I?m finding it difficult to care anymore

We are all in the gutter.......

You haven’t lost all hope, your last sentence sub consciously betrays your on going hope.

All we need is a couple of players and off we go.

BUT

If and when Moyes signs his new deal this could mean...a) he knows there will be money to push on

OR

b) he is just marking time till SAF steps down.

Look what you’ve done, you’ve got me all pessimistic now.

Sir,

This is really pathetic, Do you really only support Everton if they win something, 11 years some of us have supported this club for over 50, mate switch to Arsenal, then you ?ll be able to look forward to your weekend, at least they surrender with style.
Life isn?t fair, mega rich clubs gettin richer aint fair either, but don?t you think it?s fun watching how close we can get...........football is now a ?broken? sport, it?s not a level playing field, so all the rhetoric from fans who expect more simply leads to frustration...... Liverpool can spend £23 mill on a player, we don?t have £23 mill to spend, no rich arabs chasing us, no rich Evertonians stepping forward, ............the miracles these days come wrpped in 100 million pound cheques.

Hey Kevin, don?t forget we will be getting £35M+ for finishing 5th/6th, the bottom club gets £27M for being religated ? all this talk about nothing to spend is bollocks. Kenwright may not choose to spend it but we will have money to invest in players. That?s why we have not sold out to rich RussiAns/Yanks, Kenwright wants to line his pockets. Let?s start by winning today and get something out of the season.

All this talk about the big 4 is boring bollocks. I couldn?t give a fuck about the big 4. I only give a fuck about Everton. I want Everton to win the league for Everton not to "break the big four cartel" bollocks.

Liverpool are evil because they are Liverpool?.. it a local rival thing not because they buy big players and have rich owners. The hatred of team based on money is not hatred its jealousy. I?ll never be jealousy of Liverpool because I am an Everton fan. I could support any other team it?d be impossible.

Having re-watched the derby this morning, the performance wasn?t great but it wasn?t that bad. We were poor but we had our chances and I think we had more than a few mitigating circumstances through injuries to be able to understand the poor performance. I would also contest that their goal should not have been allowed as Kuyt won the ball from an offside position before passing to Torres.

These are GREAT TIMES@ Goodison, exciting times. Times that I am proud of all the time. I work with United. Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool fans but I feel as proud and probably more than them because I feel we are genuine. If we make it to a trophy then the taste will be much more sweeter and so much more special.

RE: John Sreet. As you may have noticed I share the same surname as Kevin, that is because he is my elder brother! I think you need to read through his article again. He has not only been a supporter for 11 years. His first game was a 6 -1 demolition of a Manchester United team that contained the likes of Best and Charlton. He regularly spent his hard earned watching the pile of dross that was served up in the late 70s early 80s and rarely mised a game home or away for more years than I care to remember. So don?t tell him to go and support Arsenal, he is a blue through and through much like yourself sir.

Kevin good article.

The majority of Evertonians now mate are happy to settle for being the best of the rest which is sad. The root of our problems is Kenwright in my opinion and we will never win anything while he is running the club and that is a fact. I?d give Moyes another 2 seasons tops and he?ll be away because the board will never be able to match his ambition. We have a corner shop mentality at Everton.

I reckon Moyes will be given £15 million tops this summer and in this day and age what the fuck is that gonna buy ya??

As you say, we need more midfielders.

Unearthing gems doesn't cost much cash. If it wasnt for Gerrard where would the RS be now:??

VDM and Grav out and 2 superstar players in. That is the difference between 1st and 3rd. Or to a lesser extent 4th....

Can’t help feeling the same way Kevin. It would appear that we must just hope for the day that Kenwright moves over to let a big hitter come in with serious money and serious ambition. The ambition to be the best of the rest doesn’t cut it for me and it doesn’t sound like it cuts it for you either. There will always be fans like you and I who demand better because we’ve had a taste of genuine success and know what it feels like to be at the top of the pile. Nil Satis Nisi Optimum Forever

Kevin, dear Kevin, some years ago I also had a moment of enlightenment. A voice whispered that my beloved Everton would always be one of lifes also rans.

