Season 2011-12 Fan Articles
Cautious Optimism
By Stephen Kenny :: 20/07/2011
39 Comments (»Last)
I believe Moyes would, if he could, sign one or two players ? nothing more. I think he rates the majority of his squad and he likes working with a smaller squad.
I also think he believes that this squad has the potential to challenge for 4th place with a good start to the season; something I believe may just be a little bit out of reach considering the competition for that spot.
I think we may see a bit more of the Moyes of old next season, blooding youngsters and playing for the win. I know every pre-season we always talk about if we could get off to a good start, if Moyes could be more positive against crap sides etc. This season I can see us getting it right more often than not. Last season was a difficult transition from a kick-and-rush side to a ball-playing team. Teams who were happy to stifle were a challenge that we should be more equipped to deal with.
I believe there is a hell of a lot of potential brewing just under our first team and it may burst through this season, something that would help me identify and take pride in a club that?s been like a ship with no captain for the last few years.
I know the reason we're not doing any business in the transfer market is because we're potless, but that in itself is an opportunity for Vellios, Hope, McAleny, Barkley, and one or two others to really kick on and make themselves a career at Everton. The lads below the first team who play up front must really be thinking perhaps this can be my year. They will have to push harder than they have ever pushed before but no-one ever got to the top of professional football on talent alone.
One thing that should spur these boys on is once you get in with David Moyes, if you work hard, you rarely go back out.
I take a lot of pride when I see a player come through our Academy and graduate to our first team and, while there?s a lot of negative aspects to the way the club operates, our youth set-up is something that Moyes, Kenwright and everyone associated with the club should be proud of.
Everton Football Club has a reputation for developing young players that?s envied throughout the game and is undoubtedly the only way this club will be able to kick on and challenge for trophies over the next decade. If this happened, it would mean a hell of a lot more to me than us buying £100M worth of players a season, although the chance would be nice occasionally.
It?s been a difficult few years with no money spent for, I believe, seven transfer windows, numerous cock-ups off the pitch, and embarrassing sound bites coming out of Goodison on an almost weekly basis. Several vital players have either had long term injuries or have been playing within themselves for long periods. I think we can allow ourselves a bit of cautious optimism.
If Leon Osman plays the way he did for the second half of last season, Magaye Gueye builds on the promise he showed, Mikel Arteta only plays half as good as he?s capable of, and Marouane Fellaini stays fit for the majority of the season, then already we will improve on last year. There are areas we need to improve but, on the whole, I wouldn?t be too downbeat if we have to go with what we?ve got.
I believe our fully fit first 11 would turn over Spurs and Liverpool. I?d also be quietly confident of doing Arsenal at home. Over a 38-game season, with the amount of sicknotes we carry, it's optimistic to think we will finish above any of them, though stranger things have happened. Having said that, it won?t be easy for Liverpool to bed four or five new players into a workable system and I think it will be after Christmas before they see the benefit of the signings they have made. And I still think they have a squad that?s unbalanced and over-rated.
Spurs have IMO one of the strongest squads in the league and should challenge Arsenal for fourth, assuming the Modric situation doesn?t de-stabilise the whole club, which would be ideal for us. Somehow I can?t see Redknapp allowing that to happen and they can easily replace him without new signings due to their squad depth.
A run of crazy good luck with injuries for us, and Arsenal's best two players leaving, would be needed for us to even get close to them IMO. Gibbs replacing Clichy at left back is a drop in quality in an already poor back 5 and the lack of a commanding figure at the back will again cost them, unless Gervinho is a top drawer centre-half.
Once again it appears that Wenger can?t see the glaringly obvious and will stick to his stubborn and IMO misguided agenda of not spending on proven players. With their set-up, they should be challenging for the league; they will be lucky to consolidate their Champions League status if Fabregas and Nasri, two of the three best midfielders in the league, decide to leave.
I don?t see anybody else in this league that we even need to discuss.
By rights we should struggle next year... everybody is improving and we are weakened. Our players are a year older and the club seems to lurch from crisis to crisis off the pitch. The fans are attempting to overthrow our very own Mubarak and the manager seemingly doesn?t learn from his mistakes (USA again?)... but I don?t think we will. For some reason, coming out fighting with our backs to the wall is the new Everton Way.
