Feel the force

Comments (13)

So the new season is almost upon us. The forum soothsayers are either justifying their misguided predictions of who we should have signed (and why we didn?t) or celebrating their insight into our beloved club?s real expenditure and canny captures thereof.

I imbibe the passion we all share for our club and equally respect that we are lucky to be able to express that opinion in an environment that encourages debate. I personally enjoy bivalence, a bivariate that provicates discussion. Irrelevant of where we believe Everton should be (based on our respective agendas) in the grand old scheme of things: ?Results are the Guru?. To summarise, would it be appropriate to suggest as supporters we are divided into two camps right now ? namely the glass is half full, or half empty?

Half Full: After almost suffering bankruptcy as a consequence of years of inept boardroom dealings exacerbated by relinquishing control to ?Sugar Daddy? Peter Johnson, which was followed by a subsequent plethora of abhorrent (and suspect) business decisions (e.g. Steve Simonsen transfer from Tranmere to Everton for £4million), BK negotiated control over EFC and soon appointed David Moyes as manager.

The basis of this decision being EFC were skint and needed somebody who could rebuild the club from the bottom up. Somebody who at that time was recognised (by Uefa at least in terms of coaching qualifications and other creditable sources) as the best young managerial prospect in the country who might, just might, reawaken a fallen giant.

Half empty: Everton Football Club have an undivided right to be not only winning or challenging for trophies each season but additionally have to accomplish this with style and guile — after all we are the school of science, remember? Anything less than this should be met by outrage and malevolence.

BK and KW should be castigated for their ineptitude — after all we only finished 6th last year, nowhere good enough. We should sell to anyone who can provide us with finance to purchase anybody we believe is worthy of the blue shirt. After all the fans know best right? It should be our absolute right to know every target EFC are after, not only that but to be kept stage-by-stage informed by the club of negotiation details. How dare EFC not divulge confirm or deny every scurrilous tabloid-selling headline of potential transfers.

Personally, I feel supporting Everton is like a zen exercise! Just when you think you?ve worked it all out ? you realise you knew nothing at all! That's what learning is, after all; not whether we lose the game, but how we lose and how we've changed because of it and what we take away from it that we never had before, to apply to other games. Losing, in a curious way, is winning.

We don?t have huge financial backing, we don?t have a wealthy benefactor. However what we do have money can?t buy. Our strength lies in our unification — our ability to make GP one of the most hostile arenas to play football in. I would implore every single Evertonian to remember this. We are work in progress, we are not the finished article however we are sleeping giants about to rise up again. My only hope is we lay aside our differences on Saturday and unite behind a manager who needs our support (especially after his recent tragedy) and the players who will not let us down if we believe in them. The choice is ours...
Peter Stone, Cannes, France     Posted 08/08/2007 at 01:37:25

Return to the Mail Bag