The Mail Bag
The power and magic of bold action
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While not wishing to take anything away from Saturday?s great game, five fine goals, Saha?s signal performance or anything else, I was brought back to earth when I looked at the table Sunday night.
A club that was in a very similar position to us ? below us in fact ? just a few short weeks ago, is now lying sixth having taken action, fired a misfiring manager, and brought in someone who brings fresh perspective, renewed inspiration and a new mandate and who is prepared to challenge and galvanize complacent players.
You can see the result in the table. Their crisis was met head on.
Everton, on the other hand, or rather Bill Kenwright, chose not to take any action, chose to keep plodding on with the incumbent manager, with the old methods and on the old path and we too can see the all too predictable result.
Saturday?s performance notwithstanding, we are still circling the periphery of the whirlpool, hoping not to get sucked into the relegation maelstrom, just a loss and another draw above the drop zone.
Yes, I know, in the words of the anthem, ?We don?t care what the redshite say? but in my heart of hearts I do. The contrast is too obvious not to be noted.
This has nothing to do with money, by the way. The team I am talking about did not field any big new signings on Sunday. In fact they were theoretically weakened by the loss of a key player. This has to do with leadership.
The words of Marcel Proust spring to mind: ?boldness has genius and power and magic in it.? When Moyes first came to Everton, he brought a fresh magic boldness. It?s a magic he has now lost and a boldness the years have blotted out. That?s why we are languishing in crisis and rival clubs are leaving us behind.
We may not be able to do anything about our finances for now, but we can do something about the other things that are wrong.
Peter Fearon, Posted 06/02/2011 at 19:52:51
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None of the above would apply in our case should we chose to replace DM, which I still think would be a mistake, even though he has a lot to answer for this season.
I still maintain that they have been fortunate with results since king kenny took over - lucky to beat Fulham, Wolves and an off-form Chelsea.
The fact that the RS are sixth indicates how poor the Premier League is this year and that is the real scandal for EFC - that we could not take advantage.
As much as I have been losing faith in DM these past few months, sacking him right now would be a catastrophe. Then there is the sixty million dollar question of who replaces him. I noticed you did not suggest anyone.
However, I agree with your broader point that it isn't always to do with finances - poor pre-season preparation for example.
Back to the actual thread, sacking Moyes now would do more harm than good, it would appear things off the field are far worse than anything on the field.
The Blackpool game was probably the turning point. Had we lost that then I think we would have been very likely candidates for relegation. Now I expect we will probably finish about where we are.
Then we have a whole summer of fighting off Fellaini suitors to look forward to.
They do however have canny new owners. They sell one of their few assets and buy a player with undoubted talent but who carries massive baggage. But their desperate fans have seen this as a "sign" of the owner's preparedness to spend. Actually they are in nett profit at the moment. Haven't spent a bean. They also announce they will stay at Anfield and come out with the usual load of crap about how special the place is... Blah blah blah. Actually it's because they can't or won't afford the Stanley Park project. Certainly the redevelopment of Anfield will take years to come to fruition, but, importantly, buys them time: the promise of change without the actuality.
Nothing that they are doing now should be seen as the way forward for the Blues. We do need new owners and the re-financiing and investment that promises. It's ridding ourselves of the sterility of BS Billy and his crew that we need, not a new manager (per se); the removal of the latter is a short-term fix and the former the long-term solution.
I'm sure Moyes could bore the league out in the same way based on defensive solidity like we did when we came fourth but I much prefer our brand of football now, even if it is largely ineffective and woeful in attack and defence.
Thought it was only the sycophantic media who suffered from that delusion.
Just a quick bit of perspective: Dalglish's Liverpool lost 2-1 to Blackpool after being a goal up in the first few minutes. We beat them by two after being a goal down with 20 minutes to go.
Is there no stick that some of you will not brandish to try and beat David Moyes with?
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Forget them. They are clowns. Remember their dear old Kop was once populated by Evertonians. I hate the song "We don't care what the Red shite say..." because it makes us look like we have an inferiority complex.
I don't care what they get up to. I care greatly about us and yesterday we were awesome (in attack)
This is a site about Everton. We are class and that has been demonstrated this week as Davey knocked spots off that deluded idiot Wenger.
All our final decisions are made in a state of mind that is not going to last.
Of course the place is special, it used to be ours!!!!
