NICK ARMITAGE COLUMN
The Final Curtain?
Comments (13) : Now, unlike some, I don?t think Bill Kenwright is the spawn of Satan. I do think the man possesses many admirable qualities and he backed Moyes to the hilt when we all thought our manager?s taxi was waiting. I do not doubt for one second that Bill Kenwright has put his heart and soul, and more, into running Everton.
When Kenwright, alongside Gregg and Woods, bought the club it was, for want of a better word, fucked, and it was fucked big time. But none of the three who made up True Blue Holdings bought Johnson?s shares out of a sense of altruism, nobody buys football clubs out of the goodness of their heart. The only two reasons I can think of are to make money or to massage your ego, and I get the feeling that Kenwright felt he?d lose his shirt on this one.
Whatever the intentions of Kenwright were, judging by what we see on a Saturday, only a village idiot would say that the club hasn?t improved during his tenure. Some counter this by pointing to the fact that Kenwright was on the board when we fell off the footballing radar or that he has presided over so many high profile cock-ups since then. I cannot dispute either.
What none of us can dispute is that we have broken our transfer record in the last two summers and it looks like we are going to break it again. Five years ago we were a laughing stock, today clubs want to emulate us. We are moving forward, we are making inroads and we are improving but the question is, are we doing any of these quickly enough?
I think that we have a lot to be thankful for at Everton, we have a great squad, the best manager we could hope for and a terrific fan base, but the problem lies elsewhere in the game. This problem is that too few clubs have too much money and too much clout. We have watched our national game getting sodomised by commercial interests for fifteen years and as a consequence, the Premier League has become an uncompetitive charade.
And the state of football today makes the achievements of Moyes all the more remarkable. Football ultimately ends up on a balance sheet, and if you scrutinise David Moyes?s return on capital employed, it will far exceed any of the other top-flight managers. If Moyes had an unlimited transfer kitty every summer, like sour-face Ferguson or the current occupier of the Chelsea hot-seat, he would tear up the G14?s poxy rulebook and shove it where the sun don?t shine.
It is well known within the game that Moyes is a very difficult character. That fact perhaps goes some way to explaining why he hasn?t moved on and for this I will be eternally grateful. But nothing lasts forever. Read what you will into these ?contract negotiations? but one fact remains that, unless things change, one of the most talented managers in world football will walk out of Everton in less than twelve months.
Moyes holds all the aces and Kenwright is now backed into a corner. Like the Labour Party that Bill so publicly backs, he is out of ideas, finance, stories, spin and soundbites. Moyes is absolutely gagging to mix it up with the big boys, but he can?t. The next step up is so tantalisingly close, but it is also so far away. Our manager has delivered on everything he said he would do in five years. He will probably go on to deliver on his promises for the next five years, but not with Bill Kenwright running the club.
For more than five years, Kenwright has told us that he doesn?t possess sufficient resources to make the next step up and would gladly step aside should he find a suitable alternative. We have all known that for years but what I don?t know is why this lame bullshit is still trawled out and why so many blues just lap it up. All the luvvie lovers need to ask themselves one simple question; when cash was so freely available, how come every single established Premier League football club has attracted substantial inward investment apart from one?
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I think to attract big investment then you need to think big as a club or at least be seen to, and the only manifestation of that is Moyes and his achievements to date.
Everything about that state of the club could be seen at Goodison yesterday. 30% attendance FFS on a saturday afternoon ?curtain raiser? when a testimonial at Man United drew 60,000 plus last week.
And dare i say it, from the top down Everton need to stop living in the past and living in the shadow of our neighbours. If i was a serious investor to hear that tinny country and western version of ?we dont care what the red side say? coming over the PA system would tell me that we ARE a side that DO care what they say and that we have a gigantic inferiority complex to boot. Second class thinking you might say.
For me, if we are to attract a serious investor then that is the type of thing that needs consigning to history NOW and a new culture needs developing in its place that talks less about the past and the RS but only about EVERTON as a club, and a brand, and makes ambitious but realistic plans for the PRESENT and the FUTURE.
Yes we have an incredible illustrious history but its time to stop living in the past because that mindset stops us realising what it will take to become ?nil satis? again in the future and that is not bloody healthy.
The best thing BK could do is to redraft a five year plan with or without ?selling? and be transparent about most (not all) of it with the FANS. That would get him respect and would allow the uncertainty and confusion that has reigned for years to be lifted between those that run, and those that follow this fine club.
