Best interests of the Club?

I wish Bill would put an end to this ’I’m just a fan like you’. He enjoys the glory, but not the responsibilty. He speaks to all and sundry during the FA Cup run, yet alters the Articles of Association so that the small shareholders can’t hold him to account, and at the Shareholders Forum he refuses to answer a valid question.

It's still the People's Club... in a Brezhnev kind of way.

I don’t get it! Chelsea have a massive IOU. United and the shite have huge debts. Which club is the burning becon that we should be aspiring too!

If the Big so-called 4 fail in their Champions League pursuits, the income ramifications would be huge for these clubs. I have a feeling that we aren’t too far away from seeing this happen. Remember the Leeds experiment? "Better the devil you know" ... "The grass isn’t always greener" springs to mind.

I would love investment into Everton but not at all costs, and — as you put it above — we don’t always know, do we!

Its not investment that we need Stephen, its a better solution than Kirkby.

http://www.keioc.net/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=263&cntnt01returnid=15

But what are our options?

In light of all the criticism of Bill Kenwright and all the criticism of those who show any support to him on this site, I was just wondering what people's realistic thoughts were on what other options we have?

Not every club has an Arab Sheikh or Russian oligarch at the helm willing to bankroll £100 million spending sprees ever transfer window. Can we realistically expect someone to come in and do the same for us? Are they really queuing up to take over Premier League clubs?

Should we expect someone to come in and plunge us into massive debt in the way the RS and Man U have been managed. They seemingly get away with it because of their world wide appeal and almost guaranteed Champions League football every year. For a club of our size this would be like 'doing a Leeds' and is far too risky for the long term future. Even with the guaranteed income at Liverpool, they're still walking a tightrope financially.

Do we hope for someone like Randy at Villa? For him it's been fairly simple: he's had no stadium issue to deal with and did not inherit massive debt. From what I've seen, he's not bankrolled Villa with massive amounts to spend. Who's their most expensive signing? Young or Downing? They cost less than Fellaini. If anything, Lerner seems to be following Everton's example. They've not added to their squad of 21 having lost their two best players in Laursen and Barry and they seem to be waiting for their Sky cheque to clear before buying any new players.

I don't like Kenwright because I feel utterly betrayed as an Evertonian on the whole Kirkby issue... but what are our realistic options? A fans' buy out? Do we have enough money between us all? I spoke to a Stockport County fan recently who spoke of the lunatics running the asylum when their fans bought out the club, which ended up with them going into administration and owning no assets whatsoever.

I won't name names but there are those who seem to feel utterly let down by Evertonians' apparent apathy towards Kenwright even though the general feeling is he's not the right man for the job. Instead of all the moaning about Kenwright, I'd really like someone to offer a realistic alternative to him. Dare I say it, as much as the lack of transfer funds is frustrating me, everything inside Everton seems fairly settled.

Alan. That question has been directed at the club and it is stay at Goodison.

When Kirkby fails maybe Bill will put some effort into finding that buyer.

I can feel it in me bones... Everton sell Lescott at the last moment leaving no time to spend the dosh. I can read you like a fucking book, Kenwright. Can't buy players while your all poncing about in the USA, can you? Maybe that's why you send the lads there year-in, year-out. Fucking Kirkby. You should be ashamed of yourself, Kenwright. What some people will do for money. KENWRIGHT OUT

Alan, unfortunately it’s up to the chariman as majority shareholder to find a buyer, not us mere mortals. After all, don't ask us — we are only fans... (apologies but couldn’t resist that gem).

I can also add that there are plenty of folk on the planet with plenty of cash, an example of just one which really does drive BK’s arrogance and uselessness home is the fact that Peter Trembling, a former employee of Everton Football Club, left and found substantial buyers and backers for Notts County, yes the oldest club going. But besides that tag (remember so many apologists claim history means fuck all to buyers), sitting pretty in the 2nd Division (that’s the 4th division in old money), yet they find wealthy buyers.