We've got to get our own club sorted out before we can think of changing managers. If we don't get rid of this crew in charge, then no manager could do better than Davy Moyes and our club, the one we've supported all our lives, will just fade away and die.
Let's hope there is some substance behind one or two rumours circulating. Get a new owner is our first priority.
What the Blackpool game illustrated is what we are capable of when the dead hand of negativity is removed. If anything it was vindication for those of us who have railed about Moyes's tactics, lack of motivational skills and ridiculous substitutions.
And dare I say, has he finally managed to rid himself of his Osman obsession.
Naturally those who wish to see continued negativity and failure and who are satisfied with our current situation will find fault with any or all of them. We are watching the house burn and some of us are calling for buckets of water while others are saying, "no, it's not really buckets of water you need."
If Chelsea play that badly in the cup replay, we'll also brush them aside, with a squad that's still a fraction of the cost of Liverpool's.
Lots of other examples of bold action. Look at Mike Ashley at Newcastle. Bold action sack Sam Alladyce. Bold action appoint Kinnear. Bold action appoint old hero with no managerial experience - Shearer. Get relegated.
Timid action - do nothing and persevere with Hughton - gets promoted and a decent mid-table position. Bold action sack Hughton and bring in manager with experience but mixed record.... Sell star player in the last few minutes of transfer window.
And that's just example from one club. I am delighted Liverpool have appointed Dalgleish. His record shows he does not have staying power. He has walked out of every job he's had at fairly odd moments. Even if he does well he is not going to build a dynasty.
Moyes may have become negative (he certainly was not when he arrived - remember he 6-2 defeat at St James' Park?) but he has been the difference between total disaster and upper mid table respectability - which frankly is the best we are going to be for a generation unless something changes behind the scenes.
In the summer though, I'd agree the whole set up needs changing ? new board, new manager and an overhaul of the playing staff too. This lot have shown themselves up not to be good enough this season.
I think this season smacks of complacency. The board are at fault for not investing in the squad meaning we've no strength in depth. The players know their place in the team is guaranteed. Everyone knows competition for places brings out the best in players. But in saying that, the level of performance from some of our 'better' players this season has not been acceptable especially considering how well they're paid. Finally, the manager is at fault for some awful tactical decisions and poor preparation for games. I just think he's been here too long. He's another one that knows no matter what happens, his job is safe.
Apart from a thriller on Saturday, this season has been as disappointing as any season I can remember. The blame lies mainly at Kenwright's door but the manager and players should also be held to account for the majority of shite served up on the pitch this season.
Moyes has to stay, crazy time to change, West Brom have signed their own relegation ticket. As for them lot, the lads posting are spot on, perfect spin talk from the yanks which has been given credence by some workmanlike, unsustainable victories.
If they actually spend their own cash, then I'll be worried, don't forget they have signed two and lost four players in this window.
And God help Bily ? the number of times he picked up the ball for a throw-in, ignored Baines, threw the ball quickly and accurately to an unmarked team-mate and kept attacks going ? tosser!
Drop him Davey; that'll learn `im!
And realistically (and please pay attention to the word "realistically") who do you think would want to come and manage Everton and take them to a higher plain when there is no money to spend, no investment and a ground that needs more than a lick of paint to restore it to past splendour?
The words wake up and smell the coffee come to mind. Moyes is not the problem, but Kenwright maybe.
Remember what a bloody nuisance Wright-Philips was when he hung around the half-way line at opposition corners?
You are spot on mate but with some people you are not allowed to say what you said.
They say there is no one out there who could do the job, there is no one who would want the job, there is no one better than Moyes, whatever name you give them they'll say he's shit.
They compare Moyes only to Walter Smith, it's all about money but ignore that most of our bad signings are the big money signings, they put forward 4th, 5th and 5th, they ignore hammerings after hammering by poor teams like West Brom as well as big teams.
Embarrassments in Europe and domestic Cups and a total lack of vision that has been draining our support for years.
'There is no one better than Moyes out there who would take the job' is the biggest load of nonsense I've ever heard.
Now 'Name names so we can knock you down' !
Supporters are meant to get behind their players not slate them cos they are pissed off cos they earn £75k a week. There's a load of shite across the park that's on more money than him. Time to get over the fact the players get paid silly money and support your players.
On paper we are better than them. Before the 2-2 derby, literally every pundit was saying the same thing in the build-up. So how is it then that they are edging these big games against the likes of Chelsea? How is it they always manage to go one better than us?
