ToffeeWeb - Season 2007-08

The Mail Bag

The magic 51%

So much criticism of the Everton Board has been in evidence over the past few days that it is difficult to believe that it`s all over their decision to give the club`s true fans a say in the proposed move to Kirkby.

As the very able Chief Executive has told us, Everton are the first major club to give their fans a say in a ground move although the announcement of a poll, which as I suggested weeks ago, will be restricted to `core` supporters and conducted under the auspices of the Electoral Reform Society has largely been greeted with derision.

Personally, I believe that it is the Board`s job to direct the affairs of the Club but because of the great bond our Chairman has with his fellow Evertonians he has determined that we should have a say in the decision.

Clearly, as in most democratic processes, a majority of 51% in favour is required to see the vote to move carried. This will be affirmation that the majority of those who follow the Club with their cash as well as their hearts are up for the move.

Not much to ask,is it?

So just make sure that when the voting paper lands on your mat you attend to it the right away. Of course, you will vote as your conscience dictates but just as we know that the playing affairs are in good hands, we can be supremely confident that we would not be recommended to support this move were it not absolutely right for EFC.

Achieving that magic 51% is probably the most important milepost in the hisory of this great institution. Vote well, vote wisely.
Richard Dodd, Formby Posted 23/07/2007 at 08:41:59

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Colm

The above was a Party Political Broadcast from a "Mr. R. Dodd", on behalf of the Everton PR Spin Machine.

Gavin Ramejkis
1 Posted 23/07/2007 at 10:33:25

Vote No, easy, don’t believe the bullshit, the lies or the PR spin, has part of Goodison ever fallen on you or look it ever will? Have you ever thought to yourself you would uproot yourself and your family and move to Kirkby thinking yes it’s the right move for me and my family (and I don’t mean rehoused due to WW2 bombing or housing shortages I mean freewill)?

Take a breath and think, you are able to make up your own mind

Gavin Ramejkis
2 Posted 23/07/2007 at 10:36:38

Richard if you hadn’t noticed your beloved great Chairman’s bond with his bosom fans at the moment has meant he has blanked us all to fuck about with his jumped up panto in London, great man my arse.

Barry
3 Posted 23/07/2007 at 10:37:25

Listen, whatever your opinion of Richard he does have a valid point. We are being given a vote on this issue which is more than most fans get. They have said that the vote result will be binding. The vote is being overseen by the electoral reform society. I don’t really see how this can be criticised overall untill after the process is completed and some irregularities are found to have occurred.

It seems crazy that some people are constantly intent on picking fault with everything as a matter of course. Even being given a vote on the issue attracts criticism. Why? If a majority of fans vote against Kirkby we don’t go. Its that simple really.

Barry
4 Posted 23/07/2007 at 10:37:25

Bob Turner
5 Posted 23/07/2007 at 10:50:32

Colm, your comments don’t lend themselves much to any editorial policy this site might have concerning objectivity, do they?? I don’t remember seeing a similar comment underneath Tony Marsh’s latest rant.

How is it anything positive is derided as delusory, whereas the likes of Tony Marsh’s ravings are written by someone with passion, whose heart is in the right place??

Erik Dols
6 Posted 23/07/2007 at 11:05:56

First of all: I think Colms’ comment was meant tongue-in-cheek, just friendly banter. It links voting with politics, where voting is common habit, as we all know.

Second of all: I agree with Barry about the vote being a good thing. For some people, the club cannot do anything good in the stadium debate. And last time I pointed this out, I got thrown in the pro-Kirkby-team by someone. I’m not in favour of a move to Kirkby, but I refuse to believe that everything the club does is some evil plan to ruin our lives as Everton-fans.

Mark
7 Posted 23/07/2007 at 11:23:04

I find it rather annoying that what are supposed to be "True Blue" supporters are all against the move and bettering the club. I know we have had many issues with the board and lack of money available, which is rather worrying when you look at the likes of West Ham, Newcastle etc woh are spending big. This move not only allows us to get a new and bigger stadium but it free’s up addtl funds for us to spend on players. No one likes change but if we want to compete with the top five things need to change and quick

Bob Turner
8 Posted 23/07/2007 at 11:28:55

Tongue in cheek, maybe, but not consistent. As I said, I don’t remember anything underneath Tony Marsh’s comments, along the lines of "He’s off again!" would be appropriate.

We obviously all care about the club, but I’m not having Tony Marsh tell me that I don’t, and that I’m "stupid" and a "traitor", just because I agree with the club and disagree with Tony Marsh.

ian kearney
9 Posted 23/07/2007 at 11:42:32

gavin, if the knowsley council gave me the land and tesco offered to build it for me. then i’d uproots like a shot and move there, i’d even let them name my new abode. is any of this relevent, no. but then neither was your point.

Barry
10 Posted 23/07/2007 at 11:33:14

I think Marsh is at the opposite end of the spectrum to Dodd. Personaly I am somewhere in the middle. I can see both sets of arguments but after weighing them up I favour Kirkby but will leave GP and Liverpool with a heavy heart.