Then came Moyes and a light flickered in the darkness. That light is getting a wee bit brighter and my optimism has grown a new set of wings.

My father and grandfather, my wife, my sons and their sons are all evertonians and despite its many travails our emotional ties with this grand old club has enriched our lives.
This so called real world may belong to the super rich clubs but what of the next world.

Hang in there old son.

John Sreet, I can vouch for Kevin as I was one of the poor bastards who went the match with him in the late 70s early 80s until we finally started winning.

Hang in there Kev, we all have our down moments. Yes, it is tough in the EPL at the moment and it sometimes seems an impossible mountain of money to climb to get to the top. However, a few things that we all should bear in mind (IMHO of course) :-
+ Given our resources we are doing bloody well at the moment
+ We are still on the up. We have a pretty good squad with a good average age and we are looking to fit in a couple more pieces of the jigsaw. It may be slow and frustrating at times but we are improving.
+ We have a young, talented and enthusiastic manager. He?s made a few mistakes but remember he?s a relative novice in the job and certainly in Europe. As far as I can see he seems to be learning fast. Also, he seems to be a man of strength and integrity.
+ We are doing all above without "doing a Leeds" on it.
In terms of a Russian/American/Thai sugar daddy coming in to save us - I?d be careful what you wish for. Once that happens, things may seem fine but you effectively lose control of the club. The club becomes their plaything. If they ever decide to exit what happens then?
Call me a masochist but I?d rather do it the hard way. In fact that is one of things that makes me proud of Everton. Keep the faith. Our day will come.

Loved your article Kevin! The reality of course is that, if we were rational beings, we would have no hope. Our problem of course has nothing to do with Kenwright. It is simply that the four teams above us have MASSES more money than we have, and the gap is widening. Teams that can use the likes of Hargreaves, Walcott, Malouda and Crouch as subsitutes SHOULD consistently finish higher than us.

But hope really does spring eternal. A team with an excellent manager and great team spirit can punch above its financial weight. We are doing so now. If only Manny starts playing like he can, and we get that one more special midfielder... We can all have hope!! Nil desperandum!

Shaun, boys...you?re right, I mis-read his comments..... many apologies

Ax - MK - Unbielveable FM wankfest!

DNP: Building our future

A lot of people on here have been speculating on potential summer signings, here below I have listed the main ones that we have been linked with and also those with confirmed bids/rumours etc.

