won't even bother to reply "he's bored with the question".

Well done, superb article.
Daniel Miller
60 Posted 15/10/2010 at 01:21:17
I believe you make a lot of valid points. But where are the brave people willing to front the Board with questions regarding a serious long-term plan for the future of the club that will stand up to examination?

I don't feel I am qualified to question the veracity of some of the arguments but I don't believe our club has fully exploited the opportunities that present themselves. Some might argue that these opportunities have been missed by dint of bad management and poor planning ? by fear of losing control and so on. I can indeed offer examples of opportunities given to the club by myself to offer organic growth to the business model ? and some of these changes have been for the betterment of the club. Let's at least have a proper debate and challenge the club to produce a better plan.

An excellent thought provoking piece for which I thank you.

Pat Finegan
62 Posted 15/10/2010 at 02:26:34
Holy crap, Colin. This is one of the best articles I've ever read on ToffeeWeb. Whether you're right or wrong, you make an incredible argument.

I think there have been some achievements under Kenwright. We spend so little but always overachieve in the league. We are also not in debt. That said, it is, as you say, the responsibility of the fans to pressure Kenwright into selling the club. If Kenwright is under fire, he is more inclined to sell the club. If he is more inclined to sell, the price goes down and we find a suitable owner.
Dick Fearon
64 Posted 14/10/2010 at 22:25:46
David O'Keefe, #45.
I was merely wanting to counter Colin's article with a bit of balance. The said article contains an indisputable list of facts about our sorry state. Colin pads out those facts with unverified assumptions and conjecture. For example, Colin's mentioned the cup final defeat and hinted it was in some way related to Bills incompetence. Those who attended that game or viewed it on TV would offer totally different reasons, none of which had any relationship to Bill.

I wonder if people expect Bill to enter the market place in sackcloth and ashes bewailing our poor situation? Or would they rather he tried to hide such things with a bit of harmless bullshit?

His opponents make a meal out of anything that supports their argument, regardless whether it is backed up with absolute truth. They will clutch at any innuendo, supposition or whatever that supports their case.

Colin's lengthy article with its great many known facts and even more guesswork is a juicy bone for them to salver over. For myself, I would rather wait, even as some might say, until the old place comes tumbling down, before taking the risk of laying the blame on the wrong person.

Chris Bannantyne
65 Posted 15/10/2010 at 04:23:53
Can't people bring banners and flags etc. down to Goodison and start anti-Kenwright chants and so on so forth? Kind of like the Man U fans do with the Glaziers, except with a bit more venom and passion than just wearing a green and gold scarf. I'm talking about booing BK out of the stands stuff. Surely this would be fairly easy for a small group of people to organise?

The best thing about this protesting at the game approach is that you will 'recruit as you go' so to speak. All PL games are televised internationaly, so it would be impossible for the media to ignore you. This will help get your argument out there, and get fellow blues jumping on the bandwagon and hopefully create a near-riot atmosphere. At this stage the local papers etc will have no choice but to provide some coverage of the events.

Kenwright will be forced to try and mediate, to show his hand. Maintained silence is an admition of guilt.

I believe it just takes a small group of well organised fans to get this ball rolling. Also, if this sort of protest has been tried before or currently, then I am unaware of it. I live in Australia so I would apologise for my ignorance towards events taking place on Merseyside.
Mike McLean
66 Posted 15/10/2010 at 04:54:54
And that's the nub of the problem, Dick. There are too many of you out there.
Michael Kenrick
67 Posted 15/10/2010 at 05:41:59
An incredible article... a truly dismal and depressing record of so many mis-steps, mistakes, and misleading bullshit. The club we all love... So sad really. Nothing more so to me than the literally unforgivable Kings Dock fiasco.

I could understand it if one of his supporters could counter with anything substantive... but judging by the responses, I don't think they can't. Yet some, even after this information highway juggernaught, simply astound.

Pat Finegan (#60) ? "We are also not in debt." ? What!?! WHAT!?! WHAT!?! Sometimes I wonder why we bother...

And Dick Fearon's a puzzler: Goebels? Lordy lordy... In seeking to understand better, I did find this pertinent gem in the fearsome Fearon archives:
"After mountains of talk about Kings Dock, it is all a matter of who or what version to believe. I do not know Paul Gregg or his track record so it is difficult to weigh up comparisons with Kenwright. Is he a white knight? Is BK as bad as some make out? There only has been scurrilous innuendo that could be no more based on reality than is tea-leaf reading."
Knowing that to be your mindset coming in, Dick, "scurrilous innuendo" is all you are ever going to see... nothing you read on here is going to change that. Which begs the larger question: Why?

Back to the real meat Colin provided, and Mike McLean hits a painful truth. There have been some attempts to rally the troops over the years while we've been around to provide coverage of such efforts on the internet. But the unity of purpose that any such action needs among Evertonians in order for it to get beyond the starting line has commonly been the stumbling block. I don't know how you get beyond that. It needs a charismatic leader but there will always be a number who will find fault, no matter how deserving the cause.
Stephen Kenny
68 Posted 15/10/2010 at 07:19:35
Colin,

I agree something must be done. But the fact is most match going Evertonians haven't even heard a 1/10th of whats in your article. You, Me KEIOC or whoever else need to get this info out en masse. I would be willing to use social media to get this out if somebody was covering other bases as I think it would have to be a co-ordinated effort to bring about a change.
Christine Foster
69 Posted 15/10/2010 at 07:53:04
Colin, a wonderful presented catalogue of recent times in which you have clearly managed to frame a pretty damming picture of the tenure of Bill Kenwright and the associated players in a decade of boardroom in fighting, lies and the pursuit of personal gain.

I have for the past three years been one who has believed that the club deserved much better than BK, his associates, friends and manipulators. But you have managed to write the chapter far better, more concise and more balanced than I am afraid I could ever do.

Like me you have had to draw on much analysis based on the little facts that ever reach daylight, but no one can deny that it is a compelling indicment on the person and the board of Everton FC.

I said at the time of the demise of Kirkby that this was BK last stand and he should have gone then, his posturing since then is an embarressment to supporters of the club and bring the name and history of the club into disrepute.

There was a time when Bill Kenwright was the man of the hour for most Evertonians, but that hour has long since gone. We are left with opportunity lost rather than a future of hope.

I agree with your assessment of Moyes in the main, but agree also that the seeds for our demise off the field and the lose of hope of improvement on the field must lie with the board and chairman of this great club.

I can only hope that many read and understand just why many don't just follow him because he is an Evertonian.
Steve O'Malley
70 Posted 15/10/2010 at 08:03:47
Colin
That article/book resembling more of a Uni thesis on "The Life and Times of Bill Kenwright" has restored my faith in this website.

I get on here some days and read some absolute crap , so much so that I promise I will not get back on again. Unfortunately I am a true blue of almost 50 years and as a result a glutton for punishment. Your article should be published in "The Times". It is factual, intellectual and written in a manner that displays the obvious passion and genuine concern that we all have for the Club without being derogatory or offensive just for the sake of it.

I am with Steve Dow #58. It's as good an article as I have read about the Club for a very very long time. Thank you for taking the time.

Bill Slater
71 Posted 15/10/2010 at 08:15:36
Ste (65) - maybe this article should be printed in a small booklet, fanzine style and handed out around the game. Also, copies should be handed around working men's social Clubs and Ale Houses all over Mersey side. There are many Evertonians out there who do not know about Toffeeweb (scary I know) and can barely use the Internet.