Learn a lesson from Tesco Terry Bill, or at least ask him how he does things. It will provide us all with clear TARGETS and dare i say it some ACCOUNTABILITY - both things that have been shrouded in secrecy or just plain MISSING from the club for years since Sir John passed away.
Sort it out BIll - lets start looking forward again.
Rant over.
NSNO.
We have sold McFadden and AJ for a combined total not far short of £18 to £20 million... we have dropped our wage bill substantially by releasing Gravesen, Carsley, Gardner, Fernandes and Wessels... we regularly dump our academy... then mysteriously buy one or two back after they have been improved elsewhere. Surely all the money saved by these events must have gone somewhere??
Don't keep agreeing with the board that we have no money ? there must be transfer budgets as part of normal business dealings. I reckon our pay structure for the players must be too low compared to other teams. Let's face it, the salary is a major concern for any player joining us and we really struggle to complete speedy deals. Other clubs are providing new faces and that helps gate receipts and brings optimism and excitement.
We already know what to expect and that is not any improvement unless we sign a big name and develop another Rooney. Incidentally, I have never called Rooney for leaving us. He was in a side that was too old and whose only ambition was reaching 40 points. That is no good for ambitious young players or diehard Everton fans who deserve so much more.
Just looking at the attendances for the friendlies this weekend, it is clear that Liverpool is a global brand and we are not. If BK does sell his trainset (and I believe he would given the right buyer for EFC), we have to raise our profile before we become an attractive proposition.
Not to me of course, but to dispassionate investors, we ARE the second team in the city. How we raise brand awareness - either through success on the field or through fantastic marketing - is the key to Everton’s future and I don’t pretend to have any easy answers other than a closer association maybe with the city of Liverpool whose stock seems to be rising.
Dare I say it but Skoda seem to have transformed its image on the back of its association with Volkswagen, so anything is possible!
Given the current state of the football leagues and the mcdonaldisation of the premiership we find our club in a position of an uncertain future... we have made excellent progress under Moyes (the chairman’s best decision) and have hit a glass ceiling called the champions league and it appears to be impossible to break in without the backing of investors, or a turnaround in the club’s finances which in past years have continuously been shit.
We need a vision. A longer-term plan with short-term and mid-term benefits that gives the fans something to be proud of and David Moyes the backing he needs now and the belief that we will get a shot at competing with the big boys. We need a stadium that will give us a basis to advance upon the top four and beyond into Europe.
When they meet this week, as two Evertonians they need to come up with something befitting of our club, stick to the plan and then make sure it happens as how many false dawns can we take?
I think the great homer street/loop site needs further investigation, a city centre site would give us the opportunity to outdo the reds and build something big enough for our Champions League ambitions. I am talking at least 75,000+ seats with every type of commercial activity that can be accomodated in an expansion of the city centre northwards into Everton. The land around this area is ripe for investment on the doorstep of JMU and there have already been investments around the bottom of Vauxhall road etc. There is project Jennifer waiting in the wings with funding for regeneration of Everton Park. It will be an even greater boost to the area and the local businesses to have EFC back in its home as part of this development.
I believe that Big Nev was spot on when he was (mis)quoted in the Echo saying something along the lines of ’Everton will eventually have to make a choice - either charge a lot more money per seat, or get a lot more seats in the stadium’ [and fill them!], I think we would all agree that the first option would be disastrous, but is the second possible?
The other realistic option for us is the gradual redevelopment of Goddison Park. This will also require a lot of vision and patience but is also possible with the committed help of LCC, and a plan for investment.
Bill has already acknowledged that theoir must be a plan B and a plan C - Lets hope Bill, Warren, Mr. Elstone can use their brains this week.
Whatever happens I hope we are all right behind the boys this Saturday and get off to a flyer. COYB!
You said it all in your last sentence,
Money.
Theres an awful lot of in football right now and Kenwright would be in a minority of one if he didn't want his cut.
The people who are whipping themselves into a frenzy about DM?s "departure" are fools. Walk away from a deal thats worth a reported £15M over the next 5 years? It just isnt happening.
As the great Floyd put it
"Money, Its a hit"
"dont give me that to goody good bullllllshit."
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1 Posted 10/08/2008 at 07:55:38
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The simple truth is, Nick, we have punched above our weight for a number of years and it is only a matter of time before we are ?found out?. We have rode our luck for some time and I fear it is about to run out; I do hope I am wrong.