Bill Kenwright — Master Story Teller

The value of the playing squad had to be decreased because we were living above our means. We all know BK doesn't pump his own money into the club (nor does he possess the kind of money to be able to do so). He has never suggested that he does. We would all like new ownership that would enable us to be competitive in the transfer market and redevelop Goodison / build a new stadium. But this consipiracy theory is wide of the mark.

Its no conspiracy that he is a shit chairman. Its the official line, no?

No wonder there has been such negativity around Goodison this season. Even when good things are happening someone always has to post something negative about Kenwright.

I dont know about Kenwright letting go if he loves the club, I would suggest that some BU supporters should let go of their negativity. We have just signed a much needed forward, taken Pienaar back on loan. So cant we just have one day off from bashing Kenwright.

No one was getting carried away. people wer ejust enjoying a good home performance, the arrival of some new players and a bit of optimism around the club for the first time this season, yet within a day of this there's already an article on here moaning about Moyes and now one about Kenwright. Can't the doomongerers on here let people enjoy the win for one day before rehashing our ownership issues (which everyone knows and has been flogged to death with) or in this case coming up with an unproven conspiracy theory.

This is an awfully ill-timed post. Just when it looked like we might have turned a corner on the pitch, with two great home wins, this shit is brought up again.

We have just signed a player we needed (Jelavic) and even that signing has been criticised. We have signed a player we've missed (Pienaar) and who will no doubt rekindle a great left sided partnership with Baines. Our recent signing (Gibson) scored the first of hopefully many screamers for us last night and our previously average at best front man (Straq) has had a stormer.

Also, we have off loaded two highly paid passengers (Saha & Bilyaletdinov) from the club.

Add to all this a fantastic performance last night and the last thing we should be doing is putting a negative spin on it all.

If we can't enjoy our club when things go well, we may as well all give up now!

It beggars belief some of the stuff that is posted on here.

The lack of understanding of finances and transfer's is just baffling, particularly when it gets so much airing. You make it sound like the club have received £17.5m income from transfers in just a few months.

I would wager that it isn't the case. Most transfer deals are done on various payment structures, and "paying all in one go upfront" is not a very usual one. Often, it can be spread over the life of a players contract, or can be dependent on appearances, trophies, etc.

You are also failing to acknowledge that in some cases a proportion of those incoming fee's would have been due to previous clubs, as part of sell-on clauses. I might be wrong, but I think for example the arteta deal was £1m to real socieddad.

Also, whilst it's nice to think that all of the loan deals we have brought in were "free", I would also wager that its unlikely to be the case. It's very common to have to pay an initial fee's for players that are coming in on loan, to the club. Of course clubs that want rid of players and just want them off the wage bill, may be happy to relinquish that, but in most cases, not the case for in-demand players



I'm not for one minute trying to paint a rosey picture with regards the finances and net spend.

But let's be accurate, eh?

"I'm not for one minute trying to paint a rosey picture with regards the finances and net spend. But let's be accurate, eh?" - what's not accurate about the above piece Jeremy - all information that I believe is in the public domain.

I think the post was intended to make the point that we can't just sit back and pretend that everything is fine again.

It was too heavy on the negativity, yes... and while we should all enjoy the win and watch the highlights over and over, we can't give the board an easy ride just because they have invested a fraction of what we have brought in!

It's been said that the Manolas deal fell through on personal terms but it was being stated all day that the deal hinged on the Jelavic deal... that Everton cannot pay £500k for a player they obviously want is simply not good enough!

Anyway, a great win, great performances from Stracq and Heitinga in particular (he's recapturing his first season form, he HAS to stay at centre-half now, preferably with Duffy) and here's to us looking towards Europe and not the Championship for the rest of the season.

Jeremy, interesting point. I'll be the first to admit that I wouldn't have considered the workings of the finance and just seen the numbers and made a judgement from there.

I think however that even if the facts are wrong (or misleading), the point of the post is a valid one. We have made a bit of progress with the squad and done well this January. However, I think the important point is that our financial failings as a club have not gone away and we need to keep up the pressure on the board to not sink us into eternity.

As for the posts to suggest this is ill timed, I am personally very glad John wrote this piece now. Any piece written about the dire state of club is usually knocked back by some saying that it's a 'knee-jerk reaction' to a loss. Then there is Moyes standing up for BK and saying that everything will feel better once we get a good win or two.