Maybe if they see what's going on, they will get onto their kids and ask "show me this Internet thingy". My dad is one of those people and reads the Echo and the daily Mirror every day. Now that has to have an impact on someone's mind.
Dick Fearon
72 Posted 15/10/2010 at 08:28:34
Michael # 64.
I would be more than happy to believe Colin's argument if only someone who actually witnessed or was part of the boardroom debates would come out with an expos'e of what was actually said.
After years of this stuff being debated I have not seen a scrap of evidence from any kind of rye witness source.
If half the things that occured of which Bill is accused there must be hundreds if not thousands of actual witnesses. Surely there would be at least one prepared to go public.
It all is like arriving at the scene after an accident and then deducing what happened.
Christine Foster
73 Posted 15/10/2010 at 09:14:39
Dick, sorry but sometimes the idea that people are making up a story in the absence of evidence is simply incredulous.. Can you doubt the FACTS of the what was promised against what it actual was as born out in tribunals etc? Or would you care to ignore the facts that he has refused to answer well meaning and thought out questions concerning our club after adopting a shareholders forum as a cop out to the cancelling of AGM's?

No Dick, sorry, there is too much smoke thats choking us to death to worry about how big the actual fire is.. by the time someone confims the fire we will all be dead anyway from smoke inhalation ( or bullshit inhalation.)

Bill Slater
74 Posted 15/10/2010 at 09:18:51
Dick(69),
In this case, given the in-depth nature of the article, I believe that there should be an official a response from Everton. We are owed this much at least.

Steve(67) and everyone else, to get it in the Times, try emaling these contacts. Think like an Editor. What would catch their attention, given the Derby is on Sunday:

home.news@thetimes.co.uk
business@thetimes.co.uk sportletters@sunday-times.co.uk
Christine Foster
75 Posted 15/10/2010 at 09:21:17
At the risk of doing Bill Kenwright a major disservice, unlikely I know, but in the interests of fairness, perhaps BK could gain some credibility if he was actually honest in answering some pretty straight forward questions:

1. Are you looking to sell the club or merely looking for an investor?
2. If selling, what are the terms of any sale dependent on?
3. How much would you and your fellow directors look for in return for selling your shares?
4. If you are seeking an investor, just what are you offering in return if no director is willing to sell or dilute their shares?
5. You have often said that EFC comes first over your own investment, how much would you contemplate selling your share holding for?
6. Who or what person / type of institution do you believe is right for EFC?

I would be surprised if any of the above questions were answered hiding behind a cloak of commercial sensitivity ( almost like a certain confidentiality agreement me thinks)

Awkward questions but important answers for our future, whose expectations are unrealistic? The fans? The board? BK?

Its an opportunity to lay the ghost of personal gain ahead of the clubs future once and for all. But then, we aren't going to get any answers are we?

They say history will tell the story, I for one want to be aound when the story is told and not as a point of debate in 2050 that looks back on the disclosures of the people concerned. Too late then.
Bill Slater
76 Posted 15/10/2010 at 09:38:14
In fact, I urge all Evertonians worldwide to contact all media outlets across the world.

This weekend with the Derby on and events across the park, the eyes of the world are on us, now that the Chilean miners have been dug out safely.

We should use this as an opportunity to let the world know there are actually 2 teams in this City and highlight the fact that we played at Anfield first whilst we are at it.
Steven Flavin
77 Posted 15/10/2010 at 09:29:24
Thanks Colin for putting the time and effort into producing this article.

Kenwright has made his living out of telling stories to people so he can get them to "invest" in his plays/musicals and if they are successful, the "investors" get a return.
If they are not successful, the "investors" get nothing, but Kenwright still gets all the glory.

He has done that very well for 30 years, and he is trying to do the same thing with Everton Football Club as well as propping up his ego.

The evidence is there for all to see, and I wish people with a louder voice than yours would come out and say it.

Once again, thanks for the article it has confirmed a lot of things I already knew, and some things I had heard previously from other sources.

P.S. As much as I find the kopite situation amusing, they have to be given some credit, namely: If they feel they are being hard done by, whether imaginary or not, they "Do something about it".

Maybe we should also.
David S Shaw
78 Posted 15/10/2010 at 10:20:43
What constitutes getting worse for Everton before something gets done?

In the bottom 3 recently and it was all anti Moyes.

Relegation is the only step worse worse we can do, but all fans will do is blame the manager

Nelaj Behajiha
80 Posted 15/10/2010 at 10:42:26
It's nonsense, Colin, that Moyes is against this. It seems to me there's too many Scooby Doos on here, not enough Columbos... nobody knows what happened during the transfer window and there's ultimately things we don't get told.

Moyes wouldn't be at Everton without Kenwright so therfore to allign yourself as an apoligist and then saying you hate Bill is a bit like saying your a Christian and hate Jesus. Moyes has had little pressure put on him by Kenwright so therfore you can't really say he's a meddling chairman. Moyes has made countless mistakes which should've been picked up on this site by loads of people, but were only picked up on by a small group of posters.

It's in my belief that in life you have to sacrifice things for it to ultimately turn out better. I think we should've sold Arteta to fund signing Steven Defour, a much better player who would've cost a similar amount to Arteta's transfer fee to wherever he went. I believe that Jagielka should've been sold as well as I believe that he was pretty awful when he returned from his injury and we had others who could take his place. I would've signed Grafite with the money from his transfer.

Matthew Mackey
81 Posted 15/10/2010 at 10:26:06
I gather you don't like Moyes and Kenwright then!
Stephen Kenny
82 Posted 15/10/2010 at 10:52:57
Bill,

Perhaps? I'd be happy to help but i'm not going to orchestrate a Kenwright out campaign alone, no matter how much I feel he is potentially the worst thing that has ever hapened to EFC.
Marc Williams
83 Posted 15/10/2010 at 10:52:46
Colin - Sorry for being so slow in coming on to congratulate you on your
exceptional piece.
I'm a vocal critic of the current 'cabal' in our board room & the way you've articulated their deceit within a clear timeline will inform many.
THANK YOU for taking the time & trouble to do it, you are now a true Toffeeweb legend !
Steve Dow
84 Posted 15/10/2010 at 11:45:14
Can this article be handed out at the next game and sent to some media outlets including Kenwright and his representatives on the board?
Marc Williams
85 Posted 15/10/2010 at 11:43:23
Richard Dodd (39#):

Whilst I'll indulge in friendly humour/banter at the expense of fellow Evertonians, I've always drawn the line (even in your case) at outright abuse,.

I really thought /hoped you started to develop a sense of rational lucidity following your experience at Wigan (away) last season. However, I was obviously mistaken.

So here's the deal, can we just bribe you to leave us all in peace?

Inappropriate content removed by moderators

Tony Kelly
86 Posted 15/10/2010 at 12:10:59
What a fantastic insight into our great club. That article reminded me of when I first read "The Day of the Jackal" ? Once you started reading it you couldn't put it down.

Surely now, after digesting all that info, even the most loyal followers of BK will have second thoughts about the credibility of their master. I just hope Christine Keeler's best friend reads that article, oops sorry.

Tony J Williams
87 Posted 15/10/2010 at 12:19:34
Mark, surely calling him "Dick" is also outright abuse?
Bill Slater
88 Posted 15/10/2010 at 12:26:23
Ste (79) I would not be so crass as to do what the RS have done. However, as I've said previously, the "Sack The Board" chants will come if we only have 6 points after the end of 9 games.

