What’s it gonna take ? Perhaps an end to the recession for starters !

its really affected man city asnt it ? there skint and must be be bigger than everton your comment doesnt make sence to me money people always have money

Ryan

What?s so incredible? and what have we pulled off that?s impossible? We are sixth place and a good distance from a champions league place and only in the semi final of the FA Cup, this is not a bad season but far, far from incredible.

Despite all meanderings about lack of money, Moyes spent £15 million on one player this season and £12 million on one player last season, hardly a manager without resources. I would think that every team below Everton (with exception of Spurs and Man City) would like that sort of cash to spend on players.

Get some perspective we are almost the same distance ahead of the drop zone as we are behind Man United.

With the both West Ham's and Portsmouth?s financial situation in jeopardy. I think to welcome Johnny Foreigner with a stack load of cash would be unwise. Only Aston Villa seem to have a steady investor with the right mentality for the EPL. Roman?s billions have dwindled slightly so Chelsea are tightening purse strings. As for Man City god only knows.

For me, previous mismanagement at this club meant we failed to move forward when opportunity presented. As a result, we could be damned if we do and damned if don?t. Football is full of cliches.

No chance of investment until the recession is over. The banking sector are not lending much money at the minute. Also, the stadium situation needs to be resolved before any money will be put in.

Ryan - By what you say, i.e. "someone has to be waiting in the wings with stack loads of cash", I presume you mean someone who will just GIVE money to Everton, no strings attached, as at Man City.

You clearly find the idea of a club living within its means unacceptable? Why should anyone give Everton any money, other than to buy shares from someone else? The stadium is sometimes only 80% full and our revenue is a long way off the pace.

I think we should stay as we are, self-funding (but better) but with the difference coming from FAR better strategic and impulse marketing (off the field) and continued dedication and professionalism on the field.

I would personally much rather we followed the Arsenal model of a well run club that operates as a true business should and generates money through success on & off the pitch, but still maintains its ethos & principles on salaries & transfer fees. The Cheslea model, whereby it carries £750m of debt, is just preposterous. It also, to me, greatly affects the sense of achievement when success does come, as buying it will never taste the same as building it.

Everton’s finances are more parlous and constrained than I would like. But I personally do not wish to throw out the baby with the bath water and risk getting a dozey arse (Ashley) who has idea about how to create success, nor interest in anyone else’s views, or a couple of muppets (a la Gillete & Hicks) who drag the club through the gutter AND get the fans to pay the exorbitant interest costs of their purchase for which they spent, erm, zero of their own money).

It’s not going to happen Ryan, so to avoid disappointment I suggest you get used to it and see the positives of what is already being done, but what else could be done within current confines.

Hey peter we may have spent 15m on one player but we sold Johnson and fadders for more!

Peter
I wish people would get real with this "we made a record signing every year".

We SOLD Rooney, Johnson, McFadden, Beattie,Simon DAvies etc. and let quite a few other players go to save wages.

We now have the smallest squad in the Premier League but have been lucky to find and groom the likes of Osman and Rodwell and to enjoy what must be the finest team spirit in the Prem.

IMO though this cannot be sustained and I totally agree with Alan Kirwan that the commercial operations at Everton are the way forward although I suspect he and I disagree about the chairman having to go and be replaced with a more astute businessman in the Randy Lerner mould.

I am afraid that we have done nothing (off the pitch) except reach record levels of debt and lost opportunities (Liverpool one vs JJB for example) to improve operational income.

Peter Pridgeon, your mouth is again waaaay ahead of your brain, Fellaini buy was financed by the selling of Faddy and AJ, you should really learn to think just a little bit before you post, maybe some financing terms like net spending, down payment etc could help you.

Fellaini didn't cost £15m, it's a complicated contract similar to Rooney?s one but that should not get in your way.

I have an idea, all this money we've saved for this new stadium which keeps getting put back, invest it in 2 or 3 quality players and go for the Champions League places next season. ?He who dares wins!?

I think we can do it and the Champions League money will go towards a stadium in a few more years. ?You have to speculate to accumulate? is what I say.