Well everything is not better, and we are just as frustrated by our board in victory as in defeat. This is not Knee-jerk, this is a much grander undercurrent of malaise at EFC and we will not be placated by two middle-of-the-road signings and a couple of loan deals. (Don't get me wrong, Gibson is my new hero (!) and I hope that Jelavic can really make an impact on the EPL, but people are talking like the dark days are behind us now we have signed Messi and Ronaldo)?

Keep up the good work!

Jeremy is right here.

In that 17.5 million, (which will be spread over a period of time) do we include - agent fees? signing on bonus? sell on clauses?

And Jeremy is right, No loans are free, there will always be a price.

Fellaini has just had a big bumper contract to stay at the club.
The banks will take their cut, this is common knowledge.

But if you want to try and bash someone because you dont like them without considering the facts, feel free to carry on.

No pleasing some people is there?

What would you rather BK do?

Borrow £300m from the bank,
can't pay it back,
administrators come in,
receivers come in,
players go out,
club gets relegated,
club goes bankrupt.

Just for once try smiling will you?

"I think the important point is that our financial failings as a club have not gone away and we need to keep up the pressure on the board to not sink us into eternity"

Indeed, so lets apply pressure for more decisions like these ones. Until we have sugar daddy we need to ensure the board are acting responsibly with the clubs finances - and within 6 months they've managed to find £16.5m whilst not really changing the quality of the squad (arteta in his hey-day would be a bigger loss then the arteta we had at the end, the rest were no great shakes). Top work.

Incidentally, does anyone know if we received a fee for Saha? To be fair the lad came in on a free and played over a hundred games so we've had our moneys worth.

Matthew #685 (my favourite psalm) I would rather BK get someone in who could run a football club! We may not have borrowed £300m but I would say that, what we have borrowed we clearly can't pay back (hence the transfer money going to the bank), administration wouldn't have been far off had we not flogged half our first team, relegation is still a possibility.

I can't really see the point you're trying to make!


Rob #686, are you seriously suggesting that the quality of the squad was not changed over the past year? We were basically shorn of any attacking impetus we had.

The loss of Pienaar left us short of ideas in midfield and the loss of Arteta left us completely clueless. Letting Yakubu go on loan was reckless then selling him and Beckford was complete madness, as summed up by the lack of goals this season!

I can see your point to a degree but I wouldn't go so far as to congratulate the board on 'Top work'!

I've not heard anything about a fee for Saha but, as his contract was up in summer, I'd imagine there's no fee involved as we've taken Pienaar on loan.

Pienaar to Spurs last January was a deal that was clearly never going to benefit anyone, shame it happened at all!

Good article - Does it need a positive spin? How about:

EFC has dumped an enormous amount of wages, which is what teams do to make a club more attractive to potential suitors.

No, Saha went on a free transfer.

Mathhew Lovekin @385, in response to your 'What would you rather BK do?

How about bugger off and let someone competent run the club.

People on here are going on about other people needing to stop moaning, how about you wake up and smell the coffee (still burning). Yes, it was a good day yesterday but lets not kid ourselves that everything is suddenly ok. We spent a little cash that was generated by selling a player (although Billy should have been moved on 12-18 months ago!) and we brought in a loan signing and allowed a good (but under performing) striker to leave.

I really hope that Jelavic works out and time will tell. I am also happy with the win and 3 points further away from the drop zone but the real work will come in the summer when at least 4 players will leave the club (after Donovan already will have left) and the usual lack of transfer funds wil be apparent - unless we sell again.

Am looking forward to hopefully not being involved in the relegation scrap and hopefully a really good cup run. Then the carnage can begin in the summer.

There may have been some patches of blue sky in view last night but there is still one hell of a shit storm on the horizon.

Enjoy the win and new signing(s) but dont forgot who still has his trainset.

I think they've done well to pay off the £10M loan that was costing us £1.5M a year, and pretty much swapping bily for someone that's scored 36 in 55 in Scotland, the squads looking good, the teams looking good and with the obvious exception of Arteta going and the fact Landon's only here for a few months I'd have to say it's all looking alot better than it was when those 5 players were here... also like you say somewhere along the line the club has profited by a good few million.. that can't be a bad thing can it?

Yet again we've had a slow start to the season but the teams definitely got legs and if we play every game like last night we're not far off getting into Europe, some days you kenwright haters make real fools of yourselves and sorry but today is one of those days.

Feeling good after yesterdays win and transfer activity and really hoping this could be a turning point on the pitch but lets not be under any illusions, off the pitch nothing has changed and until the present board have gone the slow destruction of our great club will continue.

