ToffeeWeb - Season 2007-08

The Mail Bag

Leahy's letter swung it

And the club know it.

Like many, I judged that this was running dead even all the way through. There always seemed to be 45pc committed in the ?yes? and ?no? camps. It was always going to come down to a crucial 10pc, with a 5.01% swing in either direction.

Prior to the Wigan game I sensed that it was 50-50 with perhaps the ?no? camp just ahead by a nose. As we?ve now seen it came down to 4,762 voters holding sway. Which means that 2,382 voters made all the difference. And I firmly believe that can be attributed to Leahy?s well-composed letter being released by the club (after the voting had started, let?s not forget) as a last desperate measure to help sway a vote which, in the wake of Wyness? 6th-form effort, they were in serious danger of losing.

So (adopts cod Norwegian accent), ?take a bow: EFC?s publicity machine; a one-sided brochure; David Moyes, Tim Cahill (twice!), Mikel Arteta; Lee Carsley, Alan Stubbs, Andy Johnson; the might of the Daily Post and Echo; Terry Leahy; and Tom Cannon, your boys produced a helluva result.? Not.

Just 2,382 fans made all the difference. How mightily unimpressive. Keith Wyness should be shaking Terry Leahy very firmly by the hand for well and truly saving his bacon.

On a side note: is it just me who thinks that the result of this vote could have and should have been held over until Tuesday, chiefly out of respect for Rhys Jones and family? There?s a very good chance that some of the family will be there tomorrow judging by the heart-rending press interviews.

A post August Bank Holiday ?all back to work? Tuesday have been an ideal time to announce this in any case. What?s more there would have been a decent gap until our next home game to let emotions cool.

Now, though, we?ll be faced tomorrow with a potentially poisonous atmosphere on a day (with a late kick off and 2 hours more drinking time) which should have a sombre edge to it.

EFC?s rush to announce this vote smacks of kid on Christmas morning that can?t wait to show you what Santa brought.

Tell you, if the club turn round later today and crassly tell us to unite tomorrow for the sake of the Jones? family then I?ll throw up. They could have delayed this. Should have.
Greg Murphy, Liverpool Posted 24/08/2007 at 11:58:11

back Return to the Mail Bag

Comments

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer

Gerard Madden
1 Posted 24/08/2007 at 12:45:23

I’m sorry but THERE WILL be a sombre atmosphere about tomorrow, a young blue has been killed in a brutal way. If you can’t put aside your personal feelings over the vote for that then you’re not human.

Michael Hackett
2 Posted 24/08/2007 at 12:37:41

It would only be dragging out this process further when most people were sick of it long ago. They said they were gonna announce it so they did. It seems like you are just picking holes at the moment. If they had delayed it the no vote would probably have come up with another vote rigging conspiracy. Either way ye’d be bitching as it has been the whole way through.

Danny Mullally
3 Posted 24/08/2007 at 12:44:18

I agree about Terry Leahy’s letter, I voted no and it even had me waivering for a moment.
The biggest thing about this for me is the amount of people who never voted. That figure really shocked me. With regrds to the result it has actually given me encouragement to see how close it was. A decision of this magnitude has dived a vast fanbase. Can we really press on with this with such division? I am telling you now that if we begin to struggle on the pitch, it will cause bedlam in the stands. I hope this divison does not impact on the footballing side of things, I feel that we are on the cusp of a great side, and to mess that up now would be a shame.

Gerard Madden
4 Posted 24/08/2007 at 12:54:37

At the end of the day only a quarter of blues felt strongly enough to vote ’no’.

The combined might of those who voted ’yes’ and those who don’t care where we play (and couldn’t be bothered to vote!) is OVER 70%.

Greg Murphy
5 Posted 24/08/2007 at 13:04:33

Well, can anybody back me up here or am I dreaming? Yep, I well recall that the initial, stated, intention was to announce the result ahead of the Blackburn game. But prior to the Wigan game I’m certain that I read that the ballot results would not be released until 28th August. I well recall thinking that was a sensible decision i.e. waiting until after the Blackburn game, with a good stretch ahead of the next home game. I had many discussions to that effect at the Wigan game. Right up to yesterday I was under the impression that, despite what they initially said, the revised plans were the announcement would be made on the 28th.

Craig Benson
6 Posted 24/08/2007 at 13:07:39

I?m sorry but all you yes men are here making excuses for a club that has fucked you over. If you voted yes, you killed this club. You are narrow minded victims of one sided marketing and short term ambition. In thirty years time when this club is on it?s knees becasuse everyone in Liverpool supports Liverpool, you?ll claim you voted No. You pricks!!!

jon williams
7 Posted 24/08/2007 at 13:35:12

I’m from Bolton but support Everton, why? Because my Dad did, I didn’t have a choice. It will always be thus. My Kids will support Everton even though they live in London, they won’t have a choice. To say that everyone in Liverpool will support Liverpool because we’ve moved 5 miles up the road is narrow minded and shows a complete lack of understanding of what it means to be an Evertonian.

Martin Gray
8 Posted 24/08/2007 at 13:57:54

I just do not get the argument around Kirkby. I support Everton and always will do - if Everton moved to London tomorrow I would still follow Everton. If they announced tomorrow they were ground sharing with that lot it would not change my love for Everton. For me it is absolutely nothing to do with location - it is all about the club.

I love Goodison and I wish I had a pound for every time I have been there but we are seriously kidding ourselves if we think it is a ground suited to the future of a club that likes to think of itself as on the up.1966 World cup ground, 1996 not considered good enough for Euro 96. It has been a steady decline for lots of resaons but lets be honest it has been a visible decline and will continue to be so if we stay.

I hear various options mooted as viable but what I never see is the cost. How much will it cost Everton to develop the loop site for example. Lets not kid ourselves, we are not a rich club anymore. Look at Leeds as the perfect example of a club spending money it does not have.If nothing else the Kirkby option appears to be financially manageable to us and that should not be under estimated.

To get a first class stadium, by 2010,without impacting too heavily on the club’s finances is an option it would be dangerous to ignore.It may not quite be the deal of the century but it is a hell of a deal that is unlikely to come around again.

I want Everton to be successful and I believe this is another step in the right direction. Lets get on with it.

Alan Ryder
9 Posted 24/08/2007 at 14:27:16

Tomorrow’s game- I’ll feel desperately sad for the Jones family. I am expecting total solidarity from all good evertonians and a winning performance from the team. The stadium debate doesn’t even come into it tomorrow, everybody’s entitled to their opinion but surely we have a responsibilty in how and when we express it.

Colin Potter
10 Posted 24/08/2007 at 15:39:18

Mr Mcdonald said to Kenwright at the AGM "Do you want to be remembered as the man who took us away from Goodison?". He said then or maybe a little later that he did not! So what is he to do?

"I know" he thinks, I will let the fans have a vote on it.If they vote no to Kirkby and in ten years time bits of the ground keep falling on their heads and we are stagnating I can blame the fans!If they do vote yes "Whoopee" I'll have my brown envelopes to look forward to, not forgetting Keithy as well! And, if in a few years time that goes tits up, I can still blame the fans! "Yippee! "Which is exactly what he did, and with the lure of the money he was going to make going to Kirkby, out came the propaganda.

He needn't have bothered, he could have just advertised for a bunch of wallies,which he got anyway. He and Lieness are going to end up a lot richer after wrenching the clubs support asunder.And you know what? I don't think they give a twopenny fuck about us anyway!