The Mail Bag
Projections and Pontifications
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After a decent performance yesterday, let down by Bily and Fellaini, both missing sitters, I was wondering where we go from here....
At the risk of sounding like I'm moaning, with a very heavy heart and in my opinion, we'll be in the bottom 3 after the next 2 games. All left scratching our head again, wondering why the manager can't motivate the team like he seemed to yesterday, for any of the other games during the season.
I happen to think Moyes is beginning to lose patience with Everton and the ground-move falling through has compounded his frustration. I happen to think that we'll finished mid-table, but what hope (by way of possible honours) have we got as a club, looking forward...?!
We had our big chance after finishing 4th (which was a miracle in itself) to attract better players and what did we do about it? FUCK ALL, that's what. The players we've got at the moment simply aren't good enough to progress the club, don't wanna stay or get snapped up by a richer club. We should have bought big and taken the risk after getting in to the CL, but once again Everton FC failed to deliver.
Having seen that there are LOADS of people pontificating on this site, trying to be positive about how things will improve when all out players are fit (no team ever has all of it's best players fit, so you need a squad of players who can cover for the inevitable injuries), I felt compelled to write.
Other people have been saying that money doesn't buy you success - IT BUYS YOU BETTER PLAYERS though, doesn't it.....?!?!?! With better players, you've SURELY got a better chance of winning. I reckon we can only get to a certain level without considerable investment and last year was as-good-as-it-gets for this club, I'm afraid - 5th and a Cup Final is all we can hope for.
We can't improve past that level coz of the shite quality of player that Everton FC can afford these days. For example, Fellaini - fellas sitting around me in the Street End yesterday were saying that Fellaini played 'OK'; and that he did. However, if we're satisfied with one 'OK' performance in 15 with this fella, then we're ROYALLY in the shite.
Yobo is a fucking disaster zone / complete empty-head and is getting exposed EVERY SINGLE WEEK. Billy has been an utter disappointment — I reckon it's about time that he started to deliver, or he can fuck off too.
They're not solely to blame, these are the types of players that Everton can bring in / keep — players that are AREN'T good enough to get us challenging for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th. Dunno if you blame the manager for bringing these players in or what, but if he can't attract the players (due to the fact that our stadium is a fuckin' mess or that we simply can't afford them) then what is he supposed to do...?!?!
Pienaar looked good yesterday, but it looks like he'll be away in January — and who can blame him, as Everton are going nowhere. Rodwell will follow him too, by the looks of things.
We're a mid-table selling club that lacks ambition and unless investment / a buyer for the club can be found, 5th and a Cup-run (if Moyes doesn't play the kids in the 3rd round again, that is) is all we can expect. I love Everton FC, but anything else is simply pie-in-the-sky.
Andy Callan, Posted 30/11/2009 at 10:55:07
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Erm, from my point of view, it’s the other way round.
I have no sympathy for the man at all. He knew what he was signing up to when he put pen to paper... and Kenwright’s entitled to keep him to the deal — unfortunately for us!
It is hard to argue with that fact.
No investment = no trophies = decline.
Rodwell will not go anywere near Moyes when he leaves, just like every other half decent player who makes it at this club and finds him out.
I’m an old fart these days and have followed the Blues for more years than I care to remember. To me, and many of my ilk, Moyes with his brand of hoofball is just not an Everton manager. I won’t go on about his weak tactics and woeful substitutions. Or mention his somewhat suspect personality, which seems very adept at causing frission within the club.
For some considerable time now I’ve had a hunch that Moyes will get us relegated. Hopefully I’m wrong — though this could well be the season. If the unthinkable came about, I have a horrible feeling that you lads would still be coming out with all the old excuses. ’He’s still learning, it wasn’t his fault blame the injuries, manager of the year etc..’
Many of you seem worried that the ’Moyesiah’ may leave us for pastures new. He’ll not go for a couple of reasons — his salary for one, plus there’s no way a more succesful club would even consider him. He’s reached his pinnacle with Everton; after us he’s bound for the Championship or Scotland. My own bet is that he’ll go and inflict himself on Rangers, not Celtic. So many seem to lose sight of the fact that he’s from a strong Rangers background. His old fella worked for them and he was a boyhood Rangers fan.