Expected signings: 1- Pienaar, £2.5M; 2- Fernandes, £6-10M Definite Interest over the last year. 1--Marouane Fellaini--Standard Liege confirmed our 6million bid for this 20-year-old box to box midfielder was rejected as they want 10mil. 2 -- Lucho Gonzalez centre mid and captain fantastic for Porto. Went for him in the summer but were turned down at 12mil as they wanted 16. This guy is awesome and would be our Gerrard. 3 -- Arshavin and Kallstrom both said they wanted to join us. Kallstrom is slow and clumsy for me whilst Arshavin looks ace but would he be a kancho or a rebrov? 4 -- Barnes, Rumoured to have had scouts watch him for 2 seasons. World class potentials 1-Bentley-The new Beckham 2-Brown-Out of contract at man utd 3-Vicente-left wing valencia 4-Joaquin-right wing valencia Others Cana-marseilles Fearless centre mid Bullard-Hardly top notch Howard-Potential?he's 25 ! Bent-Done nothing at Spurs Appiah-Injured Simic- we bought Jags Lennon-for sale at spurs-runs in circles Walcott-Not for sale and vaughan better Nolan-Crap Kightly-Relative unknown We can analyse and over analyse until we are blue in the face. I love to do this almost on a daily basis (gets me off to sleep) whilst others such as MK absolutely detest it and (quite rightly) state that its FM and we have to wait for Moyes to act. Still, I have a few points that should be highlighted to people that either have short memories or don't follow the potential transfers too much. 1-Moyes has definitely bid for the following midfielders,only to be turned down-Scott Parker/Michael Essien/Momo Sissoko/Manuel Fernandes.. 2-Recent confirmed (by the selling club)- Lucho/Fellaini/Cana. So essentially we can believe that Moyes agrees with us all and is actively bidding for centre midfield box-to-box midfielders. He has also stated this on several occasions and now has actually been quoted in the express that he has his targets and once he knows the budget will move for them. Also as has been pointed out, he wants to buy players who play in the UK. The above leads me to a conclusion, in recent years we have broken transfer records and last year spent 20mil which would have been over 30 if we had bought Fernandes. Now Moyes is asking for SERIOUS HARD CASH from Keith/Bill. Must be over the 30million we had last summer. Also by saying the squad is big enough but he wants to bring in the X-FACTOR players to replace deadwood I think we can expect some big signings. In my humble opinion we should be looking at the following level player; 1-Pienaar 2-Fernandes 3-Bentley 4-Brown 5-Lucho 6-Fellaini 7-Cana 8-Arshavin 9-Barnes The first two should sign for under 10mil once Pienaar is fully fit and can pass the insurance medical.Fellaini and Barnes are both young players whose fees would probaby match the above. Of the others I would imagine that Bentley and Brown(who is free) would jump at the chance to join as they want to leave their clubs to both play regularly and in Europe. These players fit the British playing experience preffered by Moyes and the transfer outlay I predict would match the expected one last summer. Any other players such as Lucho/Cana/Arshavin would put the icing on the cake. As would an asset stripping of Valencia. Basically my belief is that players would surely prefer to join us as opposed to the 4 teams above us with more paying power etc. They will play most weeks and will be part of the fastest emerging force in European football. I know of no other team since Moyes has arrived that has developed as fast as us or with young players and a young manager hungry for success. Portsmouth and the rest of them can only dream as in 2 games time we will be in 4th place 9 points ahead of Pompey with 4 games to play.

Does it matter if you’ve been a supporter for 5 years or 50? It doesn’t make you any more-or-less right.

Hoping won't remove him... but direct action will. It?s time us fans stood up and removed him, his job as been unattenable now for more years than I care for. He should have gone when we got rid of shit faced Smith and Co.

Funny how we fought all those years ago to get Agent Johnson out, yet the same supporters are content to let Billy Bullshit continue to ruin everything Moyes is trying to do for the club.

If we are to challenge for the league and other honours, the only way for that to happen is to remove him. It was so many years ago Granada media wanted to buy us out, in fact there where several big companies who wanted to do the same thing if I am not mistaken. But Sir Billy Bullshit and his girlfriend Bully are dragging this club through the gutter.

Won?t be long before we play in a cowshed in some bullshit carpark struggling to stave off relegation likely from the Championship while Moyes has moved on. For years all we have done is talk and talk.. but if we don?t act now, the reality is, these knobs will have totally destroyed the one and only chance of changing things for the better and to be a successful team.

A winning team needs everyone to pull in the right direction, Bully and Billyshit are playing tug of war with the club and Moyes... Truth is, if i was Moyes, I wouldn't renew anything. The writing has been on the wall for a while now... the Board have not a jot of ambition... shame on EFC.

Shag me! I was depressed before reading the article, now I'm suicidal. Cheer up for fuck's sake...

Get a life, Kevin. Considering what we have at our disposal, I think its been a pretty good season and we?ve played some good stuff and seen some dramatic improvements in the team. Why so pissed off? If this is a bad season, then I dread to think what you felt two years ago. Try and think of the positives or were you just trying to create a reaction. I for one love Everton whether they are top or bottom. No arguments.

Know what you?re going through Kev, I?ve been a blue for over 55 years and they are the most frustrating team in the top flight for sure. But I don?t go along with all these Kenwright haters who blame poor old Bill for all our troubles. Give me a Chairman/owner who is a supporter of the club through and through rather than some Yank/Rusky whatever predator who at the end of the day or season couldn?t give a flying fuck for the team or its supporters. And listen mate if we finish 4th or 5th it still rates as one of the best seasons for along while now. Keep the faith pal.

