FAN ARTICLES

Turning Left...

By Steve Guy :  04/09/2008 :  Comments (21) :

The transfer sagas of the close season and the ?drama? of deadline day initially overshadowed the Arabian capture of the Sky Blues. It is only now, as the transfer dust settles, that media and fans alike are starting to digest the real drama of 1st September, 2008; the purchase of these perennial underachievers and the immediate statement of intent made with the signing of Robinho. I read in one paper that the ?tectonic plates of the footballing landscape had shifted? and I don?t think this is an overstatement. Its effect at Everton has been immediate.

From what I have read of Blue Bill?s EGM speech he was absolutely frank in his assessment (albeit he was stating the obvious); that Everton needed a billionaire to compete and we needed that person NOW. The shift in emphasis, from what have in the past been labelled platitudes (?24/7? etc.), to this very blunt statement has, in my opinion, been brought about by the purchase of City. Everton and a host of other clubs can no longer comfort themselves with the thought that we are all in the same boat and that money goes to money i.e. the Big Four. Indeed, I doubt that the latter will be sleeping as easily as they have done for the last 15 years and next January and the following Summer will see plenty of aftershocks from the aforementioned tectonics.

However, it?s all very well to say ?go get me a billionaire?, the Club has to be an attractive proposition for there to be even a chance of a dialogue. How can City attract two (!) such billionaires on the bounce, whilst we are now officially ?paupers??

We bear comparison with City on a number of levels. We each have a cross to carry in the shape of Man Utd and Liverpool. The latter are global ?brands? whilst we hardly register. We both have good managers; currently still learning their trade. Both sets of fans are staggeringly loyal and attendances are not dissimilar at home matches. The difference seems to be the stadia; where City once inhabited a large shed, they now play their footie in a great stadium in the heart of Manchester. Whilst we play in the City, our stadium looks increasingly worn and jaded. City can already generate good revenues without a billionaire; through streams which are not open to us because our ground does not have the capability.

Poor management has also played it?s part in this latter regard; for example, at a time when outsourcing is increasingly seen as poor business practice we went against that trend and gave JJB rights which, by any stretch, cannot be said to have been fully exploited, with representation in our own backyard not even well managed. Wyness has much to answer for and has scuttled away without any explanation, which says more to me than any statement he could have made.

As we all know, City appeared to get lucky with their stadium, inheriting a modern complex off the back of the City Council?s (MCC) construction of it for the Commonwealth Games. However, did ?luck? have anything to do with it, or was it in fact ?joined up? writing between public sector and private business in a way we don?t see from Liverpool City Council (LCC)?

I believe it is the latter and that the consequence has been financial success for both parties even before the new investor turned up. It was this clear bedrock of financial credibility and the associated positive image of the club (when combined with the actual City stadium itself) which made the Arabian Bentley turn right and not left and head for Manchester and not Goodison.

My opinion is that LCC now have a responsibility to attract investment to Everton by following a similar approach to their counterparts at the MCC. Everton and Liverpool football clubs should be acknowledged as a significant part of the economic landscape of Liverpool (as a City) and LCC should react accordingly. We have a small window of opportunity brought about by the deferment of the Kirkby Planning approval and the delays to the new Anfield. Before this window closes and both Clubs commit themselves to a mountain of debt by going their separate ways, LCC need to move centre stage.

I would like to see LCC sit down with both Clubs and agree to build a stadium that LCC would own and which could be leased out to both Clubs. In this way, the economic issues of massive capital investment facing both Everton and Liverpool would be eradicated. Neither Club would own the stadium, so neither should see itself as the lesser partner. The terms of the lease would see Liverpool tax payers receive a great return on their investment over many years.

Most importantly, in the context of getting our own billionaire, a major stumbling block would have been removed and we may finally see our own Arabian Knights arriving on Goodison Road complete with Bentley and that suitcase full of cash.

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