It isn't "luck", that is delusional. and I have no time for refereeing conspiracy theories. From both clubs being level on points, the RS have shot ahead, and will doubtless qualify for Europe again while the "better team on paper" plod towards a 12th-place finish.
It's got to be "evens" money that Moyes walks in the Summer, when he gets told there's no money unless he sells off more of the current assets. If so, we'll get to find out who is up for the task and whether they make a better job of it than Moyes.
That would mean the new man would have to win the FA Cup as opposed to being losing finalists and get us into the Champions League on a regular basis instead of a one-off; with a Europa place seen as failure. Wouldn't it?
I can see were you are coming from and agree with a lot of what you have said. It is all about opinion and mine is that Moyes has been lucky. Lucky in the fact that the Premier League has been really poor with up until last season only 3 or 4 good teams so with an average manager who gets a few 1-0 wins instead of 1-0 defeats you could get an Everton team that has always had plenty of potential to 5th or 6th.
But, once the luck changes, we are always in danger of plummeting because in reality Moyes has never built a good first 11, we are always 1 or 2 players away and with a bit of astuteness, not money, he should have moved us on further (building a team with balance is more important than spending large amounts of money in my opinion).
I will say the one doubt I have about changing manager is that I have no confidence in Kenwright picking the right replacement so I would give anything to have a more sensible owner. But I do think there is at least one obvious replacement out there who would be better than Moyes and who could work with limited finance.
Well he got one thing right, Ged, according to you... giving Arteta £75k a week, one of the players who contributed to all those Moyes falilures!!
Tony ? I don't care what other teams do at corners, it's peverse what we do. Put everybody in box and not cover both posts. Did you not notice that the first goal we conceded was from a corner ? and a crap one at that. Oh yes, against Arsenal it didn't work either. Oh sorry, other teams do it so it must be right...
Have to agree somewhat that the Prem standard has dropped. Manure on top have been poor this season compared to previous and I was not surprised by their defeat against Wolves who although bottom have been quite a match for a lot of teams this season. Chelsea are also a shadow of the team of previous seasons and Man.City flatter to deceive despite their big signings.
Everton have struggled to win games and cannot have any excuses other than they haven't been good enough coupled with some poor tactics and team selection by Moyes. Yes, for sure with money we could be in a better position but I am not sure Moyes is the one to who can take us to that level after 9 years trying despite some solid economical deals.
As far as this season is concerned, one can hope that finally confidence has returned and that results will get better even though we had some big mistakes defensively against Blackpool.
The guy has a super record at Chelsea and is widely known within the game to be tactically excellent.
Keep Moyes and should have got Steve Clarke. Done.
Arteta is one of the players who has played well most seasons. Our best spell last season was when he came back from injury and in the games v Man Utd and Chelsea we played some great football. If Moyes had kept to that formation and brought in Coleman when Donovan left, we would have kept the form going at the start of this season because the balance was right ? in my opinion.
The irony of when Moyes actually signed Arteta was that he wanted Sissoko but when he couldn't get him he then decided to give Arteta a permanent deal. A bit of luck there ? in my opinion !
So who should sort that out then, Tony? Moyes by any chance? Or does that cost millions to think up? And that's just one obvious tactical point!
It frustrates me but that's football for you.
So many of the comments to this article seem to smack of envy of Dalglish latest successes... forget it for goodness sake and look to ourselves to get out of trouble.
Talking of Liverpools lucky wins demeans us, because every side who wins has some luck and every side who loses can point to bad luck or decisions that went against them.
I would much rather Everton won the league and Liverpool finish above the Mancs and London sides than otherwise... I'm a SCOUSER ? not bitter.
Wednesday, Leeds and Forrest are still here and have survived.
Wouldn't swap places though!
I think you are dead right. Ozzy is much more effective in the centre and gets a raw deal. Fellaini is over rated in my opinion and he has one big flaw playing as anchorman and if anyone can be bothered to watch a recording of the Anfield 'derby' game, for example, in the first half you can see Liverpool players can get past him easily as he is slow on the turn and to get a tackle in. There is no need to argue with me get a recording and watch it.
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1 Posted 06/02/2011 at 20:49:12
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Do you really think sacking Moyes and bringing in a new manager would be sensible? A manager who would have to get used to the players immediately and would have no money to improve the squad in the summer.
I don't.