ToffeeWeb - Season 2007-08

The Mail Bag

Da Loop

Why do people think by voting "yes" we are saying "no" to the loop? The yes vote is only to say we are happy with the way the Kirkby deal is going and to please keep negotiations going. Do you really think Bill Kenwright would turn down the loop if it turned out to be a viable site? He stands to lose millions if he's wrong about Kirkby. If we vote yes and the loop turns out to be a better or worse option we win either way. If we vote no and the loop is a red herring then we lose big time. Voting yes is, as those lovable Yanks say, a "no brainer."

I'll put it clearly:
Yes = Kirkby & The Loop
No = Just the Loop
Barry Lightfoot, Birkenhead Posted 16/08/2007 at 21:46:06

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Lyndon
Editorial Team
1 Posted 17/08/2007 at 00:13:40

You can put it as plainly as you like, Barry, but the CEO of Everton has publicly mocked the loop option with an open letter on the subject so it’s highly unlikely that the club will pursue it after a "yes" vote unless Bestway follow through with a feasibility study and fully costed alternative that prompts a sufficiently big groundswell of supporter interest that the Board is unable to ignore it.

Gerard Madden
2 Posted 17/08/2007 at 01:40:53

I agree with Lyndons reply with the addition that it depends on how the negotiations go with Tesco/Knowsley too, if they continue to go well then I think the club will simply keep going with it and will feel the mandate from the fans gave them the nod to ignore anything else.

In any case I actually think a ’yes’ vote would kill any other option anyway because Bradley when mentioning the loop has always carefully preceded the Bestway/LCC proposals with words like ’If the fans vote no....’

Jason Hagarthy
3 Posted 17/08/2007 at 01:58:22

Voting NO is far too dangerous, as it ties the Club to binning Kirkby! Like it or not, is is very very likely that Kirkby is the only realistic option for us if we are to get a new stadium in this generation! To me, it seems clear the No camp think they are far cleverer than KW, BK and TL. I think a reality check is in order. Of course self interest is key too, but at least the EFC board have a mutual interest i.e. they have a duty to do what is best for Everton. Bradley has number one duty to LCC and Carter to the Bestway Board. Other than apparent bitterness and hatred to the custodians of EFC I really fail to see why there is so much wishful empty longing for the Loop option. The finances just aint there for it. I feel Bestway and LCC are banking on Evertonians being thick!...I sincerely hope they are wrong. I believed they where wrong before, but seeing how so many have false hope re the Loop I am beginning to doubt the grey matter of Evertonians...what on earth is the world coming too?

Robin Cannon
4 Posted 17/08/2007 at 02:27:50

Well there’s where the big problem with the vote is. Only a yes vote can even conceivably keep other options open for discussion, but Lyndon rightly points out that this is unlikely. But a no vote simply kills the Kirkby deal completely, leaving us with no developed options at all. All we’d have is a very sketchy "well, this’d be nice" idea about the Loop.

Bradley is being disengenuous with his "if the fans vote no..." though. It’s entirely in his interests to have a no vote because it removes any pressure on him to act on the matter while simultaneously forcing the club to rely on an LCC who hardly have the most wonderful track record of supporting the club.

realblue
5 Posted 17/08/2007 at 03:44:32

this is how it looks to me:

Vote yes and we move on with the kirkby project, new stadium in 3 years.
vote no and we don’t. Tesco walks, in steps the liverpool city council and bestway. After that who knows what will happen. EFC will have no bartering tool, except what bestway will offer, if anything. The blues will be solely in the hands of the LCC. Knowsley and sefton won’t touch us, once bitten etc. The fans will have voted never to move out of the city, therefore LCC will hold all the cards. Meanwhile a major project will be well under way in a supposed heritage-listed park, not far from our crumbling home. Maybe someone will take pity on us and buy us out, maybe not.
We can wait and see.
One ’positive’ out of this to consider:
Championship and 1st Division sides, especially former great sides, can be snapped up for bargain prices these days, just ask Leeds Utd...

Derek Thomas
6 Posted 17/08/2007 at 06:28:02

The vote is for Kirkby ONLY, as we have been told, ad infinitum, the is NO plan B.Well no official one anyway, but now it seems there just maybe.

If memory serves, the Toffeeweb poll showed a 70%ish agreement that Goodison is, baring a mega cash windfall in the ’too hard’ tray.

I read this to mean..No is to stay at Goodison, with NO time limit short term or long term...NO = STAY

YES means to leave Goodison for Kirkby.

Foolish and trusting I might be,but if the Loop stacks up viz a viz Kirkby AND has the added bonuses of being in Everton AND close to the City Centre, Then I don’t think even this Board is daft enough to cut their nose off to spite their face.

ed
7 Posted 17/08/2007 at 12:26:01

Im sick of hearing about keeping our options open - what bloody options, EFC have no money for a new stadium, they have no money for redoveloping goodison - THIER IS NO MONEY - Kirbys a good deal, lets get on with it and keep the club moving forward, PLEASE.

Simon Hughes
8 Posted 17/08/2007 at 13:24:50

God I’m so sick of some fellow Evertonians. Yes, you lot that have voted YES based on no facts whatsoever, other than Wyness shouting ’deal of the century’ and ’£10 million a year’. When, or if, a YES vote comes forward that will be it. Remember the exclusivity deal with Tesco and Knowsley. Do you think they will progress the Kirkby project and allow Everton to keep other options under consideration aswell? No chance. You vote for Kirkby and we’ll get it. Other options will be dead in the water. Don’t pretend your voting to keep options open. At least have the balls to accept that. The rest of us will just have to live with the consequences for 100 years or so. Thanks.

Stephen Linden
9 Posted 17/08/2007 at 13:40:08

Has anyone read the review of the loop site on the OS? Apparently, due to safety requirements, crowd flow, emergency vehicle access etc. only a 35,000 seat stadium would fit.

Have a look at http://www.evertonfc.com/news/archive/loopo-feasibility-analysis.html

If true then why is the feasibility study being conducted?