I believe there are other ways to do it, but it does need to be done.

Monumental changes are needed at Everton or there is only one way we are going. I think the events across the park are waking up many Evertonians about our plight.
Bill Slater
89 Posted 15/10/2010 at 12:35:17
Ste, in relation to the suggestion about printing this article as a fanzine it was more so that the masses were properly informed rather than being spoon fed soundbites from the Club and the Echo. This is not a Kenwright out at this stage, but rather a way of ensuring that EVERY Evertonian knows the facts about what has been going on in the last decade.

So some one said already, there are MANY that know very LITTLE.
Colin Wainwright
90 Posted 15/10/2010 at 12:22:09
Someone posted '99% of us already knew 99% of what you have taken hours to say and agreed with it'.

If by 'us' you mean 99% of Evertonians, you are very much mistaken mate. This article should be made available to read, by all blues who maybe don't have internet access and only have the BK infected shite that the Echo call news, to go on.
David Price
91 Posted 15/10/2010 at 11:47:47
I've always had an open mind about Bill's ownership, mainly due to not following the outcry to change based on nothing more than insults and accusations. However, this article is the perfect example on educating fans, like myself, passing on an understanding of what the hell has gone on with our club.

Some may deem it the case of the prosecution against Bill, it is better than that, it is a cry for help from a passionate supporter who has chosen his words carefully. No rebel-rousing, a couple of personal insults which I don't cater for, but on the whole a plea for sanity at Goodison, an absolute demand for a business plan to take this great club forward.

Colin hasn't written this for literary acclaim, he's an Evertonian who cares and wants something better for our club. I salute him for that and £2k is ready and waiting for the save our club fund.
COYB.

Tony I'Anson
92 Posted 15/10/2010 at 12:47:17
I would be willing to put money into any fans initiative to have more of a say in Everton FC. At the end of the day, in the PL it's only the money that can do the talking.

I also agree that many Everton fans are very much in the dark about all this and every effort should be made to ensure they get the opportunity to read this article and then make up their own minds.
Adam Bennett
93 Posted 15/10/2010 at 12:54:35
Excellent piece, Sir.

I finally fell out with Bill in the aftermath of the failed move to the Kings Dock, for which I will never forgive him. A new Goodison Park, on the banks of the Royal Blue Mersey, smack bang in the heart of the City of Liverpool, in prime viewing for all those waterfront pictures, would have moved this club forward at a fantastic rate. For a price of £30,000,000. An absolute fucking steal.

But no, Blue Bill deemed his ego was more important than the future of Everton Football Club.

I would be grateful if those who profess that Mr Kenwright would do anything for this great club could answer this two part question. Why did he knock back Paul Gregg?s offer to finance the Kings Dock, and then why did he have a public fight with him?
Phil Martin
94 Posted 15/10/2010 at 12:51:08
Simply everything I feel and/or have tried to write myself in one article.

Balanced and factual. Yet amazingly accurate!
Bill Slater
95 Posted 15/10/2010 at 13:03:31
EUREKA!

BK should show this article to Willie Rushden, who wrote Blood Brothers, and invite him to write an Epic called something like: "The Everton Years", "Men in Blue" or whatever. Ideas anyone? Then, put it on in the West End and flog it around the world with all profits going to Everton FC for whatever it needs.

Bill is a theatre impresario and that's his thing. This is the only way I can see him making any decent money "that he would be willing to put into the Club" from which he takes no salary.

Anyone know how much Blood Brothers has made over the years? I can just see Colin on the stage now. I wonder who would play the masked shadow director with a big fat round red face, controlling things from the Gantry?

So long as Bobby and Sheila Grant don't get a look in, I would pay to watch that.

That way at least Bill can get some Investment without selling up. Or Maybe Colin could write the whole thing and pass on the royalties to the Blues.
Dick Fearon
96 Posted 15/10/2010 at 12:48:11
Dear editor Michael, this topic seems to have hit the wall and if Marc Williams response #82 is anything to go by it is in danger of ending up the same way as destination Kirkby with all its foul mouthed, obscene and scurrilous attacks on fellow blues.
Colin Wainwright
97 Posted 15/10/2010 at 12:47:57
Jon. (Way back at #11)

I can't understand why you feel that the article is attempting to change the way you feel about our club. We're all evertonians here, and all want the best for the club we love. All Colin is trying to do, in my opinion, is give the other side to a very much, PR managed story.

COYB. Fuckin have these RS bastards.
Mike McLean
98 Posted 15/10/2010 at 13:42:07
Dick, the title "Evertonian" doesn't confer saintly status on any of us. We're a group of individuals who have one thing in common. Like you. I deplore outrageous abuse. Unlike you, I happen to agree with the OP. Rather than ask the editor to close the thread, why not be content to see what ensues?

Who knows,a shaft of light might pierce the prepared positions.
Neil Adderley
99 Posted 15/10/2010 at 11:28:43
Colin.

Given the reams of information at your disposal regarding the bare faced lies, clandestine capers, mistruths, half-truths, witholding of information, claims of ignorance as defence and the blatant disregard of the real concerns of minority shareholders and many thousands of other Evertonians besides.... I would like to commend you on your near miraculous editing skills.

By hook or by crook Mr William Kenwright CBE has found himself in an almost untouchable position at the helm of EFC.*

Was the scrapping of AGM's/EGM's the final turn of the bolt lock on Kenwright's bunker? Possibly.

However, there is an opportunity for Evertonians to step forward and form a protest group, in fact that is a particular wide open field.

I worry as you yourself do, that there is an apethetic malaise amongst supporters and probably more importantly, a general ignorance concerning the state of the club.

'Ordinary' supporters got off their arses in order to question and challenge Kenwright's Destination Kirkby debacle, a selfless act that ALL Evertonians should be eternally grateful for - but KEIOC was a 'pressure group' and not the different animal needed to help the process of removing what many call the 'Kenwright cancer.'



* His glaring weakness is his publicly repeated claims (or appeasement of supporters) that he is NOT the man to take EFC forward and that Everton Football Club IS for sale. Coupled naturally with his dismal 24/7 search.

That being the case, a formal request for Kenwright (as chairman) and his board to step down with immediate effect, once an independent Chairman has been put into place and given the sole task, through a transparent and thorough process of finding the RIGHT buyer to take Everton FC forward, would seem to me at least to be a decent starting point.

So, step forward Evertonians the floor is all yours.........
Chris Briddon
100 Posted 15/10/2010 at 14:13:21
I realise that this is going to rile a lot of you who seem to think that Bill is some sort of evil genius one minute and then some blundering baffoon the next, but rather than just criticising another anti-Kenwright article, I thought I would be constructive as there are a large number of statements in the above article I take issue with.

Firstly ? after the FA Cup Final you state: "Our stock had never been higher in recent years and, if we were ever going to be sold, if we were ever going to take the next step forward, that was the time. Predictably, as we have become accustomed at Everton, the moment came and went." ? Have you any evidence that there was any opportunity to sell at this time? Just cos the club is on the up for a brief period doesn't suddenly mean lots of people are queuing up to buy it!

You also describe Davey's tenure as to "include a litany of heavy and embarrassing defeats in the Premier League, domestic and European cup competitions" ? now ok there have been a few, but name me one manager that hasn't had any. In reality, we have had very few for a club of our relative standing over the last 7 or 8 years.

