The Mail Bag
Judgement deferred
Comments (9)
Robert Maxwell was fond of saying, `Being rich is not so much about having money as the ability to borrow it.` Bill Kenwright either lacks this ability ? because he has sold off all the Club`s collateral ? or chooses to follow the Doug Ellis mode of management which puts team development on hold whilst you bring the infrastucture of the club up to scratch. Personally, I suspect he has opted for the latter course, backing his manager`s stated aim to become the first to break into the `Top Four` without substantial investment. After all, he has done it once and Kenwright knows enough about the vanities of high profilers to challenge him to do it again.
In our hearts, we all know that Moyes is right about the current transfer market and I suspect that the Koumases, Richardsons and Nugents would not have had much impact at top level anyway. On the other hand, he plays a dangerous game waiting for the market to fall as what is left to buy on 31 August may not be very exciting in any case. In the past, I have been critical of both Chairman and Manager, but I have to admit to being not a little intrigued by their present tactics and am prepared to withold my judgement until the season gets properly underway in September.
Let`s face it, it will take more than a petition to get rid of either. Deadly Doug once told me they started one a week at Villa Park, and he hung on for 30 years! So let`s just cool it a little ? who knows, we might just be quite surprised!
David Hall, Posted 15/07/2007 at 17:25:44
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2 Posted 15/07/2007 at 19:44:36
Sure there is the occasional coup (Johnson) and the occasional value buy (Arteta) but unless you have to capacity to get your feet wet in the transfer market you aren’t going anywhere.
Now, I don’t pretend to know where the Sky money has been squirrelled away to, but I don’t think that it’s beyond the realms of possibility that Moyes is having to sell before he can buy. Naysmith went before Jagielka put pen to paper and I wouldn’t be amazed to learn that they are trying to offload Beattie before making another signing.
The Doug Ellis analogy is a good one. He wasn’t in the Ken Bates mould where he specialised in taking on near bankrupt clubs and turning them around (Chelsea were more or less as Leeds are now) and I don’t think it’s any surprise that if you look at the times Villa were successful in the 70s and 80s they coincided with the two spells where Ellis relinquished the reins of the club. From an Everton perspective, I think the club is more strapped for cash than they would like to admit. You can fill the site with Bjorn Borg interviews and ladies team updates - the natives will be restless but will wait and see. The moment you admit to being broke, a feeder club for United and unwilling to let anyone play with the trainset that is EFC then the fans will be at the gates baying for blood. I’m sure there is a desperate hope that the UEFA run will transform the financial fortunes at the club, but the danger there is that the threadbare team will collapse under the strain and sink out of the Premiership.
Norwich City anyone?
3 Posted 15/07/2007 at 20:46:54
Another point I have been meaning to make for a while is about this attitude that ’who would pay that for the likes of Koumas, Richardson and Nugent..they’re no good’!?
It may have escaped your attention but Moyes did actually want these players if rumours are to be believed and I think some of the reporting sources of this interest suggest we most definitely were in for them.
I don’t therefore see how it can be viewed as a positive that we missed out. Nugent was the only one I really wanted but i’m still annoyed that we couldn’t sign Koumas because Moyes clearly wanted him.
If the manager is unable to sign his preferred targets due to lack of funds, whether we as fans rate the players or not, I really cannot see how this can be a good thing.
The board are letting us all down,the fans, the manager and any of our players with any ambition.
We may not be able to change that and moaning may not help but i’d say it’s a lot more sensible than living in cloud cuckoo land and convincing yourself that in some way all is well and maybe ’it’s for the best’ that we can’t sign players.
It’s a joke.
4 Posted 15/07/2007 at 20:43:55
It doesn’t really matter whether Kenwright is loaded or not, because some have got it in for him regardless. We have finished in the top seven three out the last five years. The club have secured two of our best players on long term deals (despite conspiracy theories of fire-sales to stave off the bailiffs). The manager has said he will not buy a player who does not improve the team, yet people berate the club for not buying the likes of Koumas; when this time last year, and the year before, they were getting slaughtered for being linked with him.
Last year we bought well, but he was criticised for borrowing against the t.v money.
Damned if you do and damned if you don’t !
5 Posted 15/07/2007 at 21:14:24
6 Posted 15/07/2007 at 22:01:48
As far as Koumas is concerned,I suggest that it was Moyes who pulled the plug on the deal,believing that he just wasn’t worth what was being asked.There is no suspicion that the manager has ever been denied funds for a signing-or is there?
Good posting,David-gets us away from the usual banal arguements and behind the management thinking.
7 Posted 15/07/2007 at 22:16:17
8 Posted 16/07/2007 at 05:44:34
9 Posted 16/07/2007 at 08:51:34
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1 Posted 15/07/2007 at 19:51:23