Yeah well... we can do without supporters who don?t care mate. Can I have the money you ain?t gonna use for your season ticket?

Adam, I?ve got a life thanks and it?s a good one. "I?ve got a little black book with my poems in.
Got a bag with a toothbrush and a comb in.
When I?m a good dog, they sometimes throw me a bone....I?ve got wild staring eyes.
And I?ve got a strong urge to fly.
But I got nowhere to fly to...".

I?m also able to engage in debate without qualifying my comments with meaningless American inanities.

Taking your comment apart sentence by sentence...



"Considering what we have at our disposal, I think its been a pretty good season"

Agreed... and there?s the key phrase

"What we have at our disposal"

Have you ever considered why we?re so far behind Liverpool FC in terms of spending power?... could it be that it?s something to do with a fucked-up system of finance which rewards those who already have millions to spend by giving them more millions to spend? Do you not just get a little bit fed up when our team largely comprises of players who couldn?t get into Liverpool?s side... let alone Manchester United, Arsenal or Chelsea?s!?!


"I think its been a pretty good season and we?ve played some good stuff..."

Yep, so do I... the clue to this Adam is the sentence "At times during this season I?ve seen a tantalising glimpse of what could be; I enjoyed our romp through Europe and at times we played some scintillating stuff during our long unbeaten spell"

It was great for a while and then that ole devil called ?lack of strength in depth? bit us squarely on the arse... that and playing like a bunch of awestruck teenage virgins at Fiorentina making an average Italian side look like Brazil circa 1970. (Lack of depth usually is caused by lack of funds to buy cover- do you see a pattern ermeging eh Adam?)

"Why so pissed off? If this is a bad season, then I dread to think what you felt two years ago."

I?m not pissed off - I?m just a bit bored with the same story in the Premier League... it?s getting as predictable as the ITV wrestling used to be ... probably just as bent in some cases.

"Try and think of the positives or were you just trying to create a reaction. I for one love Everton whether they are top or bottom. No arguments"

Positives... after today?s performance... are you serious fella?

And don?t dare presume that you love Everton more than me... my ex Mrs accused me of that one once

I told her I loved Liverpool more than I loved her!

It?s not a question of love or blind devotion to a team, club, name, set of players... we can all play that card son.

I just don?t think that whoever the manager is of Everton, whether it is Kendall, Catterick, Clough, Ferguson or fuckin Shankly, they would have a hell of a job negating the difference in player quality between a top four club and a ?best of the rest? team.

Maybe I?ve finally got cynical about the whole fucking Sky circus... the clowns have taken over Adam... or have you not realised?

BTW - My brother would have captained Everton if I’d not broke his leg when he was 7.

... and Matty Berry is right and he owes me a coupe of pints from the Aston Villa away game 1980 when we parked his car in some fella’s garden and I had to tip him a fiver to stop him from calling the plod...

ey Sparky...
you sure do need a break from footie lad, i’ve not seen so much pompous / anguished shite since reading a Tony Marsh suicide note!!!
Now..how about the few bob you ain’t gonna spend on next years season ticket!

Problem, Kevin, is that a wind of change blowing through the way football is financed may see us either getting further away from realistically competing for the EPL or, even if it get’s us closer, it’s competing for something akin to the Championship. Murdoch’s about maximising money. He doesn’t give a stuff about tradition. If there’s more money to be made, he either (a) changes the competition by forcing clubs out, relocation or amalgamation (e.g. rugby league in Australia) or (b) creates an entirely new competition that leaves existing traditional clubs back in an economy class comp (Super 14 Rugby). If so, then, given the Shite’s pre-eminence and assuming amalgamation with them is an option over all Blue and Red dead bodies, either way the wind of change blows us towards relocation to Dublin, doesn’t it?

I know this is irrelevant but for some reason I found it funny and thought it might lighten things up a bit. Apparently, Shandy Andy is out injured with a thigh injury, return date unknown :-

http://www.evertonfc.com/match/latest-injuries.html

WTF!

