Season 2011-12 Fan Articles
Is Loyalty Killing Us?
By Al Reddish :: 22/08/2011
16 Comments (»Last)
Once again we have the usual summer of discontent. We all knew it was coming but as always, when it arrives it is hard to take. The lack of finance and the poor business model has been well documented recently so there is no need for me to elaborate on this aspect of our club.
However, the one thing that we all crave for as fans is loyalty from those employed within it, and it is possibly one of the biggest factors which is currently killing it.
Bill Kenwright (stay with me!) is a fan, that is undeniable. He has put his reputation and his relatively modest finances on the line to fulfill a dream and own the club he has stayed loyal to since the days in the Boys Pen. He has seen us win Trophies and flirt with relegation and has stayed loyal to the club he supports through all those times.
He employed David Moyes, who despite his faults, has raised expectations and is arguably the best thing Everton have had for nearly a generation. (Just consider the manangers before him). I am sure he has had offers from other clubs, ones that can spend money and maybe help him achieve his ambitions. However, he has stayed loyal to the chairman that gave him a taste of Premier League management and often has to come out and publicly support his chairman as Bill has usually dug himself into a big hole.
David Moyes himself has signed many players and the majority of them have in turn stayed loyal to the manager that has brought them to our great club. Players like Jagielka, Arteta, Cahill and Baines have been with us for years now and all of them have had more ambitious clubs linked with them at some point. They have decided to stay and even increase their years here by renewing their contracts.
Other players have also been around for a while and look like going nowhere. Hibbert, Osman, Neville and Howard spring to mind. Fellaini, we are told, is going to sign up for more years very soon too.
That brings me to us... the fans. We are the heartbeat of the club. We can sometimes change results of games that look lost. Think back to THAT game against Bayern when Kendall told his players at half time the Gwladys Street End would suck the ball into the net. It is our hard-earned cash that goes towards helping the club stay alive. It is our voices on the terraces that create the vibe and atmosphere Goodison is famous for.....just ask Arsene.
It is us that are now staying loyal, despite having to endure the likes of Leicester and Forest bidding for our top scorer as they know we need cash quick, and they think they can get him on the cheap.
The club have even stayed loyal to our sponsor, Chang, despite it being less lucrative than many other lesser teams sponsorship deals.
Maybe we need one or more of these factors to break away from their loyalty in order to bring fresh impetus and enable us to move forward once again, and despite what we may think of it morally, it hasn't done Rooney or Lescott any harm, has it?
Reader Comments (16)
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2 Posted 22/08/2011 at 21:09:52
3 Posted 22/08/2011 at 22:55:41
Cahill, Arteta, Yakubu and Yobo have all been allowed to lose their value and get old on big wages.
If Moyes doesn't get shut this year the team's going to take on the complexion of the one he inherited from Walter Smith.
4 Posted 23/08/2011 at 06:15:07
Everton's new pauper status is hard to bear for one who has watched them from the 60's but it isn't really the poverty in financial terms but the poverty of ideas and creativity that is the hardest. I'm an admirer of Moyes most of the time but his selections and tactics Saturday were the acts of a madman - or somebody looking for a way out? If the latter then it's a dereliction of duty to the many ordinary fans who provide the Club's income to help pay his ridiculously high wages and those of a group of players who are a disgrace in terms of attitude, effort and basic footballing skills.
£11 mil for Timmy? I know football lost it's collective marbles many years ago but this is the ultimate lunacy.
How is it possible to do the right thing and continue to support the Blues while this implies some kind of endorsement to what is happening at the club?
5 Posted 23/08/2011 at 10:02:27
6 Posted 23/08/2011 at 10:00:41
Not since the dark early 80`s when a decision was made to keep Howard Kendall when all would have been happy to see him out the door have we had such an important decision to make.
Can history repeat itself? Am not sure but funnier things have happend.
I dont think we can remove the chairman without having a buyer so thats a none starter, so do we remove the manager in the hope that a new manager can rejuvenate and inspire our current squad? Didnt quite work for Blackburn when they removed Big Sam, and lets be honest with the financial situation we would be looking at a Steve Kean type.
