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First of all I would like to thank Bill and his board for getting us this
far, God knows where we would be now, at best we'd probably undergoing
Administration in the first division. Lady luck has dealt us a bad hand this
season, with injuries to our playing staff, but let's not hide behind that,
let's look at what has happened on the field this season with the players we
have had.
Despite all the forewarnings for the Bristol Rovers game, we still went out
at the first attempt, a shame on a couple of counts. One was the lost revenue we
desperately need, but the biggest crime in my eyes was shutting the door on the
kids. 26,000 fans turned up for the Bristol Rovers game at Goodison, and what do
we serve up? More rubbish, followed by the inevitable knocking out at Bristol,
what a shame. Did we get a wake up call from that? No! The Ipswich game was bad
enough. The Man City game was for many too much to stomach, and the stewards,
after desperate pleas, let a lot of fans out at half time. Even my own son
wanted to get out, in his own words "I'm not watching Everton get
humiliated, Dad", and that by a team beaten six times on the trot. One
point from 15 says it all, and West Ham should have taken that one off us. All
were inept displays; there are no hard luck stories here. Before the games, I
would have expected at least ten points from the last fifteen. Failing
presenting a lie detector to the players, in order to find out who actually
wants to play for Everton, we should give some of this squad an ultimatum before
it's too late. The medical side needs looking at too, players are diagnosed far
too late for the proper surgery, has no one heard of flu jabs?
Ultimately, we go to watch our football to be entertained. Hand on heart, can
anyone say we have been entertained lately? We have had a 30% increase in our
season ticket sales over the last two years, and yet the entertainment value has
been reduced to a farce. The price increase for "premier" games has
backfired badly; 'fleecing the loyal fans' comes to mind, this should not be
repeated next season. Filling the ground has to be a priority, do whatever it
takes to get the kids back in, as Sunderland do.
On the field of play, there is no obvious settled formation or first-eleven.
Thomas Graveson has played in every position, other than goalkeeper. But what
the fans can't stomach is a lack of basic football skills and passion. Football
fans are not noted for their patience, especially fans of a club with Everton's
tradition. But past glories and tradition won't keep us up, just look at the
names in the first division. Walter, will you please endorse how we feel to the
players? This is a low-income area, and the fans are not getting any sort of
reward for their hardships in order to watch the club they love. Watching
Everton is like going to the dentist these days, painful to be there and to
watch. To be fair, inside that squad lies a Mercedes, but far too often a Skoda
drives out.
Let this meeting be the wake up call we desperately need, before it's too
late. And throwing money at it is not really the answer, just look at Blackburn.
We love this club; that's why what we see is so hard to take. But when does
blind passion and faith become stupidity? What other business could expect a
customer to come back for more mind numbing displays? I don't want you to go
Walter; I have too much respect for what you have done for us already. Let no
one here tonight have the memory of a Goldfish.
We owe this board and Manager big time, now let's work together to sort this
out. Listen to the wake up call please, before it's too late. Finally, I would
like to state here that Everton's bid for the King's Dock is in the best
interests of Merseyside. If we don't get this magical site, the reason against
us had better hold up in fair play and scrutinised by an ombudsman. I would like
that on record, please.
Yours thankfully
Ian MacDonald
EISA
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