You also describe "his record on bringing players in can be best described as mixed" ? I think this is distinctly under estimating the success given the limited budgets available ? only really Krøldrup that has been a waste (who was sold for an almost identical fee 6 months later); Van der Meyde was free and worth the risk at the time... one of those chances that clubs with limited finances have to take occasionally.

Now onto other subjects: - you claim that: "Bill Kenwright was the person responsible for overseeing the advance spending of the never-to-materialise NTL media money which was wasted on abysmal signings such as Alex Nyarko ? ridiculously recruited on a 5-year contract but with only a 4-year work permit ? after the sale of then club captain Don Hutchison" - well sorry to disappoint you on this by Nyarko was signed in Walter Smith's first season when Johnson was still in charge ? along with Dacourt, Materazzi and Collins. Hutchison was then sold at the end of that season when he failed to agree a new contract.

You also claim Rooney was sold for a 'knock-down price' - which is odd given the fact that nobody ever offered any more money and at the time it was a British trasfer record for someone under 20 - hardly knock-down!

You then include some strange paragraph about Moyes going to Blackburn and Everton hiring Martin O'Neil ? which is news to everyone I know as 'Ive never heard of it before today!

So to more up-to-date issues - you descirbe the attempted sale of Bellfield as having "an over-ambitious planning application meant that council planning permission was refused and a futile appeal was dismissed by the government".

Well if thats the case, how come the plannning officers of LCC where happy with it ? it was the council members that overturned the advice given by the LCC planners to refuse the permission!

You also state that: "The chairman now tells us that Everton are now in discussions with yet another three unidentified parties, but another self-publicist, Keith Harris, the person who one minute is then isn't employed by Everton to seek a buyer, claims nobody is interested in Everton at the moment." Well, if you read the comments made by BK and Keith Harris, they are fairly consistent with each other ? both allude to interested parties who never produce fund... so is this just part of the great elaborate hoax you like to claim!

To finish, you state that "In my opinion, Bill Kenwright has repeatedly misled the fans and shareholders alike" - well, I will agree that there are some inconsistencies - but then neither you nor myself ar ein possession of the full facts to know what is actually true and what isn't and why such statements are made - this isnt a defence just a warning not to take all statements at face value unless you are fully aware of the context they are written in.

Oh and there is a certian degree of hypocricy in someone from KEIOC critiicising others for misleading fans ? whatever happened to the wonderful 'Loop' eh? ? seems to have disappeared now Kirkby is off the agenda... and as for the videos of football hooligans shown to Kirkby residents or writing to politicians concerned about retail issues in an attempt to have Kirkby called off ? when that had nothing to do with your objections at all.

There are a number of people around who like to spread rumours and half-truths as if they are fact ? if Bill is one of them well he's in good company.

I am not overly happy that my football club doesn't have the finances to compete, but I am also not going to jump up and down on people just cos they are doing a job differently from me. I believe that the board DO have Everton's best interests at heart ? the fact that they go about it differently to you or I would does not make them wrong, greedy, only in it for the money or any other things you would like to call them.

As for criticising supporters for having ago at the lot across the park... well, why not - it's funny. We know they will end up coming out smelling of roses, they always do ? but let us enjoy it while we can!
Graham Atherton
101 Posted 15/10/2010 at 14:07:19
A long and emotive article designed to whip up fervour for 'Kenwright out out out'. A description of missed opportunities and more than one or two 'errors in hindsight' and battles in the boardroom. Easy meat to chew.

So of course you will have come up with solutions? Get rid of Kenwright. Install Jon Woods. OK, then what? Has Jon Woods a history of success in Chairing companies like Everton? He is there partly because of what he is rather than who he is and has precisely the same scale of personal fortune as Kenwright.
Is your sole idea of qualification for the job exactly that which you criticise Kenwright for ? i.e. the man has to be a blue? Odd?

Lord Grantchester has repeatedly stated he isn't interested in being involved more with Everton and his 'wealth' is for the moment controlled by his mother as far as we are given to understand.

And is any other board likely to sell the club for less than it is worth?

By all means try to get a more progressive board in, get more money in, grow the club if you can... but remember fundamentally nothing much will have changed ? the club will still have the same fanbase in the same stadium and the same costs with the same need to borrow money in order to do anything about it.

It is easy to destroy, far harder to create - don't throw the baby out with the bathwater just yet.

Ryan Holroyd
102 Posted 15/10/2010 at 14:47:26
Chris

You say

Van De Meyde was free and worth the risk at the time - one of those chances that clubs with limited finances have to take occasionally.

He cost £2m and wages of £40,000 a week. Hardly a free!

You say

well sorry to disappoint you on this by Nyarko was signed in Walter Smiths first season when Johnson was still in charge - along with Dacourt, Materazzi and Collins. Hutchison was then sold at the end of that season when he failed to agree a new contract.


Again, you're wrong here. Walter Smith's first season was in 1998. He bought Collins, Matterazzi, and Dacourt plus other.
Alex Nyarko was bought in 2000. Bill Kenwright took over the club and as Colin says spent the NTL money before he had it in the bank.

I hate him for what he has done to our club. I'll never forgive him for Kings Dock. Ki

Kenwright is a cancer on our club and the sooner he goes, one way or the other, the better.
Phil Martin
103 Posted 15/10/2010 at 14:54:58
Chris #97,

Do the words "I wouldn't sell him for £50M" ring a bell? I'll give you a clue...a certain someone said this, weeks before Rooney was sold for £10M upfront.
Yes technically he didn't lie as he didn't sell him for £50M. But we all thought he might try to get at least half that amount.

Moving on, you are correct in your statement about most of us not knowing all the facts. However how do you explain such quotes as "24/7" and "EFC has always been for sale", when public documents like the DK planning report -distinctly state EFC is not for sale?

Why are we told one year "no-one is interested in Everton" then told "6 parties a year make contact, with "3" negotiations currently taking place?

Why are our most dediciated fans and stakeholders denied the right to put questions to the Board, Bill Kenwright and David Moyes?

Why were we told, we would have a World Class stadium for nothing?

Why do we currently have a net spend on players inferior to Stoke, Bolton and Wolves?

Why do we have the biggest debt in our clubs history, no stadium plans, and no assets?
If our curent leadership aren't incompetent, then they're outight dangerous.

BTW it isn't KEIOC's job to develop a new stadium for EFC. Thats what the board and Billy should be sorting. KEIOC was a group formed by fans who wanted to highlight the options around the city. Options clearly already known to the board, but disregarded as they wanted to jump into bed with Tesco.
Art Jones
104 Posted 15/10/2010 at 15:12:13
Chris (#96):

I don't know how well you know Colin or his associates but I think you'll find that he is privy to a lot more information than the rest of us. Quite often it may be unwise of him to reveal his sources. I know Colin and trust him; a lot of his criticisms have been made to Bill Kenwright or Robert Elstone in person.

The club no longer holds AGMs and have made it impossible for EGMs to be called. This puts Mr Kenwright in the position where he no longer has to answer questions directed at him. A very cosy state of affairs, for him, that suits him fine. It makes me wonder what has he got to hide.
Marc Williams
105 Posted 15/10/2010 at 16:13:18
Bill Slater 91# I thought 'Blood Brother' was about Bill's tenure at the helm of EFC. Cue music.....

Only mine until,
The time comes round to pay the bill,
Then I'm afraid,what can't be paid,
Must be returned,
You never ever learn,
That nothings ever yours,
on easy trems.