What price a cup?
Reader Comments (39)
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2 Posted 20/07/2011 at 15:11:50
3 Posted 20/07/2011 at 15:50:46
"Blooding youngsters and going for the win" ?
Must have missed that particular game.
4 Posted 20/07/2011 at 16:27:18
5 Posted 20/07/2011 at 16:29:23
Anyone do it in a lower key - we could play it before every game.
We'd be all enthused, vibrant, dare I say passionate.
Then the game would start and straight back to "fuck off Moyes this is shite"
6 Posted 20/07/2011 at 16:38:45
Your article is just another deflection from the reality which you deep down know full well. You're doing your best to search for any positives on here but let's be honest ? it's not going to happen. 7th is the best we will achieve with practically the same squad we have had for the last two seasons, that has been evident of where we have finished (8th & 7th) respectively. Two or three decent additions and it could all look a little different then, but not as it stands.
7 Posted 20/07/2011 at 17:26:12
8 Posted 20/07/2011 at 18:18:21
9 Posted 20/07/2011 at 18:55:12
Not impossible but 7th is going to be really bloody long odds and those odds will get longer every season unless BK is hounded out of the place once and for all. The current credit rating of cash sales only means what little we have we can only afford trash that won't help or kids that are neither use nor ornament for the problems here and now.
10 Posted 20/07/2011 at 19:22:37
What future will this tag team of Moyes and Kenwright give us? - is 7th or 8th really an acceptable goal long term for this club?
I don't think anyone agrees with that, even you and the like minded.
Another season without TRYING to do SOMETHING is untenable and if they're not capable - one or both have to go.
Personally I disagree with "if only Moyes had money" but the majority don't and Kenwright's excuse bank is not only empty but in the negative.
He's dead in the water - and rightly so given his inability to bring in the necessary - unless a miracle happens.
It isn't negative it's the real position IF YOU WANT TO TRY FOR MORE THAN 7th.
11 Posted 20/07/2011 at 19:25:19
12 Posted 20/07/2011 at 19:33:08
You defend the indefensible without ever coming up with a reasonable , accurate and well informed response. Why do you not look at the recent articles, by Colin, Richard and others and put up a point by point rebuttal. Your philosophy is a mixture of blind faith and head in the sand loyalty. I admire you in many ways but I have never seen a decent defence of Kenwright on this site, Write one, Richard. I must warn you, if it contains the words"be careful what you wish for " I will find out where you live!!!
13 Posted 20/07/2011 at 19:49:18
14 Posted 20/07/2011 at 19:50:42
15 Posted 20/07/2011 at 20:10:10
16 Posted 20/07/2011 at 20:02:28
Don't do this to yourself getting your hopes up only to be met with a crushing dose of reality.
If you expect a shite season then you are either proved right or pleasantly surprised which is a hell of a lot better than being optimistic only to discover that Everton are once again in the bottom 3 come October.
Graham #12
The match is not on until 00.30 Thursday morning.
17 Posted 20/07/2011 at 19:59:25
The cant-win-dont-try crewe are doing their level best to suck all optimism out of the rest of us. Dont let them bring you down mate. Let them wallow in their self pitty, let them throw the towel in before a ball is kicked. let them allow theis useless board to break their spirit .
It would be nigh on impossible to win it under the current regime but a CL qualification would be a massive step in the right direction and anyone who says we have "no chance" simply fails to grasp the concept of sport. Then theres the cups, who are these people to tell us we have no chance ? why cant we improve ?
Our club may be run by the less than useless and I`ll be joining in any protests to remove them . .but I wont accept the players and the fans should simply accept their fate, nor will I accept we cant win any game before a ball is kicked.
The clever and the cynical are welcome to his misery, but if being able to say I told you so was all I had to get me through a season, I`d throw my hand in right now.