So for me its stick rather than twist, we all need to get behind the team and forget whats happening off the pitch as hard as that might be.
COYB
7 Posted 23/08/2011 at 10:26:27
I am anti-Kenwright and make no bones about it and I remain astonished that the blind loyalty shown by some supporters (not on this thread) that somehow because he is an Everton supporter he is ok and must himself be supported, when, to me he is so plainly dragging the club down. And Martin, to your list I add poverty of ambition, a willingness at all levels to settle for anything but the best.
But here's a confession. I am too loyal. I am loyal to David Moyes. He infuriates me with his 11-men-back-for-corners tactic, his short passing to feet which never creates space, his only form of attack being a ball out to the wings then lumped high into the box. But I want him to stay and I want him to experience working under a board that can actually generate money for him.
If I was to analyse this I guess it would be because of fear of the unknown, of bringing in a second rate manager (all we can afford) who then takes us down. Perhaps my loyalty is actually a case of better-the-devil-you-know. Perhaps I am guilty of the same crime I accuse others of? For me the bottom line is that all roads lead to teh chairman's office and until we sort that problem out everythig else is secondary.
8 Posted 23/08/2011 at 11:10:21
9 Posted 23/08/2011 at 11:26:34
More unjustified criticism for Moyes (although nice to see some support) Give a manager no money in the premierleague over several seasons and see how they perform.. Moyes has constantly achieved or overachieved with a limited squad. As previously mentioned we are clearly lacking speed in wide areas and forwards. There are constant calls for a 442, but are Beckford and Saha good enough? are people niave enough to think sticking two up front will only have positive results? we will lose out defensively by doing so and would even those strikers bring enough in terms of goals, forgetting all else, to warrant it? Cahill, despite continued criticism, will get 8-10 prem goals this season if he plays most games. He will go through a period of scoring and then criticism will die down.. and then as soon as he stops it will rear up again. Even last season, when Cahill suffered from injury and we were generally very poor, he scored 9 goals from 27 appearances.. despite concerns over technique etc, what other club in the premier league would criticise a midfielder with such an impressive outlay?
and with respect to the comments of Martin Mason's re. Manchested United... Are you serious? Manchester United's team and young players cost very little did they? A goalkeeper for 18million, Smalling at rightback for 10million ish, Jones at centre back for 16million... In Midfield 16-18million for Young, 30 Million for Nani and Anderson, Youth in Cleverly and Wellbeck and near on 30 million for Rooney (a transfer that rescued us and allowed much needed investment).. that is the reason we are a mid table team.. Moyes going wont solve our issues, we are mid table because guess what... Our team's ability is that of a midtable team (whilst our funding capacity that of a championship team). Spurs, Liverpool and the top Four have all better squads and bigger bank balances. This season we will finish midtable and midtable is where we will belong. We will probaly fight for seventh with Messrs Fulham, Villa and Stoke and unfortunately, despite it being difficult for some of you to take, that is because our team is on the level of those. We need a new owner of course and we need fans with realistic expectations who can come to realise that we are not the team of the 80's, but a team constantly fighting above their weight.
Please tell me how this team deserves the constant criticism they get on this website. Did people expect us to finish above spurs and Liverpool last season? (teams who have spent hundreads of millions compared to our tens in the last few years on teams better than ours) Do people think a new manager will turn a small squad of good players into great players? Unless we find a Genie for a manager, we out of luck. I think if we sacked Moyes today, we would be in the championship within 3 seasons. With Moyes maybe we can starve off our decline for long enough to find some money and some rejuvination.
10 Posted 23/08/2011 at 12:18:47
Assuming we have a handful of players worth £10m, and you only want to lose one to placate the bank, who would you sell?
I'd lose Cahill (for a start); too old and makes us play a certain way (I never said it would be easy)...
11 Posted 23/08/2011 at 13:35:56
Moyes must develop as a manager and he must push the team he has....