A couple of recruitments and our usual win over Man City won't change my mind one iota regarding Kenwright and his cronies in the boardroom. The sooner they are ousted the better.

Noticed Everton were the third highest spenders this transfer window. Great win against City and that with five first team players on the injured list.

Value is in the eye of the beholder and to this beholder we did not lose much on Johns original list of players out.
Perhaps a case could be made for the Yak but not on his post injury games.
By clearing the decks of those wantaways, injury affected, poor 1st touchers, lazy arses and a few never gonna make it kids we have made space in the squad and on the wage bill for a new bunch of wannabee's.
Time will tell if the newbies make the grade yet the future was dire if we had hung on to those others.

John, I think you give Kenwright too much credit for being able to plan so strategically, whereas my impression is that it's quite a bit more hand-to-mouth.

To Viv and others.

I don't know anyone who is saying all our troubles have gone away after a good week for the Club. They are simply asking for a brief respite in the constant and incesant negativity that we have to swallow each and every day as an Everton supporter on here.

Just a couple of days to celebrate a great week to be an Evertonian, thats all. It is not wise to interpret some supporters' joy at recent events as their suggesting that all our off-field troubles are over.

Well said Viv #674, the danger is that a couple of good results raises the 'feel good factor' of the fans and they forget the important thing which is we need to get the current board out.

Mathew #685, take out 'borrow £300 from the bank" and you have stated the position that the Club IS in right now.

NSNO - Need Some New Owners

Kenwright OUT

Firstly I'm not a Kenwright lover. I believe he's out of his depth, both in terms of the running of the club and in the amount of money he has (or hasn't).

Thing is, he (and the board) are in the difficult position of maintaining Premier league status AND balancing the books.

What they are actually trying to do at the moment is the right thing to do, i.e not attempt to buy yourself out of trouble with money you haven't got, but try to buy and sell, and pay off debts which carry huge amounts of interest.

They're in a no win situation. Get us deeper into debt by buying players right left and centre and the downward spiral towards administration beckons. Buy nobody and get relegated-enough said on that.

That the board and Kenwright are naive and out of their depth on how to drag the club into the 21st century, is to some beyond doubt.

I believe the problem goes deeper than that and that we are saddled with a huge number of factors which have prevented us "moving on" since the halcyon days of the mid 80's. That's where the lack of vision from the board started the rot. We missed a golden opportunity to be one of the so called "big four/six" take your pick.
Unfortunately unless you have all the things in place to allow a club to move onwards and upwards, the only way out is a billionaire benefactor.
We have to face it that we missed the boat and in these days of corporate greed and cut-throat money dealings we're "small fry".
We're "small fry" for many reasons. We don't have a global appeal, we don't have the potential to vastly increase corporate income due to our locality, our nearness to our much better known "neighbours," the fact that we're not in London, the fact that there's a worldwide recession, the fact that we're not an appealing purchase.
Getting a new chairman and a new board may well help, but until we earn more than we spend that's not likely to happen...and it's fucking difficult in this day and age for us to earn more than we spend.
Don't get my wrong, our predicament pisses me off no end. I'm lucky enough (or unlucky if you look at it in a cynical way) to be of an age where I enjoyed the all too fleeting mid 80's success, and would love that to happen again.
I'm also a realist though, and no matter how angry and frustrated I get at our predicament now, I know it's not just a case of a new chairman and a new board. I wish it was!
It's a fucking tough world out there and we're no longer the Mersey Millionaires. Our problems have been thirty or more years in the making and could take just as long, if not more, to put right.
Sad but true!

Absolutely unbelievable. It is a real shame that our great club has such dreadful hangers on who would find such pathetic negativity after such positive events on and off the field. You don't know what has happened to the money and you don't offer any ideas on where it may have gone other than snide insinuations. My guess is that most went to buying new players and paying their wages and perhaps paying off some debt.

I for one now fully support Kenwright and the board and our manager and believe me I'm one of an apparently stupid majority.

Martin - no matter what has happened in the last 48 hours, we are still perilously close to financial ruin.

If you want to "fully support" the man who has taken us to this point then I guess that's up to you.

Worrying how easily the "stupid majority" can be bought though.

Brian #832 "Getting a new chairman and a new board may well help, but until we earn more than we spend that's not likely to happen"

And what also is not likely to happen with this board is that we get into a position to earn more than we spend. We don't have 30 years to turn it around, we won't exist then if we carry on as we are.