Give me a break Kevin.
I?m finding it difficult to care about reading about EFC supporters with the Blues.
Lifes too short to be mulling around with a long face. We win some we lose some. The glory days will return.

Kevin I haven’t seen you in years and your accusing me of owing you a couple of pints!!! Just for the record I wasn’t driving that day. We got a lift off someones dad. Must catch up when your back in Huyton. The beers are on you!!!

There’s always been an economic imbalance in the game - we were accused of "buying" the title in 1963. Everton are far from being the fifth richest club in the league this season, yet fifth is probably where we’ll finish. With just average luck, we would be well clear of The Shite in fourth, and hard on the heels of third place. The Sky 4 are distracted by the pressure to win every trophy, every year - yet this season Portsmouth or Cardiff will lift the FA Cup, and Spurs took the Carling Cup.

There’s absolutely no reason why Everton shouldn’t win something in the next few seasons. This is the best manager and the best squad we’ve had in years. And, dare I say it, the best Chairman. He’s a fan, he’s local, he’s one of us. I’d rather have that than some faceless international banker who doesn’t know a pan of scouse from a kentucky fried chicken.

COYB.

Kevin, it could be worse mate, you could have logged on to Magpieweb (or wherever the Fuck Geordies log on) and moaned about your lot in life. There but for the grace of God mate.

I for one knew we would lose the Derby cos I saw the West Ham game. Its not rocket science.

At the start of the season I didn?t speculate about us winning the league. I used to back in the day though. It isnt being ruined mate its been ruined. I want to see us playing good football that entertains and excites me. I can hope for that but anything more, for the foreseeable future, is laughable.

People can argue on here as much as they like. We all love the club as much as each other or why the fuck are we on here. Some people?s glass is half full, some half empty. We all think we?re right. One thing we can?t argue with is the truth. We are not on the verge of making the Sky 4 the Sky 5. End of story.

In the next five years any of the following could happen and some definitely will:

Alex Ferguson finally retires. As do Giggs, Scholes and Van der Sar. Ronaldo leaves for Real Madrid. 3 years in the doldrums at least.

Roman Abramovich leaves Chelsea. They are still losing £30million a year. The new Leeds United. Go spinning into administration.

Arsene Wenger likewise leaves Arsenal. To compete, they can no longer rely on unnearthed jems. The extra expense sees them crippled by debt. Usamov gets a controlling interest and bleeds their remaining assests

Liverpool are already self destructing before our eyes. Benitez won?t see next season. The yanks sell to the DIC(k)s. They are every bit the mercenaries of their predecessors. New manager brought in on the cheap, dissilussioed Gerard leaves etc...

Everton meanwhile have a young squad, a good, faithful manager and manageable debts.

All of the Sky 4 face innevitable problems wheras we don?t have anything like the problems because we have a Liverpudlian board who, like them or not, have the best interests of the team at heart.

The monopoly is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.

I can?t wait for the fireworks and it only takes one of these prophecies to be fulfilled and we?ve cracked the top four.

All of a sudden I feel happier Arthur... thanks for that!

Arthur sorry to explode your (Our) dream but the reason big investors buy the likes of Manure, Arsenal and the RS is because they invariably win things and are consistently at the top of their game.

Chelsea are slightly different as one of the worlds richest men sees it as his toy to play with but I dont see him bailing out soon despite losing (reportedly 75million a year?).

I?m afraid that with the incompetent, moneyless lying Board we have we?ll have to rely more on "rabbits out of a hat" rather than genuine investment in the players we need to be a top team again.

On the other hand MAYBE something will ahppen for us and we will get a rich investor and join the SUPERPOWER league and get good players and Referee?s decisions going for us.

AHh,what a dream.

Tell you what, the day Kevin Sparke jacks it in in terms of hope, it really should tell all of you cloud cuckoo land inhabitants out there that we are on the ?road to nowhere?.

Come next year, I suspect that we may even be competing nearer the bottom of the ?also ran league? than the top, because face it or not Newcastle, Spurs, VIlla, Portsmouth, Blackburn, West Ham, even MIdlesbrough will be spending and next season they are all going to be better, simple as. Where are we going to improve? Where is our investment coming from? Why will Moyes suddenly assume a positive disposition when sending out the team to actually attack teams (al la M?bro v Man Utd yesterday)? It won?t happen.