Living on the never never,
Never sure, who's at the door
You can be sure,
what's gone before,
Will be concealed,
Your friends will never learn,
That once, we were on easy terms.


Marc Williams
106 Posted 15/10/2010 at 16:42:52
Continuing the 'Blood Brothers' theme.
If Doddy & the other apologists want to join in, they could always sing along to .... " Tell me it's not true, say it's just a story"... after reading the FACTS.

I'll grant Bill this... He does put on a cracking show & 'Blood Brothers' is one of the best. It's 'scouse... the musical' & highly recommended to anyone who hasn't seen it.
Ste Traverse
107 Posted 15/10/2010 at 16:44:25
Kenwright is a curse on this club, the amount of fuck-ups on his watch is unbelievable. I can't get my head round why so many still back him. His embarrassing soundbites of how much he loves the club, the Boys Pen etc I'm sure causes some fans to mix up his support for the club with him being the right man to run it.

It was utterly disgusting the way he did away with AGMs and EGMs, it showed his complete contempt for the shareholders/fans. His cosy relationship with the local media and the Echo in particular also makes me want throw up, that pillock Prentice is too feared to criticise the man.

We're going nowhere while this bungling, arrogant, egotistical twat is hanging on to his nice little niche. But never mind ? he's a true blue, at least he's not Peter Johnson, etc etc etc.

Great article, Colin.
John Andrews
108 Posted 15/10/2010 at 15:27:35
We as Evertonians should hang our heads in shame at the way we have allowed this shyster to carry on running our club. Believe me if that shower from across the park had been treated in this manner year after year, they would have burnt the ground down by now.

I have been to every game this season and to see the indomitable spirit of comrade blues would bring a tear to all Evertonians past & present. If we could only channel this strength into a movement, we will give this beloved club of ours back to the people it belongs to.

Peter Laing
109 Posted 15/10/2010 at 16:56:13
Chris Biddon, can you please enlighten me then to what is the million dollar question of why Everton cannot find a backer? The answer for this perpetual 24/7 search for investment lies in the guy at the top seat of the table ? Bill Kenwright.

If it's about brand or appeal, surely this has been further tarnished and soiled during the Kenwright years and the succession of failed ventures that have happened on his watch. I just wish Trevor Birch, Paul Gregg, Keith Wyness et al would go public on the shennanigans that have taken place over the years. Also, does Christopher Samuelson still exist ?

Chris Briddon
110 Posted 15/10/2010 at 18:30:46
Peter ? no I cant answer why Everton cannot find a backer ? but the point is neither can anyone else. I could go on about lack of global appeal, lack of recent success (post PL), 2nd club in city etc, you could go on about the owner and if the club is for sale or not ? but the honest truth is neither of us have a clue its all conjecture and rumour!.

I apologise for the Nyarko thing ? I was mistaken as to the time of the deal.

Rooney went for a minimum of £26m ? the fact that it was spread over a number of years is irrelevant ? a lot of deals are!

The reason (which everybody appears to forget) that AGMs & EGMs were scrapped, was because mindless KEIOC idiots kept abusing the shareholders priveledge by trying to call one about every 6 weeks to ask questions that were never going to be answered. The AGM / EGM is a shareholders priveledge, if some people take advantage of that to mess people about, then the club are within their rights to stop them ? yet it's BIll who gets blamed for this ? not the mindless idiots who kept calling them and caused everybody else to miss out useful discussion.
Richard Dodd
111 Posted 15/10/2010 at 18:36:59
I seriously believe that this piece ? and many of the replies to it ? were spawned out of jealousy of the crisis across the park. Whilst it`s galling to see our rivals getting all the pre-derby publicity that is no excuse for inventing a crisis at Goodison when none exists.

Some people are never happy unless they have a target to aim at. Before the Birmingham victory it was David Moyes ? now the baton moves back to Chairman Bill. No doubt,unless we win on Saturday everyone else including the physios will get a pasting!

Who`d be an Evertonian, eh?

David O'Keefe
112 Posted 15/10/2010 at 18:44:40
"The reason (which everybody appears to forget) that AGMS & EGMs were scrapped, was because mindless KEIOC idiots kept abusing the shareholders priveledge by trying to call one about every 6 weeks to ask questions that were never going to be answered. The AGM / EGM is a shareholders priveledge, if some people take advantage of that to mess people about, then the club are within their rights to stop them - yet its BIll who gets blamed for this not the mindless idiots who kept calling them and caused everybody else to miss out useful discussion."

So the right to hold those in power to account is a privilege. Sorry, Chris, but that is an argument against democracy itself; and those that are against democracy are the mindless idiots.

In truth, I don't think you really believe this to be the case. So is the right to hold those in positions of power and responsibility to account a right or a privilege? Or do you believe that only Bill Kenwright should not be held to account?
John Andrews
113 Posted 15/10/2010 at 18:56:28
Richard Dodd, when you set out for the game on Saturday take a sleeping bag, flask & sandwiches ? we dont kick off until Sunday.

Chris Briddon, far from being mindless, thank god the KEIOC lads had a mind & indeed conscience; without them & with mindless sheep like your good self, we would now be watching our football in a cowshed in Kirkby.

Bill Slater
114 Posted 15/10/2010 at 19:14:56
Richard (109) have you ever heard a business being described as "Pro-Active" or "Re-Active"?

Plus if Clubs are run as businesses, we should not be childishly "jealous" of the Red Sox II but cast a long look at our nearest business competitors who are potentially about to wipe the floor with us given their new investment.

Anyone care to compare Liverpool One with that Lewis' store by central station in Liverpool?
Bill Slater
115 Posted 15/10/2010 at 19:19:13
Sorry 107 - I'm off for a curry and a nice bottle of wine. I'm so jealous of all those people who have ever won the lottery as well.
David Thomas
116 Posted 15/10/2010 at 19:14:31
"... far from being mindless, thank god the KEIOC lads had a mind & indeed conscience, without them & with mindless sheep like your good self, we would now be watching our football in a cowshed in Kirkby."

No we wouldn't be. The decision for us not to go to Kirkby had nothing to do with KEIOC. Unless KEIOC have now taken over the position of Secretary of State?
Eamonn Byrne
117 Posted 15/10/2010 at 19:45:27
Well said poster No 96, Chris.

You have to back up a monster post/ dissertation with references otherwise it come out as a rant Colin. I love and it seems we all love a good rant.

I cut to the chase many posts back... Without a serious investor going public, nothing will change, except unexpected death.

Now this Everton team have to beat LFC this weekend . Whilst the spotlight is there.
No excuses.
Chris Halliday
118 Posted 15/10/2010 at 19:59:36
Further to Dick's comments (#67), I too know so many Blues who know little about the dynamics of the club ? nor take any interest. They read the dailies and Echo and believe every word from so-called pundits and spin merchants that we should be grateful to Moyes/Kenwright!! The sence of apathy at Everton drives me mad.
Bill Slater
119 Posted 15/10/2010 at 20:43:48
I've had my wine.

"ROUNDERS IS FOR GERLS"

"NEW YORKIES" ARE FOR MEN (getit)

banner at Goodison on Sunday?
Bill Slater
120 Posted 15/10/2010 at 20:56:41
TOFFEEWEB GOES LOCAL:

My sister has printed this article off for my dad, and now his first Toffeeweb experience is in progress.