Maybe they aren’t as wealthy as BK wants, but then again he won't answer that question either and a club that employs Sven Goran Eriksson aren’t exactly shopping at Lidl are they? The whole thing stinks and the quicker BK is gone the better and he can take his unwanted poxy cowshed drawings with him back to luvvie land.

Bill is only in it for his best interests. And as only a "minor-millionaire" he’d be a fool not to.

Many have written that he’s rejected serious approaches before, and I know there was serious interest from Asia through a private equity company I was involved with, but for whatever reason, nothing moved.

In my opinion he’s somewhat painted himself into a corner with the likes of Tesco Terry (who’s only interest is the Mutli National Company he runs - despite playing on his Everton credentials in the "open letter") and Arcadia Phil, and Hollywood Bob on board.

Those guys are only interested in what DK can bring to their business interests. Loans etc. that were put up / guaranteed by them will disappear whether or not DK gets the green light.

Interestingly enough, a mail on BlueKipper which I caught sight of accidentally (don’t normally read their mailbag) suggested someone was tipped off that DK would get the go ahead, part of an initiative to suggest that the govt is regenerating areas that may swing between red and yellow at next year’s GE), but that due to concerns over infrastructure, including transport, the stadium capacity would be limited to circa 40k.

Alan Clarke, I wouldn’t worry about the Club doing a Stockport. The current lunatic has already mortgaged off all that we possessed.

The ’goss’ at the moment is that Ashley has turned down, quote, ’ A number of potential investors’ due to not meeting his price... A NUMBER ffs... so they are out there and so somewhere according to some is the truth. Likely we will just as in the X-Files never know.

Fans buy-out??? Or buy-in.... It needs organising. But Catch-22 applies... anybody who really really wants the job (ie in charge of a shit load of other people's cash), should be the last person you let near it.

As a wise man once said to me re the recurring pension scheme... behind every scheme is a schemer.

So where does that leave us? Short answer: fucked if I know. But so long as the wife doesn’t find out until after I have 1,500 quid to put in the pot and to hell with the risks of the schemer.

As for Bill... can nobody rid me of this turbulent priest??

Just look at the league table over the past few years! Any sensible football follower would say that Chairman Bill had made a bloody good fist of running our club. People on here need to get real and not take every opportunity to knock what BB has achieved. After all, it’s not long ago that most of you wanted Davey fired. Bah!

Richard, our league position in recent years is despite Kenwright, not because of him. With a different man in charge, I believe that great opportunities for the club would not have been wasted. Also, I doubt that most of us wanted Davy fired. Some, myself included, felt that £3.5 million was a ridiculous salary for a manager who has never won anything and who has produced some truly terrible safety-first football. I would really love to know the true story of his dithering over the contract because it just might have cost us a Champions League place.

David Johnson, you are spot on. I can see it happening, Lescott does get sold... but late on in the transfer window, leaving us with no time to sign replacements. Come January, that Lescott money will have dissapeared into thin air — along with the Andy Johnson and James Mcfadden money etc.

Can't believe people defend this clown of a man, but then he got rid of Peter Johnson... blah blah blah. NTL, Kings Dock, Fortress Sports Fund, cheque in the morning, silence the shareholders, "I'm just a fan", "watch this space", "no-one's buying clubs", "Debt in football is a mystery to me", £10 million up front front the hottest prospect in world football at the time... and who could forget Kirkby?

The man is an incompetent liar.

I put the emphasis on the word ’realistic’. What can we realistically hope for in terms of new ownership? I wish for a billionaire Evertonian to come in and give Moyes a blank cheque book to sign players and keep the ones we already have. Is that realistic?

And if Kenwright is in it to line his own pockets, how does that make him any different to anyone else who would takeover from him? I’m really torn on this one because as much as I’d like to see the back of Kenwright, unless we get some multi-billionaire owner in, I can’t see that the alternatives are much better.

Here we go again.

Time the Everton motto was re-written to read the Latin equivalent of: ’nothing is ever good enough...’

Look at what we are achieving year-on-year under the current Kenwright/Moyes axis.

Can any of the Kenwright-out brigade suggest a more successful scenario and more importantly, one that befits our great club (which, by definition, excludes some anonymous Middle East moneyman)?