The people I have most dificulty with are the ones who are so entrenched in negativity that they refuse to entertain any notion that there could be a positive outcome to all this. There are two sides to every argument and the final outcome is generally somewhere in the middle. There will be positives and negatives to whatever outcome is resolved no matter what the eventual result.

The funny thing isthat before this debate got under full steam the same people were being overly positive/negative about other issues and I suspect will remain so whatever happens in the future. A real shock would be to see Doddy criticising someone or Marshy praising something. Now that I would pay to read. They would have to aqcuire a whole new vocabulary probably.

Dan Mckie
11 Posted 23/07/2007 at 11:50:23

I like the fact that there are still fans out there that have ultimate faith in all things Everton,well said Richard Dodd! Im just a little surprised his positive post actually made it on the site and not become one of those that goes in the recycle bin due to the "demanding day jobs" of the webmasters! Normally the fans who are positive have to make do with replying to negative posts like Tony Marsh’s. There I said it!!

Ed MacDonald
12 Posted 23/07/2007 at 11:35:17

No, the most important milestone in the history of the club was raising £30m for the King’s Dock. We would be moving in to the best stadium in the country in the most prominent site in the city. It made the rs stadium (let alone Kirkby) look 2nd rate.

The current board inherited the KD deal, mucked it up, then gave us Kirkby. Vote wisely indeed. . .

Dan Mckie
13 Posted 23/07/2007 at 12:04:14

The Kings Dock would have been nice Ed but its strange that people seem unable to believe that we can get the Kirkby deal for the £50 - £75 million mark but all seem certain that the Kings Dock would be done if we’d have had £30 million! There must have been more to it cos when you looked at all the Kings Dock images and plans,30 million would have struggled to buy the bogs!

mike benjamin
14 Posted 23/07/2007 at 12:35:59

Just assuming that the vote result is in favour of the move.....and it actually happens..........does it mean that some of you will be forming fceverton of liverpool?

Gavin Ramejkis
15 Posted 23/07/2007 at 10:36:38

Danny Mullally
16 Posted 23/07/2007 at 12:56:05

Mike,
If the vote is in favour of the move there will be no Fc Everton of Liverpool because true fans will still follow the blues wherever they play. However I am certain come two generations down the line from myself there will be very few supporters from the city of Liverpool who are even bothered about who Everton FC are. Moving to knowsley is not just 4 miles down the road. It is ripping the heart out of ’Nil Satis Nisi Optimum’ and selling the very fabric the club has based its foundations on down the river. In my opinion of course.

Barry
17 Posted 23/07/2007 at 13:17:53

Everton have been in Liverpool’s shadow for most of the past 40 years. The fact that we can still attract a sizeable support despite their vast trophy haul is proof enough to me that we will still attract that support if we move to Kirkby.

Don’t forget that we fans are the heart and soul of this club not the bricks and mortar, not the chairman, not the postcode. Goodison is only alive when we are there and we will breathe that same life into a stadium at Kirkby or anywhere. While we support this club we perpetuate it’s spirit and we will continue to attract the same support as we always have.

When I started supporting Everton I had no idea where goodison was what it looked like or what our history was. That all came later and I suspect that is true of many blues. Football is a global game and a hop over the border to Knowsley will not make one jot of difference other than providing the club with higher potential earnings to enable us to compete

Bob Turner
18 Posted 23/07/2007 at 13:32:06

How do we become Evertonians? Is it through choice? Do we suddenly decide, as a kid, to support Everton, for no reason? I don’t know about everyone else, but I didn’t get a choice, my dad made it for me, as did his, and so on. My brother didn’t get a choice either. So my kids won’t get a choice, nor will his, and so on. I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this.

Now, as someone who’s born and bred blue, I can’t speak for other people, and the reasons why they became blue (or red!). The only other factor I can imagine that enters into kids’ minds when they’re deciding who to support is success (isn’t this why there are so many glory-hunting out of town RS, Man U fans?)

I mean, in the 2 generations down the line that Danny mentions, if we have moved to Kirkby by then, the situation will have existed for about 50 years, so it won’t seem as strange to them as it does to us.

So imagine a kid whose dad (or even mum!) doesn’t follow football in particular, how does this kid decide who to support? I honestly can’t think of any other factor he’ll consider than success (assuming proximity isn’t too big an issue, and the transport links are as good as can be).

So it falls to how good Everton are on the pitch, particularly compared to how good the RS are. So surely whatever is best for the club itself, and gives it the best chance for long term success, is what we should be voting for. So in 50 years time, when that kid has a free choice who to support, Everton are a viable proposition.

My hunch is that we stand more chance of still being a viable proposition if we move to Kirkby, purely due to financial considerations. If it that means that my head has to rule my heart, then so be it. I’ll have to swallow my own personal feelings for the benefit of the club.