Bill Slater
122 Posted 15/10/2010 at 21:09:30
IF, I say IF, and say it again, IF you read the first sentence of this article again, Colin felt he had to write this timely article to educate the uninitiated to the FACTS of the last 10 years.

Don't forget there is a whole generation of Evertonians in their 20s, now growing up in the real world, and piecing together the facts. This article just brings them up to fucking speed. So shut the fuck up and read again about the solutions on offer. Did you know Colin was a key member of KEIOC who saved us all from Kirkby?
Michael Kenrick
124 Posted 15/10/2010 at 21:31:07
Let's not get diverted into a KEIOC battle, please.

While the termination of AGMs & EGMs was shameful, the reasons given above were a big part of it from the club's perspective. To give them credit, they have replaced the AGM with Shareholders Forums, which provide the opportunity for smaller shareholders to ask questions of the bigger ones who are running the show.

Apart from the lack of voting, which was a meaningless sham anyway because of the Board's ability to vote blocks of shares, the big change has been banning the proxies ? I think that was the real annoyance, that the Q&A sessions at the AGMs were being railroaded to some extent by non-shareholding proxies.

I raise this because it is really the only mechanism that fans and shareholders who are concerned about Everton have to approach those in power. But in order to be really heard and ultimately be effective in accomplishing change, they really need to speak with one voice; the very real divisions over KEIOC illustrate just how hard that will be to achieve.
Jay Harris
125 Posted 15/10/2010 at 21:25:31
David O'Keefe I am not and never have been a member of Keioc but I have seen their work and some of them post on here and quite frankly every Evertonian should be eternally grateful to them not call them "mindless idiots".

There was only one EGM called and that was called by ALL the minority shareholders (not just KEIOC) because of concerns over the facts about DK that were coming out which were totally different from the club's original claim.

For example:

1. "This will be an effectively free stadium" - (No it won't ? it will cost EFC at least £80 million and according to some experts up to £150 million.

2. "This will be a world class stadium with state-of-the-art transportation systems" ? Do I really have to point out the LIES in that statement?

3. "Tesco will be making a sizeable contribution" ? Not according to Tesco they wont!

4. "There are no other options" ? No other options were ever considered.

5. "The stadium can be used for concerts and other events" ? Not according to KMBC, who also insisted on "owning the facility for a third of the year.

6. "Goodison Park is falling down and may not get a safety certicate in a couple of years" ? Absolute Bollocks.

7. Kenwright insists he is looking for investment 24/7 while endorsing DK application which clearly states "NONE of the directors are willing to sell their shares"

That is why the EGM was called and then ultimately blocked by Mr "I am bored with your question.I refuse to answer your question" Kenwright.

So please, by all means, keep your head up Kenwright's arse if that's what you want but do not come on here calling a bunch of "TRUE Evertonians" mindless idiots because they dared to challenge the biggest Charlatan in EFC's history.
Nelaj Behajiha
126 Posted 15/10/2010 at 22:18:44
I'd like to add a simple point here ? does anyone know the facts? It seems to me that whenever people talk about Kenwright they give lots of information, with no links, no quotes or anything that people can prove. I struggle to understand the financial side as it seems to me we've got 2 sides saying completely differing things and both say they're telling the truth.

In fairness, Kenwright isn't somebody who will spend large amounts and is extremely cautious, just like Moyes, but he hasn't bankrupted us. Yes, I agree he is a liar, and I can't believe that there's been no serious offers for Everton. I don't like either Moyes or Bill as both lack any ambition but they both have kept us in a similar position.

Paul Columb
127 Posted 15/10/2010 at 22:55:56
Colin; interesting article....thanks for putting the time/research into it. There have been multiple references alluding to an access you may have to a greater depth of information than average. Can you explain how??

In addition, for what it's worth, should a realistic effort be made to gain greater fan control though partial collective ownership, I without question with toss in £2k. Cheers, and here's to a performance of which we can be proud on Sunday.

Ste Traverse
128 Posted 15/10/2010 at 23:19:12
Jay Harris. David O'Keefe was only repeating a paragraph of Chris Briddon's post. Mr O'Keefe is as Anti-Kenwright as anyone.
Steven Jones
129 Posted 15/10/2010 at 23:17:33
It is not worth coming to this web site when ... As a life-long Evertonian ... there in the dark days in the seventies - home and away .. season tick et al .....

I post a message totally in support of our club and chairman in fear of the anarchists and it has been deleted by the editors of this site ... what is going on ...?

This is the big lie and a communist state on Toffeeweb ... Go on, Michael, delete this too ... that is all I expect of this site ...

John Andrews
130 Posted 15/10/2010 at 23:29:43
Steve Jones, are you involved with Blue Kipper? And if so, are you still receiving the same favoured treatment from the hierarchy at our club?
Michael Kenrick
Editorial Team
132 Posted 16/10/2010 at 07:07:19
Steven (#123),

I do remove (actually turn off, but retain in our database) posts that don't conform to our Conditions of Use. I suppose that might justify your amusing observations; however, in your case, I don't think anything actually got through for me to delete!

Seriously, I saw nothing else from you this evening, other than the subsequent outburst. To be honest I don't think your comment reached us. What time was it, do you think? There are only three posts from you all season. (Six more from "Steve Jones")

Same thing has happened to me when writing comments; switching to a different page, flipping elsewhere to check something, then coming back or reloading and finding the comment has gone.

If you can tell me the approximate time you think you sent it, I can check the sequence, which auto-numbers incoming posts, and see if there is a gap...

Sorry, I know it sounds lame, but that's the truth! Trust me, if there was something that had kicked the trip wire, I'd be well up for the ensuing challenge. But I ain't got nothing.
Bill Slater
133 Posted 16/10/2010 at 08:12:11
If Everton were a restaurant, an ale house, a model of car, a computer, Torremolinos or anything else that we buy into, can anyone honestly say they would still be frequenting said eatery to be served up food that was really good in the 1980s; pubs where you could still smoke; still driving around in your Ford Cortina; surfing the web on your ZX Spectrum, or having Pina Coladas on the Costa Del Sol.

I think everyone's honest answer would be No, so the businesses who still serve us all the above are the ones who've moved on with the times.

But that's where Everton "the business" are lucky which has led to this article and many thousands of very angry and frustrated CUSTOMERS of EFC. We can't move on to support another team. We may stop going the match, but probably still buy their merchandise.

Henry Ford said you can have any colour of car you want... so long as it was Black. Well to a large degree I think this applies to us.

You can have any brand of football you want so long as its 4-5-1, avoid relegation and nearly get into Europe. Well for me that's not good enough. Does anyone else agree?
Bill Slater
134 Posted 16/10/2010 at 10:03:25
Some more history from Paul Gregg interview I found from 5 years ago. I've never seen this before.

http://www.vintagebluekipper.com/club/0405/club3_gregg.htm
Neil Steele
135 Posted 16/10/2010 at 12:13:34
Colin, that was simply magnificent. I don't know what else to say, you are a great Evertonian and I hope that some day soon, the masses will wake up and realise who truly has the club's best interests at heart.
Jay Harris
136 Posted 16/10/2010 at 13:05:28
David O'Keefe, sincere apologies (Thanks for pointing that out, Ste Traverse) ? my comments should have been aimed at Chris Briddon (#106).
John Andrews
137 Posted 16/10/2010 at 13:10:25
Mr Kenwright:
"I was with Eddie Kavanagh at Wembley in 66....."
That was me sparring with Muhammed Ali in Hyde Park...."
"As Alan Ball once said to me..."
"Back in the days of walking to the ground and going in the boys pen...."
"Michael Barrymore lived in my house."