Develop his tactics, keep morale up, develop, promote and encourage systems which enable our attacking talent.
I remember seeing Billy play for Russia...why has he gone to pot here. Billy is no Van Der Meye flake from the little I can see. Moyes only plays attacking formations when his midfielders get injured.
Plus Neville in the stretford end and the public tiff with a junior member like Seamus Coleman is a question sign over him. Captain needs to be a real leader and true blue..Neville isn't and stupidly lets it slip on occasion.
But yes Kenwright is a fan and I tend to believe the argument that Everton is a difficult club to sell and finance I don't think we are going to find the perfect owner but ultimately it is sickening the long patches of lack lustre perfomances we endure.
Moyes may be tired but he needs to squeeze the best out what he has (the optimists are relatively correct that we do have a fair amount of good talent on the payroll).
The Moyes years have been better but now I can't see us even having a chance of winning even the Carling Cup.
I won't turn my back on the club though.
It is just sad that the club is trapped in this dangerous no man land.
12 Posted 23/08/2011 at 14:28:23
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6874079/psychic-benefits-nba-lockout
13 Posted 23/08/2011 at 20:04:02
I'm amazed at the number of Evertonians who don't think that Kenwright is the basic problem and that Moyes is an astute manager.He picked Rodwell as a wide player! He picked Beckford to play alone up front, he left Arteta, Fellaini and Saha on the bench till it was too late and then he sent Fellaini on as a centre forward and he continues to believe that Neville has a use.
Well be back in the second tier very soon and that's when I first started watching my beloved Everton.
Wake up! We're being destroyed by liars , fantasists and incompetents.
14 Posted 24/08/2011 at 00:09:57
Sell Arteta, sell Cahill, sell Jagielka and retire Neville.
Arteta hasn't had a good run for well over a year, Cahill is finished and Jagielka is seen as a good defender because he has to do so much of it because he ALWAYS gives the ball the opposition. it just comes straight back at him.
I don't need to qualify the Neville statement.
15 Posted 23/08/2011 at 23:35:11
Rodwell right mid? Who else?! Coleman & Geuye injured, Billy suspended and As for Vic...!
Beckford lone striker ? Who else?! Saha was obviously not fit enough to play, but was eventually sent on in desperation. Cahill in support, well yeah he's scored shit loads (this time last year was on fire til we lost him to australia). On another day he could've had a hat-trick. Yak is fucking lazy.
I'm not saying he's perfect, far from it, but those tactics have over achieved this squad for years.
Cue a back lash but let's take a step back and look at the options.
We'll probably sell Jags late on Aug 31st and nit be able to spend the banks money.
Moyes dour demeanour is a symtom not the cause.
16 Posted 24/08/2011 at 03:51:00
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1 Posted 22/08/2011 at 20:19:36
At the Beginning
I'm a Theatre Impressario - all media and hype - owning Everton will be great, kudos from people who still recognise us as a "big club" and even the SKY generation tip their hat simply for being in the Prem. No harm at all and doubtless doors will open that were hitherto closed.
Some BIG MONEY in this if handled right - every club in the Prem will be corporate owned soon so how to screw the best deal out of it?
Phil's idea of shipping the place out of town to a retail park is a winner - he'll make a turn for helping and I'll be quids in, it'll be a piece of piss to get the echo to say the stadium is a cracker costing nothing.
Fuck the fans they believe whatever's in the paper.
post enquiry and kirkby knockback
Who gives a shit, Moysey's doing his bit keeping us in the division that's all that matters, the natives are still turning up and buying the "I'm a blue" story, thank god for the idleness of the media. Still the enquiries keep coming in - fuck Sheik Mansoor - I'm going to be President and that's all there is to it; plenty more like him and every time a club gets bought the more valuable EFC becomes, think I'll buy more shares. Better do a bit more re-mortgaging as well - Rooney and Lescott money didn't go far.
Phone Call from secretary
"Blue Union?- who? - another gang of dead beats....send them in next week I'll smooze the arse off them" (chortle, chortle).