The 'vision' of this board was Desperation Kirkby, not King's Dock. Says it all really.

Tuesday was a great day. It does not change the underlying problems of the club. But no one was pretending otherwise.

I think all the transfers John Roberts listed were good business - with the excecption of the purchase of Jelavic, which is of course too early to tell (fingers are crossed but 50% of transfers fail to deliver). So we raised GBP17.5m. This would reduce our debt and help the club to sustain its position. This is a good thing. Far better than gambling it all on new signings which would threaten the very survival of the club.

Of course selling the club to someone who was prepared to spend US$1billion on players and lose US$300m per year (like Man City) would be better, but even oil rich sheiks and Russian oligarchs get bored of losing massive amounts of money eventually.

Martin #835, the most worrying thing is that the people in charge of the Club "don't know what has happened to the money and don't offer any ideas on where it may have gone" other than soundbites like '85p in the pound goes to Finch Farm' or '£30m spent on players in the last 2 seasons'

David, stop propagating the daft myth that we need $1 billion to rescue the Club.

The 'do nothing' solution is no solution.

Martin#835.

Martin if you'd met BK you'd know he's absolutley without question a true Blue Evertonian. Loves the club, without a shred of doubt.
You'd also realise that he's out of his depth.
He took over when the club was in need of a saviour and for that I admire him.
He'd be the first to admit (in private) that he doesn't have what's needed to take Everton to the "next level."
I take my hat off to him for what he's achieved in this transfer window, I really do, but the fact remains that, we ARE treading water.
As I said in my earlier post I believe the board is in a no win situation. If that, and my post, qualifies me as a negative hanger-on then so be it.
We're all entitled to our opinion and while we may not all agree with each other we should respect that.
What can't be argued about is our love for the club!

Just what Billy Bullshitter wanted, a couple of wins which is what football is all about, finally spending money the club should be spending by rotating players out and replacing them and its only one, Pienaar is on loan and all of a sudden the world is rosey again and the club's decline is all forgotten.

No wonder we still have idiots clapping the worst chairman in 130 odd years. Iceberg ahead boys and girls, two wins has not suddenly generated a short, medium or long term business plan, it hasn't suddenly increased any revenue streams whatsoever, it hasn't resolved our piss poor sponsorship deal in line with our peer group, it hasn't resolved our piss poor marketing and merchandise outsourced deal, it hasn't created desperately needed non match day income.

It also hasn't seen a single majority shareholder dip their hands in their pockets still but hey at least the lying two faced toerag is a blue eh?

Gavin,
What a load of dross. Who exactly has said that all our problems have gone away and the problems at the club are forgotten. Who exactly are your comments directed at ?? Because I haven't seen many comments from individuals declaring all is rosy again.

More comedy gold from Gavin #850, you sound bitterly disappointed we are in the next round of the FA Cup and just stuffed City. Your pathetic rant is an example of why some supporters are doubtful about the BU, cost they associate this sort of drivel with the honourable objectives of this group.

As for Jamie #836, "Worrying how easily the "stupid majority" can be bought though." What an arrogant arsehole, you sound like you should be in "people's front for the liberation of judea". Get back to your cult mate.

Memo to the BU, slap these two clowns with a superinjunction quick as some fans might begin to think they have something to with you.

Welll said,Gavin. # 850.

Hilarious how quick the moaners are to point out the doom and gloom round the corner. Even if you're right more the reason to enjoy the sunshine for the moment!

I'm no fan of the board for sure but think our business over the last 12 months has been relatively sensible. We have shipped out players on high wages and used the transfer fees hopefully to reduce our crippling debt. What else were they meant to do? Assuming no new investor this was the only sensible option. We have replaced the outgoings with younger cheaper players who will hopefully prove their worth.

Yes the club is still poorly run on many levels but we now have a very decent looking squad whilst hopefully having given the bank 10-15m to reduce debt payments and significantly reduced our wage bill, both of which move us away from financial ruin.