If we`re wrong we`re wrong Stephen, wont be the first time, but at least we`ll have allowed ourselves a little sunshine and hope.
oops there goes another rubber tree plant
18 Posted 20/07/2011 at 21:50:35
19 Posted 20/07/2011 at 22:27:08
I know i should be depressed but i have just got a feeling that we will do much better than everyone thinks. Just imagine if we play Osman centrally and he performs the same way as last season(2nd half of).
Then imagine we play Arteta on the left and he performs the way he did a couple of seasons ago. Beckford takes an extra split second to compose himself.
Seamus develops into a right back that has the same threat of Baines offensively. Johnny H. shuts his gob and plays at centre half with the same class he shows for his country.
Fellaini and Cahill have more luck with injuries and Rodwell fulfills this promise he apparantly has.
I know this is all dreamy stuff but it is not that far fetched. And like somebody else said,the likes of Liverpool and Sunderland will need time to bed in all these new players so we need to take advantage of that.
I will not apologise for not being a cynical old bastard who thinks that just because we haven't signed a few over-priced playboys it means we are in for a relegation battle.
It would be nice to sign someone though.
20 Posted 20/07/2011 at 22:30:36
21 Posted 20/07/2011 at 22:58:13
22 Posted 20/07/2011 at 23:19:09
Anichebe to break Dixie's record and win the ballon d'or
nah will stick with reality thanks
23 Posted 20/07/2011 at 23:26:08
You're spot on.
That's why Kenwright and Co live on.
If y'know the tune join in:-
"If you're happy and you know it clap your hands" clap clap clap
repeat till reality hits you in the kipper like a truck.
24 Posted 20/07/2011 at 23:37:42
In 2009-10 we finished 9 points behind Spurs who finished 4th on 70 points
In 2010-11 we finished 14 points behind Arsenal who finished 4th with 68 points
Come on people. Just be serious and realistic for once please!! We are NOT going to challenge 4th spot wakey wakey. This squad is two more years older than the side which finished 8th.
25 Posted 21/07/2011 at 00:09:34
Top 6 all the way for me - and you can't buy what I'm on!
26 Posted 21/07/2011 at 09:34:54
Bit of a weird one for me, this. I obviously want us to do extremely well this coming season but lets say for arguments sake, we won the league (which with enough positive energy in and around L4 I think could happen), imagine how smug Kenwright would be. He may even write a play about it and then release it on DVD.
I'm as positive and optimistic as anyone and would never say never to us getting a good start and going on to qualify for Europe, as unlikely as it is. For what its worth, I do think there needs to be a change at board level before players like Fellaini, who I regard as pivotal to a successful team in the future, realise that Everton appear to be a sinking ship no matter what spin the club put on our fortunes.
The fate of the club seems to be in the hands of businessmen and stubborn fools but at least we have a manager who is respected by his players and has the experience to learn from past mistakes. I know not all of you will agree with that.
Nothing wrong with a bit of optimism. Nothing wrong with wanting Kenwright to fuck off either.
27 Posted 21/07/2011 at 10:43:58
29 Posted 21/07/2011 at 14:00:37
For sure Blue Bill isn't doing a good job but I am a Moyes fan and I take great pride in our youth policy. I also think it is a crime to have too many passengers in a club so I'm not too concerned about lots of new signings and I actually think it is worse to have too many options (just because one guy isn't performing doesn't make the number 2 any more capable).
I'm expecting a big season from Rodwell, Arteta, Barkley, Beckford and Fellaini and predict we will finish above the reds and probably in fifth.
30 Posted 21/07/2011 at 14:21:50
Pretty much every team in the top half of the league has a class 1st Xl. However, not a single one of them will go the season without mutliple injuries and suspensions happening at some time during the campaign.
It is no surprise that the teams near the top at the end of the season tend to also have large squads with strength in depth.
We have a very good first team IF all our players are fit and suspension free. This will not last though and with players leaving (Pienaar, Vaughan... Yobo & Yakubu likely, etc) our already thin squad becomes threadbare.
This will leave Moyes with no choice but to throw youngsters into the deep end ? has nothing to do with him supposedly being great at blooding youth! (I laugh at this notion given how few youngsters have been played when injuries and suspensions did not force the manager's hand)
It's good to see youngsters coming through but I would rather be in a position to see this being due to exceptional talent rather than being forced because we don't have a squad!