Peter, what I meant by incredible was the fact the team has had to overcome regarding a poor start, bad injuries to key players, suspensions ... etc. With the size of the squad we have, it is incredible we're in 6th place and ready to contest an FA Cup Semi-Final. I can't believe the negativity of some Evertonians... I?m only glad our team and manager don?t feel the same way.

Alan, I understand what you're saying about Arsenal and I admire the way they're set up and the way Arsene Wenger has built very good football teams but even they now must admit they need more money to spend if they are to challenge for the title again. Football has moved on a lot since even 5 years ago when Arsenal where a really top side, but money does talk, especially in the Premier League.

I tend to look at the positives and if I where a money man I could do far worse than buying a club like Everton, who only need a few more quality additions to the squad to really kick on, with a very good young manager. NOTHING SATISFIES BUT OPTIMISM ? nil satis nisi optimum ? true translation.

Jay Harris - LUCKY to find and groom Osman, Rodwell etc? Nonsense, the club quite rightly has an envied youth system and set up. You are deriding what is a great system and qualty staff that are responsible for bringing through some excellent talent. You really think we would invest in the facilities if bringing through talent was due to luck?

"Money people always have money"

Not in a recession they don?t. Around the world the total amount of taxpayers cash used to prop up the banks runs into the TRILLIONS. (Google it if you like horror stories). Let's see how much money Man City et al actually spend in the summer.

"The team has had to overcome regarding a poor start, bad injuries to key players, suspensions ... etc. With the size of the squad we have, it is incredible we?re in 6th place and ready to contest an FA Cup Semi-Final. I can?t believe the negativity of some Evertonians... I?m only glad our team and manager don?t feel the same way."

Too true, it's been great to watch the improvements and see us even get some praise in the press, but I think that SOME of the negativity is simple realism.

"A club like Everton, who only need a few more quality additions to the squad to really kick on"

I?m sorry if this is gonna sound harsh but I live in London and down here this is called the Tottenham Delusion. Those quality additions we need to break into the top 4 (I assume this is what you mean) won?t come to us, they?ll go to a top 4 club (if a top 4 club isn't after them, then they wouldn't be good enough). Also, if we do sign quality players to try to catch the top 4, what are they going to be doing? They are not just going to sit and watch, they?ll sign quality of their own: we sign Yakubu, the RS sign Torres, Manure sign Berbatov etc...

To us, Everton are the greatest but to everyone else, we are the second club in a smallish city with not much of an economic future (at least in the short term). And now I?m going to go and throw up.

Stefan.. If your brain was as subtle as you make out, you may have realised that all Premier League managers face selling before they buy and this includes Mr Ferguson and Mr Benitez, but if you really need this explained I will be happy too.

Moyes bought Fellaini from his transfer kitty that had the revenue from the sale of Andrew Johnson and James McFadden. However, it has probably escaped your notice that most Premier League managers would not have this money made fully available to them for such a risky purchase as Fellaini and previously for Yakubu. Moyes has been supported by his Board ? unlike most other Prem Managers

Ryan, I was making comment about the outrageous statement that you made in your original post. After an incredible season and David Moyes and his team pulling off the impossible. After an incredible season; Yakubu and Vaughn have been out for most of the season; Arteta, Hibbert and Anichebe have been out for three weeks... ?hardly the battle of the Somme? and all three out well after we ensconced ourselves in sixth position. All teams have their injuries and Man United, Liverpool and Arsenal have had just as many if not more.

Whose fault was the poor start? Are you sure some monied investor will stand back and say, "Wow, look at that, three months of crap football and look how well these guys are doing!" Every team has suspensions and I bet ours are far less than most teams.

David Moyes and his team pulling off the impossible? Please explain; 6th in the Premier League, 17 points behind Man United and 19 points above the drop zone and in the semi-final of the FA Cup. Is this incredible?

Incredible would be first or second in the league, still in the Uefa Cup and the FA Cup. I would agree with you then. Are your ambitions that limited these days that you think we should be happy with 6th place?