How easily pleased the easily pleased are. Couple of wins and the sun is shining. Months of dross forgotten and 'Bill's not SO bad' etc. I enjoyed the win over City, but when the final whistle blew, it was sheer relief that we had the three points. I'm also pleased Pienaar is back for a few months and we have a striker. But none of this makes any difference to how I perceive Bill (ie: a PROVEN bullshitter and genuinely hopeless) or our 'board' (ie: PROVEN bullshitters and genuinely hopeless). I'm hoping that we can pick up a few points over the next few weeks so we can all relax a little and forget any ideas of relegation (thoughts which HAVE been in many heads this season, despite those who would tell you this is an impossibility). However if we do get these points, it will NOT suddenly make Bill a genius and imo there will be just as much need for the BU as there is right now. As for 'Bill's a blue' - so what? There are people (on here) who would have defended Pol Pot if he'd been a blue. Irrational above and beyond the call.

Gavin, the responses to your post just go to show that the "stupid majority" as Martin calls them are not concerned with how badly the Club is run and doing something about changing that, but are only concerned with results on the pitch.

Ok. A question for the revolutionaries: BK gets run over by a bus tomorrow - that is, in fashionable parlance, compulsorily 'lets go'. Everything now immediately manifestly changes for the better and the future is rosy beeeecause?

Eric,
You and your lot have a hide generalising about the majority of fans. You obviously haven't got a clue about what most fans are thinking. Let me tell you they are not stupid but have a rational and mature approach to Everton and the issues we are faced with as a football club.

Peter, that certainly doesn't come across in their posts, quite the opposite in fact.

John, your summer sales figures may be more or less correct but I think most of us recognise that the bank had more to do with the destination of those proceeds than did Blue Bill. The house just had to be put in order ? and it wasn`t a moment too soon although it shouldn`t have needed someone outside the Club to do it!

A proper `heads-up` with the fanbase might have prevented a lot of the rancour radiated over the last few months but pride ? and not just BK`s ? prevented that happening.

So, Eric, people are stupid because they....want to enjoy good things when they happen?

No-one here is saying that suddenly everything is great or proclaiming Blue Bill as the second coming. They are saying that with all the trouble we have had recently it's good to get 3 points and have a satisfying transfer window.

Please tell me what is wrong with that.

Eugene, did you really enjoy the win over Man City? I ask because it does not seem like it to me. I am no fan of BK at all. I think he and his fellow board members have made a god awful mess of things. I am seeking change asap.

I have trawled back over this thread and the vast majority of people are under no illusion as to the roots of the malaise still being there Wednesday morning.

But what people saw on Tuesday night was not just winning a match, they saw, fire, passion, commitment - qualities that instil pride in Evertonians and qualities that ought to be congratulated the next day. To denounce this in the way you have (and to be fair others also) strikes me as counter-intuitive - assuming your rationale for the removal of the board is your love and passion for EFC - well what was Tuesday night all about? Touch selective do you not think?

Totally agree James. If you can't take pleasure from a day like Tuesday then really what is the point of being a fan?!

What's wrong with that Sam is you quickly lose sight of the big picture when the cracks are papered over and then suddenly there is no club left to enjoy, even for those advocating maintaining the status quo.

Well said James.
Thats what i was trying to say but unfortunately I am not the wordsmith you are.

Eric, I take your point but there is a difference from people enjoying some good fortune and a good display and people saying that now all is forgotten and forgiven.

Problems still persist of course but, if one were to go through life never able to enjoy the good bits but concentrated solely on where the troubles may lead, then that would be rather a waste in my opinion. Yet that is what so many on here seem determined to do. It is of course their prerogative but I prefer to bask in the sunshine, however brief its duration may be!

No-one on here is naive enough to think that everything is rosey in the garden but we have just beaten the best team in the country and have Jags, Rodwell, Distin, Coleman, Jelavic, Pienaar and Osman to come back into the frame in the coming weeks. On top of that we have some very promising talent in Barkley, Duffy and Vellios coming through.

I am not Moyes's biggest fan and I would love to see us have the financial clout to compete in the transfer market but that is not going to happen anytime soon. Accept it and get behind the team. The negativity on this site is just incredible.

Gavin and Ste can't you give it a rest.

To the myopic who have the crass response to my clearly nerve jabbing points

Has the business side of Everton FC suddenly changed because of two wins and the purchase of a single player funded by the sale of another and removal from the wage bill of one more? Easy one boys - YES or NO

Next, what the fuck does still being in the FA Cup and beating Man City in a single game do to the current state of debt and ability to service said debt at the club? Come on boys, your defiant stance quick to respond to my post well respond to that simple question.

Next, did you see the attendance at the Man City game, where you there? Less than 30,000 and several thousand of those were Man City fans. How do you think the falling attendances are going to look against the balance sheet at the end of the season which rolls nicely again into my first question for you all?