Milk Arsenal for at least £15M for Jags and use the cash to bring in 2-3 players. Play JH at CB where he belongs and bring back Yobo if need be or start to use Duffy to see if he can make the grade.
31 Posted 21/07/2011 at 15:08:39
Watch the game last night? That kind of defense will be lucky to keep us up. Distin was on his arse all night and gave the ball away on the edge of his own box 3 times. They scored from 1.
Jagielka hoofed it everytime to no-one. Personally I would snap Arsenal's hand off whatever the offer!
Heitinga's passing was way off. Albeit he was probably the best of the 3.
33 Posted 21/07/2011 at 16:53:51
We had lads telling us we were better than X, Y and Z.
We had lads saying deffo top 4, some even saying we could win the league!
We would win the FA Cup etc.
Whilst I admire your optimism, I'm just going to take one game at a time, and not raise my hopes too much.
34 Posted 21/07/2011 at 20:23:17
35 Posted 22/07/2011 at 07:06:39
Reality is we've got the seventh best squad in this league but probably the 5th best first 11. We've got a smaller squad than all those above us but we've also got less commitments and as the OP says we will need a run of good luck with injuries to get up there.
You admit yourself two or three new faces could chnage things, why not new faces from our own set-up, it's a big ask but I can see a few breaking through.
Gavin,
I disagree about seventh being long odds, I think most would consider us a shoe-in for that position. Nothing to shout about regardless but there is a lot of dross in this league and I include Villa and Sunderland in that.
Richard T,
Our first 11 have consistently turned Spurs over in the past few years. Looking at our record against the top sides over the past few years we have beaten them all. We won't beat them all this year but we will compete with them because that's what were capable of.
James Stewart,
It's not worth making judgements on form and players in only our second pre-seaon game.
Thanks for the replies and at some point through this season I will probably agree with the all... Apart from Big Vic braking Dixie's record, he'll be lucky to break Stuart Barlows.
We all know the problems off the pitch but there are reason for optimism on it.
If you can't find even one whats keeping you going?
I wouldn't be able to go up and down motorways all over England without anything to hope for.
It appears that Bill Kenwright and his cronies have taken all the joy and hope out of a lot of Blues over the past few years, for that alone he needs to go.
But most of you will be like me having supported Everton all your life, played Football yourself and watch your kids, nephews and daughters these days if you don't. There is still a lot of joy to be had from the game you just need to find it.
36 Posted 22/07/2011 at 14:07:56
Your closing sentence - Amen.
37 Posted 24/07/2011 at 08:52:10
There is undoubted spirit amongst the group that is a testiment to the manager and captain.
A big bonus for us this year will be in the shape of the younger payers.If they can come through that will be fantastic.
38 Posted 24/07/2011 at 09:02:14
39 Posted 24/07/2011 at 09:54:04
40 Posted 24/07/2011 at 15:34:16
"Believe me gloom and doom is not what is wanted on this site. Do you really believe that the Evertonians who criticise the current regime do it for pleasure?"
I read your above statement and thought maybe you're right, maybe people on here don't want to moan just for the sake of it. However, I moved down the thread and read post 30 from James Stewart and realised yes certain people on this site do log in simply to moan.
41 Posted 29/07/2011 at 06:36:44
The lad is incapable of playing more than 17 or 18 league matches a season and of those he may play 3 or 4 decent games. The rest medicore at best.
I have no idea why people are so obsessed with afro boy, for me he is slow and ponderous and extremely injury prone. The last 2 seasons have proven not how good he is, but how unreliable the lad is.
Over priced and a waste of space if you can't play more than 17 matches a season in the league and it's completely derelict of Moyse duty not to see the overpriced oaf, at least we would have some sort of cash to buy a couple of players.
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1 Posted 20/07/2011 at 14:55:01
You admit we are potless and the squad is probably at it's smalest ever; both in terms of quality and numbers (albeit "potential" in the young players). There's a reason why Man City are now title contenders and in the Champions league....Money, loads of it. We need that too then I'll be optimistic with you, but we won't be getting dosh from anywhere until BK parts company with the Club.