Whatever Rangers or Celtic I don’t care, their loss will be our gain.
In answer to your first question, I support Everton, which does include supporting the players and manager. But that is not to say I will not criticise a player or the manager if I do not think they are pulling their weight or doing what's best for the club.
We can't go making rash decisions on the basis that you have a hunch that you think Moyes will get us relegated. Just as we can't go extending his contract on the basis that I have a hunch he will turn it round as he always does and continue to progress the club.
I believe you're only as good as your last seaon which makes him the 5th best manager in the league in my eyes; I don’t believe it is right to judge a manager or a player on a game or a dozen games. The cream always rises to the top even if sometime it happens a little slower than expected. It is no coincidence that we have finished in the top 6 most seasons that Moyes has been here, you can't fluke that.
Moyes has made some poor decisons but so do other managers. Most of the poor decisions he has made I can usually see a reason why he may have made the decision. We also don't always know what goes on behind closed doors on the training ground or if players are carrying knocks etc.
I don't see how you can say he has reached his pinnacle when he is still a relativley young manager and every season, bar the odd blip, the team has progressed at a quicker rate than every other club in the league and having spent less money than most of them.
Listeninig to interviews of all the managers, I believe Moyes is the most honest and decent manger. Even from small facts that you may not hear much about, such as an interview with Gazza that I heard when he was asked which manager had helped him the most, I thought he would say someone like Sir Bobby Robson or Walter Smith, but no, he said Moyes.
For Alex Ferguson to pick 3 managers he admired most and Moyes to be on the list. When we beat Sunderland 7-1, Roy Keane the manager at the time came out and said what a ’’class act’’ Moyes was after the event and his dealings with him.
For Moyes to win three Manager of the Year awards, these things don't happen by accident. The people in football who have met him and worked with him clearly have a lot of respect for him. Which means there is a good chance his players have a lot of respect for him and perhaps the reason why we have constantly ’’punched above our weight’’ according to the media.
If you were in charge of the club, I bet Moyes would have been sacked after the season we finished 17th, but it would have been a big mistake as he took the club to 4th the following season and has turned this club from relegation team into a respected team that is Europa Cup quality.
I'm sorry but you can't get away from the fact that injuries have greatly affected the season. Any team that lost so many key players would struggle, you can't get around that. You can't expect Moyes to play reserve players and players out of position against good sides and not struggle.
If Moyes can't get us out of this mess then nobody can, but I believe he will; once everyone is back fit we will start to destroy teams. However, it has been a funny season this year, everybody seems to be taking points off everybody and there aren't many points between 5th and 15th. But just because we have had a bad first half to the season does not mean we will have a poor second half — just look at last season.
I don’t mean ’Investment’ I mean ’selling’ because who in their right mind would invest in the Club while Billy Bullshit and his cronies are in charge.
And that, is the main problem
I’m also sick of the shortness of people’s memories about David Moyes. This man has delivered fantastic results disproportionate to the levels of investment he has been granted. How we have escaped constant relegation battles or a demotion is beyond me and the fact we have a midfield when fit of Pienaar, Arteta, Bilyaletdinov and Fellaini makes us the envy of nearly all the clubs out of the top four.
We were unlucky against the Reds and should have defended the second goal better. Right behind Moyes, nobody I would rather have, except say Wenger. And Fellaini... he will have some great days in a blue shirt in the future.
At the same time, people still have a right to be pissed off when necessary, and Moyes is right to be criticised for having at least one less player available for tomorrow (in Heitinga - Neill was signed as a response to Neville’s injury) as he would have been a natural replacement at centre half.
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1 Posted 30/11/2009 at 16:51:13
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To say Fellaini was only ok was an understatment, he has been ok most games this season but he was brilliant against Liverpool. People just don't want to admit when he plays well because they would have to eat humble pie for the amount of criticism they have given the lad. He is still very young and, as Moyes said at the time, we have bought potential. We will not see his best for another 2 or 3 seasons, but already he is contributing a lot to the team most weeks.