So easy to criticise and be keyboard-clever - but what do you want and what do you think is the answer?

Just out of interest, who SHOULD be the chairman then?

Seems to be a lot of disapproving finger pointing at Eastlands at the moment, yet that foreign chairman would be nice wouldn’t he.

I’d still support Everton if we were in League 2.

I’m not sure I’d support the Everton Blue Sox playing in the McDonalds Stadium watching mercenary players "earning" £200k a week.

My point exactly Nick, I don’t think a lot of people shouting for Kenwright to go have a grasp of the real world. I’ve not heard any decent evidence about investors being turned away and no credible arguments saying who should be in charge.

Fuckin hell, Alan, have you never heard of a non-diclosure agreement?!?! Let's have no more of this "Why haven't we heard about these investors?"

Richard, I know all about non-disclosure agreements, I had to sign one once. Funny thing is, I’ll bet you believe every word the Daily Mail/Star/Mirror write up regarding Lescott or a possible signing who was DEFINITELY spotted at Goodison/Finch Farm.

The good of the club is not ever going to be the fans' choice. I’ve yet to meet a fan of another team who hasn’t expressed their admiration of Bill Kenwright.

COYB!

Oh well allow me to retort Nick. I suppose you believe everything that's written in the Post/Echo. What ever happened to Bill’s ex-friend Len Capling’s column?

There is an element of unreality in the calls for Bill Kenwright to be replaced. But I see it as a shorthand for fans’ frustration at an opportunity lost — an opportunity to really kick on.

I am convinced that if we had started last season with the vim and vigour we showed in our best spells, we would have been up there mincing about in the Champions League places on the last day. The fact that we squandered this incredible opportunity through an utterly ridiculous pre-season will take an awful long time for this Evertonian to forget.

And what exactly is different this pre-season? The squad is still under strength, and seriously depleted in key areas by long-term injuries to key players. Are we really gonna be in any shape at all to make a decent fist of it from Day One? I fear that losing to Arsenal will be tough to recover from, and a draw will simply not be good enough. (Although I am reminded of a 4-1 defeat to Arsenal on th opening day of the season that saw us clinch 4th! It’s a funny old game...)

You could argue that Peter Johnson was displaced by fan power, when the masses really turned against his "mismanagement" of the club. Will the same thing happen with Blue Bill? I seriously doubt it. While almost every post from Richard Dodd confirms he is on the lunatic fringe, there are enough fans buying into the BK bullshit to make sure he will never experience the heat that pushed Johson into a deal.

I wish I knew the definitive answer to Jay Harris’s oft-repeated claim that Bill Kenwright bought the club on the sly, burdening the club accounts with the loans taken out to enable the purchase of Peter Johnson’s shares. There was not even a hint of such shenanigans at the time, but it certainly does seem to be the modus operandi for club owners to secure ownership these days...

If more people know that was true in Bill's case... would it be enough to start the revolution? No matter... methinks he will still make out like a bandit (just as Johnson did) when it really becomes time to sell.

I agreed with David Johnston to a point.

As far as I am concerned, it's all the lies that get to me, for example when he appeared on Sky last pre-season, I just don’t trust the man.

Is the club for sale or not? Just give us a straight answer. No, then fair enough, we will always support the club no matter what. Yes, then in the last couple of years a number of less attractive clubs have been sold, one twice!

If there is no money then tell us the truth, or is that too much to ask? I mean what are we going to do! If any of us could buy the club, most if not all of us would have!

Old Bill has done good in the past: Moyes... getting shot of Johnson and so on. However, everyone has their time and I believe in today's world his time is over.

The problem with Kenwright is that he thinks he’s the big cheese, but really........ he’s just the smell.

Someone pinch me, I must be dreaming: this is an Everton website isn’t it - the club that got the the FA Cup Final last year and finished 5th again?

Thought I’d woken up as a Leeds fan* for a moment, with all this gloom, doom and despondency.

Are things so bad that we have to kneecap Kenwright several times a week?

(* or supporter of the other 86 clubs that finished below us last season)