I recall writing three years ago after another Anfield derby where we rolled over and played dead. Got panned for my troubles, and yes, we did finish fourth then after all and I was big enough to acknowledge this come the end of the season, but this is the point of Kevin?s post I believe. We certainly won?t finish 4th this year, we may not even finish 5th or 6th. So in actual fact we will have not progressed one iota in three yearsl At best we will have ?stood still!? I guess it took someone like Kevin a little longer to face up to our future prospects in a realistic way than some others, however, he obviously shares a great taste in music with the Pink Floyd reference! Nice one Kevin.

"It struck me that I?d probably never see a player of his genuine class playing for Everton ever again"

The bloke's done it for a few months in the Prem. Top defenders and managers work players out. He might not be so prolific next year. Players like Rooney have been doing it for 6 years. And where did he spend the first 2 of them?

So according to you we?ll never see players like that again. We will, even if we have to bring them through ourselves. Rather than than spend millions on mostly shite which is what Liverpool do.

Your pessimism, like a lot of Evertonians, is pathetic. Up to the Fulham game we had more points than anyone since the start of the year. On a great run with fantastic results. Don't win for 3 games and we get articles like this. All I?ll say is if you haven't been happy with this season you should give up.

I started reading the first few posts and gave up. That first article is one I have to completely disagree with although everyone has their own opinion. Before being depressed at the derby performance, big 4 cash, russians or any yanks please keep one thing in mind - just 3-4 years ago we were a side starting every season hoping to avoid relegation - KEEP THAT IN MIND! We are improving at a relatively fast pace and now start each season realistically looking for UEFA qualification (through the league) as a minimum target, which is a million miles from were we were a few short years ago. Also all that nonsense about not having any cash is just rubbish. Granted we cannot spend 20m on one player (yet) but.....12m Yak, 9m AJ, 6m Baines, 5m Lescot, not to mention 6m Beatie, 5m coughdrop - we have cash and are spending!. If we can add a couple more signings of the Arteta/Yak/Lescot level we will be able to aim for CL qualification - we are not far off. All you can ask of DM and the team is to improve year on year. Also how many players in the last 10 years has Arsene Wenger paid 20m for? I canot think of any. So STOP the moaning, yes it hurts to lose to the RS but keep the faith. Only 3pts behind the RS - it’s not over yet. COYB!

Best points total ever in the Prem for Everton, real posibility of finishing 4th, best run in Europe for over a decade, Carling Cup semi-final, relative success for women/youth team, finally a striker who scores 20 a season, countless players in their international teams, best young manager in the league, best fans in the league, state-of-the-art training facilities etc etc

Rome wasn?t built in a day but real progress is being made. Get behind the boys and we can get back in the Champs League. COYB

Kev, I sympathise with your view and empathise with your desperation, and sometimes wake at night in a cold sweat with the dread that my kids may never actually exprience that incredible, indescribable feeling of Everton winning the league. No different to the millions of suporters around the countty (or in Spain, Italy, Germany etc etc for that matter) whose team are never going to top the top division, EVER! And thats the difference, following a team isn’t just about winning all the time. I have loads of mates from all over the country supporting loads of different clubs, and at a recent university reunion (27th!!!), when the talk (always) turned to football there was unanimous respect for our club, our endeavours to break the monoply of the super rich, for our manager, our tradition. So its odd to come on to this site and hear the chest beating desperation which is such a contrast to the way other supporters view our team and its progress under our young manager. There is always a bigger picture and a wider perspective, but as footy fans we’re usually not that good at seeing it, but thats the beauty of it and why those who read or submit to this site, or go the match or don’t go the match will continue to love our club, the same way others love THEIR clubs, and why my kids love Everton, and are proud to say so in front of all the gooners, chelskis, red poo trophy hunting maggots of the world. We’re all proud to be blue, regardless of what what we win or don’t win.

Denis