All complete bollocks.... Apologies ? the last one is true.
Christopher Brown
138 Posted 16/10/2010 at 14:00:46
Wonderful article Colin. Don't normally comment on here as I don't live on Merseyside, don't get to many games (a cash issue, rather than a passion issue) and therefore would rather listen to those who are closer to the club to inform me. What you wrote has clarified years of confusion on my part over what has been going on at boardroom level - well done, you're a true blue!
Michael Kenrick
139 Posted 16/10/2010 at 15:34:22
I received this from Steve:

Michael,

Sorry ? my fault. I will go back thorough my records - appreciate your time responding properly. I will count to ten etc next time! ;-0

I and we posters/web reader do really appreciate the time, effort and quailty that goes into the web site from yourself and the team. I personally just get frustrated when people attack our Chairman and Manager; they may have good reason in their own minds but it just appears very destructive ? and not defendable if comments are conjecture, misread or misinterpretered etc.

Anyway, once again thanks forcoming back and all the effort that goes into the site ? cheers, Steve

No problem, Steve. Thanks for replying. I'm not sure what upset you but what you describe as an "attack" is more a record of what appears to have gone on. Very few of the responses have really challenged the meat of what Colin has painstakingly provided. I think it becomes misread or misinterpreted conjecture only for those who blindly reject the clear evidence of this sad and truly depressing story.

On that note, I have a another installment awaiting from Colin. It's a response to most of these challenges but I think it may be better presented as a fresh piece as I doubt many are still following this one.

I think people who reject the truth of this incredible piece really need to examine what they actually want. If they don't want to know the goings on, fine. I can accept that. But many of us do want to know. If they want us to be blindly accepting and to believe as they seem to that complete and uncritical acceptance of Kenwright's leadership and Moyes's management is an implicit requirement for supporting the club ? well I totally and absolutely reject such a position.

Furthermore, I believe such a stance defies some of the basic precepts we have in building a comprehensive Independent website dedicated to examining and recording ALL things Everton.

John Andrews
140 Posted 16/10/2010 at 17:42:04
Chris Briddon; aka..........?
John Keating
141 Posted 16/10/2010 at 20:20:04
Colin ? read and re-read your article and, like most people, found it excellently written and factual.

My only query is in your proposal of new board members. Surely Woods and Elstone are as culpable as Kenwright and Earl?

Neither have covered themselves in glory throughout their tenure. They more than anyone must have been privvy (and still remain privvy) to all the dealings and lies at the club. Not only guilt by association, I would submit, but guilt by agreement.

Sorry, I would ship the lot out .Our "committee" of founding forefathers will be turning in their graves at this cabal.

Joe Hurst
142 Posted 16/10/2010 at 20:28:58
Excellent article, and to be honest I'm not surprised, given who penned it.

"Blue" Bill will never ever win me back, given how hard he pushed DK.

In my humble opinion, no blue who loves the club even close to how much he claims to, would countenance bringing us to the brink of "MK Dons" soullessness like he was prepared to.

In many other things I've been quite an apologist for Kenwright in debates with fellow blues elsewhere.
As has been mentioned, he has often cut a "broke but passionate" figure amongst his peers in club chairmanship. DK though shattered all that for me.

HE may have believed that it was the best way forward, but many could smell something fishier than Grimsby about the whole thing. Bill's blue credentials were ones of pure devotion, compared to the cynical frontispiece of the real villains...Tesco, in the form of Leahy.

It's a reputation (Bill's) forever tarnished by that debacle, and only the impossible could shine it back up again. The impoosible being a statement from both Kenwright and Elstone that reads:

"We would like to apologise for the misguided and at times deliberately misleading actions of EFC in trying to foist upon the long-suffering and devoted fans of this great club a scheme that would have ripped out the heart of this great club and made it a shadow of what it was."

Many of us have had the misfortune of taking in a match in the plastic Asda-retail-park excuse for a sports venue that is The Reebok.

The fact that the current powers-that-be tried their best to subject us to that is something I will never forgive.
Ernie McAllister
143 Posted 16/10/2010 at 20:43:46
At the end of the day Moyse wasted 26million+ on shite players, without including the likes of kroldrup and van der shandy to name but a few of his rather long list of shit players he bought.

Absolutely no way in hell would I ever trust him with any kind of money when he blew on 15m on thug Fellaini..who simply cannot understand the rules of football..let alone play it.

Then we have bily..between these two players thats £26 million absolutely wasted. And you ask a simple question...do you think he would have preferred a lower league player? of course he would, thats where his ability lies, thats where he was brought up, and thats where he will disappear to soon enough.

I agree about billy liar and co though, our fans are apathetic and I dont think they even realize the terminal trouble this club is in right now.

Leave this issue alone and I seriously doubt in 5 or `10 years we'll even be here.
Ann Adlington
144 Posted 16/10/2010 at 21:21:50
Fantastic piece Colin. The only part I would disagree with is Elstone's promotion to the Board. In my experience he is as duplicitous as BK.
Chris Briddon
145 Posted 16/10/2010 at 22:13:44
John (133) I have no need to hide my identity, thanks ? I'm quite happy with who I am; I am also capable of thinking for myself and coming up with my own opinions without being 'brainwashed' by EFC or KEIOC or anyone else.

Jay ? they did only call one EGM but then said they would keep doing it until they got somebody to answer their questions (that they knew were never going to be answered anyway!)

There is a reason you don't hear much from non anti-Kenwright fans on here ? it is because they are accused of being stupid, brainless, brainwashed or any number of alternatives. We aren't; we are just people like you who have listened to all the information and come to a different conclusion.

Even to the extent that the writer of this article has written a response which comments on a number of issues I raised ? but I am unable to add a comment to defend myself.

Don't forget that Mr Fitzpatrick also has an agenda ? most people who post on here do. There is no clear black and white here, only shades of grey... so just because someone has a different opinion to you doesn't immediately make it wrong!
Neil Pearse
147 Posted 17/10/2010 at 02:19:47
I stopped posting on Toffeweb sometime ago - as have many others - for precisely the reasons Chris Briddon above says: if you don't agree with the rabid anti-Kenwright editorial site line, you are simply shouted down as an apologist and accused of being stupid, brainwashed, unambitious etc..

Those coming onto the site relatively recently should understand that the almost universal approval - some brave souls remain - of a post like Colin's wildly partial hatchet job on Kenwright simply indicates that those with differing opinions have long since left.

Toffeeweb used to be a site for the vigorous debate of many opinions. Now it has become a site for a small and narrow sect vigorously agreeing with each other, and attempting to outdo each other with ever more outlandish fantasies and conspiracy theories.

The editor for one might want to ask whether this represents a positive development for the site.
Ste Traverse
148 Posted 17/10/2010 at 02:32:42
I agree with John Keating--Elstone would be out the door along with BK and the rest of his board. Elstone has put out mis-information too often and i'll personally never forgive him for publicly dismissing fans who didn't want to go to Kirkby as "flimsy".
Ste Traverse
149 Posted 17/10/2010 at 02:36:41
Neil Pearse. You backed Kirkby to the hilt on the basis of the dubious information the club provided. Others saw straight through the lies when the reality of Kirkby was a Championship stadium and Championship revenue streams.
Mike McLean
150 Posted 17/10/2010 at 05:02:48
Neil, nobody who read your posts could possibly accuse you of being stupid. I think that you were wrong but that's a different question. It is perfectly valid to accuse Richard Dodd of being stupid as he maintains a line of argument which is based on culpable ignorance of every fact known about Kenwright.