I won't hold my breath boys as your limited responses seem to indicate a couple of wins and replacing another two players of the books has wiped your short memories clean again.

Gavin,
Simple answers. 1. No 2. Nothing. 3. Not good.
So tell us something we don't know. You seem to be banging on about the same thing over and over and I and others are giving you answers to your questions but you don't seem to be absorbing the feedback. Everyone knows we are in trouble financially but all they wanted was a few days to enjoy a great week for our club without the constant negativity that is rammed down our throats on a daily basis.

Peter to use the same train of thought, I was there the other night and enjoyed it and despite another poster making irrelevent claims that I'm not overjoyed we are still in the FA Cup my focus is on ensuring that the misery the club has lurking like an iceberg isn't whitewashed by two wins and one signing which we had to wait two years for.

As far as I can see Peter only you have provided an answer so again, try reading the page above and remind me of all these "I and others are giving you answers to your questions but you don't seem to be absorbing the feedback."

3 out of 10, try again only this time a little harder and this time remember if you are going to make statements such as your quote for them to actually make sense.

Gavin,

The falling attendances are possibly more to do with the fragile state of the economy than the fans not caring anymore, that and the poor displays. However, the lost revenue from 5000 stay away fans would equate to about £100,000 to £150,000 per match. With lets say 10 home games left that would be a maximum of £1.5m. About the same as finnishing two to three places higher than the 17th or lower that you and your friends have been suggesting for weeks. When we finnish in the top ten again, about 7 places (£3.5m+) better off, it will mean you were a little off with your somewhat myopic rantings.

Well said Gavin, it`s funny how a couple of wins can affect people! Whilst i`m delighted at our recent performances it changes nothing with regards to how our board are running/ruining this great club, also memo to certain people on this site, the Blue Union are Evertonians!!!!

Dean #069, the maths is simple.

Say we finish in the same place as last year (which was looking to need a miracle to achieve before the last 2 wins) then we would recieve the same place income as last year BUT with our average attendance being down ALL season (not just the last 10 games that you have calculated) then our combined total income will be less.

With regard to the loss of 5,000 from the average attendances being due to the economy I have never read a post on here saying 'I can't afford to go', they've all been anti-Kenwright or anti-Moyes reasons for not going.

Dean interesteing maths there, I lost my season ticket the other night so know the man City game cost £41, simple maths there at 41 a pop equates to £205,000 just for that one game. You seem to have flattened the ticket prices and not taken into account the categorisation of games and refreshments consumed by those fans either.

Attendance drops, take some time to compare ours with the rest of the premiership and think about it.

"finnish" is what you would call someone from Finland.
As far as your generalism of me and "my friends" saying Everton would finish 17th again can you point me to a posting where I have said this and let me know who "my friends" are. If you are going to talk shite expect a response.

A higher premiership finish is worth £750,000 per place, so if we go scandinavian as you suggest to the top ten from the 17th place you contrived me and my friends as saying that would be a minimum of £5.25m.

0 out of 10, really think hard before trying again

Eric - I haven't been able to go since Christmas because I was made redundant.

I don't hate Kenwright, but I do want him to go. I do like Moyes, but wish he was less negative but neither are the reason I'm not going as much.

I normally get to about 12 home league games, a couple of away games, a couple of cup games and all the home Europa games, but since Christmas I haven't been able to afford to.

Plus my local in Sheffield puts on every Everton game for us (on Sky or foreign channels). There's a posse of 10 of us that go down there. The landlord is a Wednesday fan (though we live in a Blades area) but I reckon Everton are his 2nd team since we give him so much custom.

Dean your false economics are laughable and have quite rightly been deconstructed and derided by Gavin and Eric. Everton simply cannot afford to lose supporters or the revenue that they bring with them, regardless of extra money received from league placing. I am one of those supporters who after many year's did not renew my season ticket due to protest at the continued lack of investment, vision or strategy from the boardroom and the contempt and arrogance that they display to 'ordinary' fans. I have two kids who support Everton, a minority in their school which is based in the subhurbs of Liverpool. Everton have played a risky game in alienating a large section of its fan-base, an olive branch needs to be offered and evidence that progress and stability are both short to medium term goals.

I have not been able to get to as many games as I would like to,for differing reasons, mainly work commitments.

@ Jon Ferguson.

What is the name of the pub, dude? I am working 15 miles from Sheffield and would like to watch the game with fellow blues.