Jon Sellick
19 Posted 23/07/2007 at 14:22:56

Evertonians are fast becominga a parody of themselves - negative, pessimistic, grumbling knobheads who need to take a step back and stop all the constant moaning and whining. It’s learned behaviour after years of conditioning, it’s not natural and it is dragging the club down.

David Barks
20 Posted 23/07/2007 at 14:27:22

Well said Bob, sons and daughters of Evertonians will remain Evertonians, that’s just how it will always be. And it will be our success that pulls in more supporters, not a geographical line on the map. Christ, how many of our fans already come from outside of the city boundaries? I also find it amusing that people are turning to the Liverpool Council as heroes now that they said there are sites but not giving us any details as to how it could happen. That Council has sat on their hands and done nothing for us while doing everything they could for that other team. They have known we needed a new stadium, but done nothing. But now that Knowsley Council are offering to help us, to SUPPORT Everton in their bid for a new stadium, now they have said they have sites. I would prefer a site in Liverpool and actually think that Everton’s serious discussions with Knowsley and Tesco might just have spurred the Liverpool council into actually doing something. But I’m not holding my breath.

Gavin Ramejkis
21 Posted 23/07/2007 at 14:40:48

Any Pravda members care to share what the scaffolding on the Main Stand is for this afternoon? Had a phone call earlier to say there seems to be a lot of work going on.

It has nothing to do with the post but pro and con now getting very boring.

Steve Claringbold
22 Posted 23/07/2007 at 15:00:08

Whether we move or we don’t I really don’t care anymore.

There’s been so much crap one way or the other that I’m bored of the whole situation now. (maybe that was the PR plan from the start, to make supporters so sick of the whole moving malarkey that they’ll vote yay in the polls).

Paul Burns
23 Posted 23/07/2007 at 13:59:56

Anyone falling for the deliberate lies, misinformation and sheer welter of confusing and misleading bullshit emanating from the one-man dictatorship that Everton's "Board" of Directors has become is too stupid to vote.

Unfortunately, this seems to be either too many people at present or a mixture of braindeads and mischevious poolies jumping at the chance to kill our club off for good.

Mike McLean
24 Posted 23/07/2007 at 15:23:16

This was the first post with any real humour on the topic. Love it! More please: it entertains the crowds and builds up the no vote.

Dan Mckie
25 Posted 23/07/2007 at 15:41:55

A few people now are trying to go down the route of ’your stupid if you vote for Kirkby’ because were believeing the so-called bullshit from the board! Hows it any different to believeing the bullshit from the council,the only thing they are arsed about is the hefty council taxes Everton will soon be paying to Knowsley!!

Vic Benfield
26 Posted 23/07/2007 at 15:49:06

With all the stick Doddy gets on this site, I am amazed that he has the tenacity to keep coming up for more.Although a hopeless sycophant,he does talk a great deal of sense and it usually falls to him to redress the balance of the Kenwright/Moyes haters who would find something to carp about if we somehow won the double and the Champions League and played in Lime Street!
How I shall vote is my business,but I just wanted to say that the day we lose Doddy will be a sad one for ToffeeWeb.

Gavin Ramejkis
27 Posted 23/07/2007 at 16:26:40

I’d never ban Doddy, he even admitted I am his nemesis, love the banter it’s what two differing viewpoints and democracy are all about.

John Breen
28 Posted 23/07/2007 at 16:20:46

I agree in principle to the post but aren?t we being blind to fact that this vote is another panto from Blue Bill I mean why they are holding a vote when there is no other option it just seems like a waste of time. I know we have to move onto pastures new, but I personally would like to remain on the horizon of the dark side?s new stadium just to remind them we?ll always be here no matter how much you deride us for being skint! Things change and one day the shoe may be on the other foot so I like the sounds of the Scotty Rd site Everton football club in Everton has a better ring to it, also I don?t appreciate the comments regarding core supporters just because you currently hold a season ticket and can afford one doesn?t make you any better than a bloke who held a season ticket for twenty years only to be made redundant and now he cant afford one he deserves a vote just as much as any current holder, one more thing how gullible are we to think a company of Tesco?s size is going to just hand over such a large sum of money to current custodians, especially given their recent track record in this money merry-go-round called the premiership

I just have a gut feeling we are closing the doors on other avenues of investigation into other proposed sites what would be the harm of looking into these by the club we have collectively been dozy long enough,I think its time we woke up to other possibilities ,surely some must be as viable as the move to Kirkby and if not why not I would just like to the club comment in an informative manner and not the mission impossible type ?this stadium will self destruct in five years?

PS I thought Colm?s comment was rather good it made me chuckle, lighten up will ya over n out

Rob Muldoon
29 Posted 23/07/2007 at 18:54:26

Vote No! A place for us will be found in the heart of the city!

roy coyne
30 Posted 23/07/2007 at 22:37:38

I must be hearing things I thought no matter what the vote the board will decide the vote is a PR stunt we are going,and by the way Colm you are not aloud a sense of humour or apparently your own opinion its not as if you have followed them longer than some of the posters have lived or have you