Neil Pearse
151 Posted 17/10/2010 at 08:54:10
For those who want a more objective and reliable assessment of our club's predicament than Colin's - and one that really goes to the root causes whilst being quite rightly critical of Kenwright - I would really urge again that people read th following by the football blogger Swiss Ramble:



http://swissramble.blogspot.com/2010/04/why-has-nobody-bought-everton.html

This also makes it clear that our problems go much deeper than could ever be solved simply by getting rid of the Chairman.
Mike McLean
152 Posted 17/10/2010 at 09:15:03
More objective = what I agree with.

Less reliable / objective = what I disagree with.

Addressing the central issues = not what i want to do as it imperils my argument.

Oy ve!

Neil Pearse
153 Posted 17/10/2010 at 09:21:33
Well Mike, all I am saying is let people read both Colin's piece and the Swiss Ramble's. Then of course they can decide for themselves whether all our ills can be explained simply by reference to Kenwright and Green. Or whether Kenwright and Green are more symptoms of our fundamentally weak financial position rather than causes of it.

After reading the Swiss Ramble piece, they can also ask themselves where our new owner with the appropriate capital resources is going to come from after Kenwright has been forced out by the fans.
Neil Pearse
154 Posted 17/10/2010 at 09:35:42
And Ste, you provide a perfect example of why I will now be stopping posting on Toffeeweb again.

I did indeed support Kirkby. However, if you read anything I wrote at the time, it was not "based on the dubious information the club provided", which indeed I extensively criticised.

And there's the problem. The Kenwright haters on here, starting with the editor, simply cannot accept, as Chris Briddon says above, that those who differ from you have read all the available information, thought for themselves, and come to different conclusions.
David O'Keefe
155 Posted 17/10/2010 at 09:51:08
Neil you stopped posting on TW for one reason. The editor wrote an article that you disagreed with; and you have nothing but negativity and apologism for a man with no credibility.

As for getting rid of the chairman, Neil, that is the first step. Nothing new to say, don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Gavin Ramejkis
156 Posted 17/10/2010 at 09:45:35
Neil I always enjoyed your posts from a fiscal perspective but the whole point of a commentary board is debate. If you chose not to debate because of the nature of growing anti-BK sentiment on the only truly independent Evertonian website I have been able to find in years then that will be a shame but "taking your ball back and going home" is a tad childish. DK was proved to be a fallacy the club had a lucky escape from, surely you could debate alternatives as you were always asking posters for their alternatives?
Neil Pearse
157 Posted 17/10/2010 at 10:12:56
My final comment then Gavin: ground share please.

The new owners of LFC are hard-headed and sane individuals based on their past business record, and it is to be hoped that they will see the overwhelming case now for an iconic ground share on Stanley Park.

Interesting that Moyes as early as Friday said that he would be interested. He knows that in reality, for the forseeable future, we are too financially weak to have any other alternatives.
Mike McLean
158 Posted 17/10/2010 at 10:21:10
INeil, I agree with what you say on a groundshare, and hope to see you posting on here again.
Neil Pearse
159 Posted 17/10/2010 at 10:30:56
Thanks Mike - now to the football, eh?
Ernie McAllister
161 Posted 18/10/2010 at 04:52:59
Ground share must never ever come to pass.

I do not want to share my ground with that shower across the park. I don't want us to loose our identity..absolutely guaranteed to happen when sharing a stadium.

The fact then become how the fuck would we ever sell ourselves once black bill dies from over eating or something?

We are trying to climb out of the shadow of that lot, by sharing we loose our uniqueness, we loose our soul and we loose any semblance of ever being able to sell ourselves.

Sorry we have other options that simply must be looked into, which also includes removing the incumbent board. Everton FC needs to be for sale.

Everton FC to the right buyer would be an absolute gold mine.

Ground sharing rips the very soul and fabric of what Everton is, away. Yes we need a new ground...however it must not be done this way. Imagine sitting on a seat occupied by a redshite..it just right through me.
Jim Rafter
163 Posted 18/10/2010 at 21:15:23
I think you guys need to manage your own expectations. I think kenwright is probably in cahoots with Green and consequently Greens money gives him the right to call some of the shots. But boys...so what!?!

What is your issue with Green? He's helped out a mate but isn't interested in footy! Anyone who was trying to buy Everton but was getting the bums rush from kenwright could just go straight to the echo or the nationals, say his piece and kenwrights position would be untenable!

WE have to accept that we are unfashionable, and need a stadium, which makes us impossible to sell. Man City got the deal Liverpool wanted because they were gifted a stadium by Man City Council. Kenwright may be a luvie and may be stumbling along but he's all we got. Granchester could have bought the club if he gave a shit but didn't, yet you want him on your new board.
"Waiter.... a wake up call for the ToffeeWeb lads please"

Colin Fitzpatrick
164 Posted 19/10/2010 at 12:12:24
A new low in apologism.
Paul Davies
165 Posted 24/01/2011 at 02:21:49
Colin, I am glad that you are concerned about Everton because it shows you care. I also appreciate from the time that you have taken to type your opinions that you care.

However, you are not really demonstrating fact nor pushing constructive opinions, you are simply stating hearsay and ill sentiment based upon an overwhelming sense of dissatisfaction about the way you (and many others) perceive the club as being run.

Nothing wrong with that, though if you are going to dedicate the time and effort then maybe you'd like to do so coming up with a constructive proposal for how things can be taken forward because the c.5,000 words that you have written offer nothing.

You are now being used by those who dislike Kenwright as a justification for his removal. If you've the intelligence that I have no doubt you have then the fans who would have you speak on their behalf would be better served by those who propose a solution rather than spending time moaning, which I'm afraid is all that this post does. Nothing more, nothing less.

Paul Davies
166 Posted 24/01/2011 at 02:29:06
ps - Happy to go through this line by line with you if you're willing? Perhaps come up with an article that has two sides, rather than being painfully anti-Kenwright.

For my part I'm neither for or against Kenwright. I think we are in difficult times, emotions are high and its easy to become overly subjective...
Andy Parsons
167 Posted 29/01/2011 at 19:41:35
@Paul Davies

You appear to be critising a fan article for being based on an individual opinion despite having no grounds to do so. Who said that only constructive, solution based submissions were allowed ? Or is it simply that you disagree with the content, hence your "painfully anti-Kenwright" line ?

I'm neither pro or anti Kenwright. You can debate and discuss the history of his "leadership" to death, but what is undeniable and "painfully" obvious to me is that Kenwright has taken us just about as far as he can. Our lack of financial clout has been spectacularly evidenced in both this and the summer transfer window and that inability to strengthen the squad is now "painfully" evident.

We are treading water as a result. And as we move forward (or backwards), the talented players that we do have on our squad will become increasingly disillusioned in the same way that Steven Pienaar did. How long before Fellaini decides that Everton are going backwards and aren't competing for the kinds of honours that he'd like to be winning? I'd rather do something about it before we get relegated.

It's time that a group was brought in to find a buyer for the club. Clearly the Kenwright search for "investment" has gone on so long without success that we can mutually agree that it has failed.


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