ToffeeWeb - Season 2007-08

The Mail Bag

Progress, what progress?

Are Everton really making progress? With two months of transfer inactivity brought to an end with the signing of a relegated utility player and the hackneyed spin that new deals for existing players are akin to new signings, we are expected to believe they are.

Unfortunately, the truth is that the club is now further than ever left trailing in the wake of `The Big Four`. Indeed, with the emergence of Spurs as serious players in the transfer market, I suspect that we should now be saying`Big Five`.

Leaving aside the paucity of real quality in the team , (Fernandes has disappeared without trace, remember) the total uncertainty about the ground move and the craven prevarication by Kenwright & Co over this and virtually any other major issue leads me to believe we are drifting back towards mediocrity.

As happened two years ago, a very decent season has led to complacency not only on the playing side but also in how the club deals with its fan base. Recent exchanges I have had with `the management` over season ticket issues smack of a return to the `like it or lump it` policy we all know so well.

OK, we`re in Europe but as we are aware, that is a journey that can end in nightmare and unless Moyes moves quickly to `up the quality` in the side,we shall once again return humiliated. Given past experience,most of us will be lucky to get much further than John Lennon anyway!

Sorry to sound like Tony Marsh in depression, but I`m genuinely worried about the direction in which the club is going—it sure ain`t upwards....is it?
Brian Noble, Ince Blundell Posted 05/07/2007 at 10:55:05

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Tony Marsh
1 Posted 05/07/2007 at 16:47:42

Here Here Brian just what I have been trying to say for ages now but some of em just wont have it.

Its starting to look like a repeat of the dreaded 04/05 pre season were we let slip a great opportunity to advance the club on to a bigger stage.

If money is short then why dont the club come out and tell us.We can take it.One of the reason,s I have a go at Moyes is he prepared to go along with BKs bullshit and cover for him.

Please lets have the truth and no more Kidoligy.It just doesnt work any more.

Rupert Sullivan
2 Posted 05/07/2007 at 16:56:58

Brian,

I wholeheartedly agree with everything you have said. It will simply be a travesty if EFC do not capitalise on this position and sign players of sufficient numbers and quality to allow us to compete in Europe, at home and the cups. Jagielka as Everton’s number 1 priority... make’s you think doesn’t it?

Lee Wilson
3 Posted 05/07/2007 at 17:15:16

Brian, couldn’t agree more - sadly if we’re being truthful we have a poor Chairman, playing around in what is now a rich man’s game.

We spent this season’s money last year when we gambled on buying Johnson and Lescott.

Sadly, its looking like we have very little to spend this year, just at a time when all the clubs close to us are adding quality to their squads.

This for me is the most frustrating side of Moyes - as an Everton Manager he is in a strong position to put pressure on the Board to give him the finances to compete and all he does is thank them for giving Cahill and Arteta contract extensions!

Its difficult not to be pessimistic

Richard Osborne
4 Posted 05/07/2007 at 17:26:01

It all depends on what you call ?quality?. It is all very well bringing in lavish superstars with huge wallets and egos to match.

What DM has built at Everton is unity and team spirit. Without that there is no way the likes of Tony Hibbet, Lee Carsley and Alan Stubbs would have got us into Europe. But they have. Surely most credit must go to the Manager for creating that togetherness. It sure was not there under Smith.

If DM is going to bring in ?quality?, I really hope it is in the form of players who want to play for the club and not at the whim of their agents.

John Patrick McFarlane
5 Posted 05/07/2007 at 17:29:34

I agree with all those above, however, we do have to have a little realism. We have not got the resources available to join the big 4 or 5, we won’t have those resources for some considerable time and therefore the leap from sixth to higher is similar to a mid-80s team climbing from 11th to top. It’s not impossible but it won’t be money that solves our problem. It is up to one man David Moyes, to get 100% out of his available squad. He and he alone will be the person who the fans will have to rely on to achieve what we all want. I know Tony does not have any time for the guy and I too have serious doubts. But this coming season will show us wether he is truly the Messiah or merely an imposter. DM has to let off the shackles and make his players believe that collectively they are far superior to many of our rivals and that on their day they are capable of beating any Premier team. DM has to stop telling his players and us the fans about the abilities of our opponents and start talking up the Blues. If DM can manage that then who knows where it may lead...on the other hand 2005-06 springs to mind.

Dave Lynch
6 Posted 05/07/2007 at 17:43:14

Brian. Quality post, some of the points made are exactly what myself and Steve.C where making a short time back.
It is the lack of clarity and to my mind concern for the fans that realy pisses me off.
Cloak and dagger springs to mind and they’re not even good at it.
At times it’s like an Ealing comedy, farcicle and predictable.
I firmly believe that it will all end in tears this season, due to lack of depth in the squad and the pressure of to many games.
You can see it coming. Mid table and out of all cups by Feb.
Believe me, i want to be optimistic. But just can’t get the old juices flowing.

Gavin Ramejkis
7 Posted 05/07/2007 at 20:30:30

A passionate posting and one which shares my sentiments very closely. I too have posted before lamenting the amount of times this club has failed to take the next step at the cusp of success.

All successful businesses inwardly invest profits into expansion and increasing the quality and quantity of their product or output. Look at the big four with the exception of Chelsea and their once in a lifetime sugar daddy and all the clubs have increased the quality and quantity in direct proportion to their success producing a rapid upward spiral leaving those without the business acumen to do likewise with a short term fat pocket syndrome and steady decline afterwards as their competitors leave them for dead. Look at the majority of clubs and that is what you see.

Increase the quality on the pitch to increase your success in domestic leagues and in competitions at home and overseas, then the capacity of your ground in line with your success on the pitch to match your increased demand for tickets and the services you offer within the ground to match the increased headcount, all tied into a basic development plan anyone could understand, not a throw cash at a problem scenario but a concerted and steady plan.

Spending cash to meet demand that doesn’t exist is folly; a massive stadium without the entertainment and success on offer to fill it, the success of the team should be the driving force behind the development not the other way around. Each false dawn just weakens your customer’s resolve to support your endeavours and products and it will gradually erode, the club should realise the driving force behind it’s profit and loss is attracting as many paying punters to come and watch and buy into the product with merchandising, in laypersons terms crap products attract less customers than good successful ones, create the demand first, don’t let another chance fade away.

Eric Myles
8 Posted 06/07/2007 at 02:32:05

Brian, if money spent puts Tottenham in the ’Big 5’ then surely Newcastle are among the ’Big 6’?

And where have they been finishing in the league lately?