The problem with some people on this site is; if you do not agree with such outrageous and plainly ridiculous posts then you are negative, stupid and more than likely a Koppite.

Jay Harris, they are your words not mine read my post and get your facts right. I will explain my position. I like Moyes and believe he is growing with the job he has been given, I hope he will become a great Everton manager. I understand that the job he was given was difficult and his main job was to steady a sinking ship. He has done well in this task and has been supported by the board in as far as they can. However, during Moyes reign we have seen some abysmal football, seven years and not even a sniff of a trophy and one brief appearance in the Champions League.

Take a reality check before posting such statements Ryan; as most people who come on here can remember when Everton were really a top club.

Think you may have to hold your breath until after the recession!!

Mark Pendleton, that's the same youth setup that let Jagielka go... And the reason Osman is a first-team player is more akin to having such a small squad and injuries, he was on loan well into his 20s. We are now heavily reliant on youth players coming through as we don?t have the income generation off-field beyond Sky TV rights to be able to buy players.

"Please explain; 6th in the premier league 17 points behind Man United and 19 points above the drop zone and in the semi-final of the FA Cup. Is this incredible"

Nice editing Peter, however we are only 4 points away from fourth, not "a good distance from a Champions League place"

Keep taking the pills, you really need them, I will not even bother answering ever to you anymore. If you can check what net spending means and what the likes of Spurs, City, Fulham have spended this season.

As for Yakubu and Fellaini being "risky signings" ? you are spot on: one is the best PL goalscorer for the past 5 years, the other is 20 years old in his first year scoring and creating goals, giving us height, set piece danger....

"Incredible would be first or second in the league, still in the Uefa Cup and the FA Cup" ? this sentence alone posted on whichever site other than this will show the level of your thinking, please keep taking the pills you really need them.

Well said, Stefan. Even the national press think it's incredible (dare I say that word) what David Moyes has acheived, ie, losing 1 match in 18 games, dumping Liverpool and Villa out of the Cup. Sorry for being positive.

I do remember us when we were a great team in the 80s but I also remember Mike Walker, Walter Smith, Brett Angell etc... Tom, what you say about Spurs I tottally disagree with you ? they've had a lot more money than us and where do they lie? Plus I don't mean world class additions, I mean the likes of Lescott, Cahill, Pienaar etc ? good all-round team players. And I do think it's possible to break in to the top 4, I think if we had a full squad now we'd have a chance...

Peter Pridgeon, Moyes might have spent that money on players but he had to sell players to raise the money.

Ryan Sloan,

Where did you get your ?true translation? from?

The accurate translation of Nil Satis Nisi Optimum is ? NOTHING IF NOT THE BEST? which could be reasonably interpreted as ?Nothing but the best is good enough?.

The Latin word Optimum in this sense has nothing to do with ?optimism? but has everything to do with our word ?optimal?, ie. ?as good as it can be? etc.

Thanks for getting me to claw back some of that A-Level Latin anyway! But please don?t try to gerrymander the old language to suit your argument!

Mark Pendleton, Read my post again. Nowhere did I deride our youth system ? in fact, I was praising it for bailing out our lack of finances to BUY quality players. I was stating that, as we had such low squad numbers, we were lucky to have them come through that system.

Peter Pridgeon, you too seem to have invented what I said:

"The problem with some people on this site is, if you do not agree with such outrageous and plainly ridiculous posts then you are negative, stupid and more than likely a Kopite."

Please let me know where I have even inferred the use of those words.

YOU are the one throwing insults around at other poster; if you can't defend your opinion without deriding others, then keep it to yourself.

I think having a strong emphasis on the youth development is the way to go.

But I do think we need ? urgently ? a much more public presence in the city centre.

Jay
I was referring to your comment below.
I wish people would get real with this "we made a record signing every year".

All I said was your words not mine as they are, I did not use these words but you attributed them to me??? and please enlighten me to these insults.
I have tried to defend the position that Ryan?s statements were ridiculous and I stand by that.