Season 2011-12
The Mail Bag
Get behind Kenwright & the team
75 Comments: I recently ran into a debate with a fellow Evertonian regarding his take on the current situation at the club. He appears to blame everything on Kenwright and, similar to the riots in London last week, was calling for the whole place to be burned down and the club to start over. Indeed, hearing the dribble that came from his mouth, it reminded me of a curry I had a few weeks back that didn't agree with me and had run out somewhere else .At most times he's as intriguing and interesting as Steve Davis or Ken Barlow but it just worried me that his dross may become contagious. So I'm going to do something not too often seen by ToffeeWeb readers ? a post in "SUPPORT" of Bill Kenwright.
I, like all Everton supporters, would love the club to be in the position of challenging every year for the league and best players but reality dictates otherwise. We have to evaluate the options available and in my opinion, Bill Kenwright is our best option ? unless a billionaire comes along ? which, let's face it, is fairly unlikely. My argument is based on a number of points which I will outline below.
When Kenwright first took the reigns as Chairman, the club was in a mess. The team was teetering every year in a relegation scrap. The squad was garbage and had some players who wouldn't make most Sunday paralympic league teams let alone the Premier League ? eg, Samways, Farrelly, Barrett etc. Kenwright's arrival in my opinion brought stability.
We may not have inherited a billionaire but what we did get was someone who was a True Blue supporter, had passion, and the club's best interests at heart. He brought in a young, talented and motivated manager in David Moyes, who shared his vision and enthusiasm for getting the club back on track. Since then, we have managed to establish ourselves as a top 6-7 team, attract top players like Arteta, Cahill, Fellaini etc and enjoy some European football in-between ? as opposed to a relegation scrap. I look at other clubs like Birmingham & Newcastle and this reassures me that we have the right chairman in place.
Furthermore, he does not give me the impression he intends to sell to anyone unless they also share the club's interests which I personally like the man for despite the critism he receives daily from fans. The fact that Moyes and players like Cahill regularly sing Kenwright's praise for me speaks volumes about the guy.
My final point is that, if the fans call for "Kenwright Out!" ? what will it achieve? The club will slip back into chaos, our manager who is loyal to Kenwright will move on and the players will look at the crisis and also engineer their moves. Instead of Baines, Arteta & Cahill, we will end up with Stephen Hawkins up front and Heather Mills at the back.How about we all get behind the team and Kenwright and put aside the flaws and appreciate what we have in place? No doubt more dribble will come back from disgruntled fans. Go look at Birmingham, Newcastle or Leeds before you add any response and think hard what it is you want.
Paul McMullan, Posted 16/08/2011 at 21:50:11
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And by 'question' I mean 'post'.
Absolutely nothing compelling about your argument whatsoever.
The club may well have been in a mess when he tookover but nothing has changed in reality. He acquired the club as an act of self-indulgence with no idea how to fund it... and nearly 12 on still hasn't the first clue.
As for your comment about Barrett, Samways and Farrelly ,these players had long since left the club by the year 2000 when BK became head honcho.
Doubt it. I am positive about our players and the team, not the idiot behind the scenes screwing it all up. Get a grip and smell the coffee.
Anyone who is there and wants to voice their opinion of him should, but you certainly won't find them affecting the team's performance, match going blues don't do that, but we will see so much evidence around the ground, in the ground and in the squad to remind us that the things you say in defence of him are utter bollocks.
I support the team and wish them all the best, etc.
But just a little re-cap: for the second year running we are the only club in the country to not buy a player after a season which we finished with a bench full of kids without a game between them.
We have teams like Arsenal and Leicester taking the deliberate piss out of us with bids of comedy nature for our players, the fanbase is split in two, the manager won't speak, and we have struggled to fill a hole in the wall we started knocking down until someone reminded us we don't own the land it's built on.
Let's be positive as much as we can regarding the team, but when thousands of us strive to find money to support our club, let us have our say instead of filling us with patronising bullshit.
Does he play up front?
I wish someone would at least try and match one of Colin's articles in support of Kenwright, at least then people wouldn't have to bother wheeling out the millions of reasons why he's a clown.
You have to be on something to suggest all is well within our club with that lying prat at the helm. I am just amazed that Moyes is still with us, thank God, after what he has had endure season after season. What he achieves on what he is given is nothing short of brilliance.
Like all true blues, we will be cheering the team on against QPR, but support of Blue Bill, you have got to be joking. Without going into the past about his failures, we have heard him only once during this pre-season, "Yobo sale will happen within 48 hours" ? need I say more!!
Seriously, if you think Kenwright's countless useless/deceitful decisions point to a man who has 'the club's best interests at heart', you are a fool.
The line 'If the fans call for Kenwright out, the club will slip into chaos' is a particular favourite.
Fucking WILL!?
Hey, good point Paul, we certainly don't want 'chaos'.
(Seriously, have you just woken up from a 15-year fucking coma?)
By the way, this line: "How about we all get behind the team and Kenwright and put aside the flaws and appreciate what we have in place?" ? I could only read in the voice of Eric Idle's character from the crucifixion scene in 'The Life Of Brian'.
Desperate stuff!
One thing I do agree on is that Kenwright should not sell to just anyone. It has to be the right person or else we may become a basket case just like some others.
Sure, I don't agree with how the club is being run at the moment but the simplistic "Kenwright Out" just doesn't cut it. We are not privy to the goings on behind the scenes and I think these times are times for caution.
So Paul, you are aware of the concept of reality? But still post this nonsense pointing to the contrary.
Groundhog day? We are still in that place.
Your illustrious leader has failed. Plus stop compairing us to other teams ? we are Everton, not Pompey, Leeds, Birmingham etc...
Well done ? you have got the part in 'Dreamcoats and Petticoats' with your blatant arse-licking of BK. What planet are you on? You obviously don't go to the games or follow us closely.
BK and Moyes for that matter are the only two stopping us from moving forward; we have an extremely thin squad, a lot of our players are injury-prone ? Saha, Arteta, Anichebe, Jags, Cahill ? so I'm sure the squad will get thinner and these two clowns are to blame!
As for BK supporting Everton, so what? He hasn't used any of his personal wealth, hasn't invested in the squad / facilities and has failed with two stadium bids ? at great expesnse to US!!!!
Christ, no... She's too one footed.
Try reading these articles and you'll see why there's a long queue to get behind the man when he's stood on the train platform with the express fast approaching.
http://www.toffeeweb.com/season/10-11/comment/fan/16215.html
http://www.toffeeweb.com/season/10-11/comment/fan/16228.html
BK has no pot to piss in, he's sold everything that had an EFC label on it and now he's looking at what players he can off load. Finally, Everton owe in excess of £50M to the real owners of club and of course, the banks. Yep, that's £50M, which was around £23M of debt when BK first purchased the club.
Paul, you would have had more luck telling a church load of black Christians that the KKK were coming in to offer relocation packages.
The improvement in the tean and as such stability on the pitch is down 100% to Moyes, it has nothing to do with Kenwright whatsoever.
He has provided the manager with a pathetic £20m net over 10 years of management - £2m per year ! He has said for years he is looking '24/7' for INVESTMENT - not sale. He wont let go of the train set. He has presided over a board that has mortgaged off just about all our assets. In my opinion, the only good thing Kenwright has done is appoint Moyes.
And one final thing, why do we only ever hear from this fake when things are going well. I think the only time he has been seen since the cup final in 09 was when we beat Chelsea in the cup earlier this year - there he was punchingthe air and confirming his self proclaimed status as our No1 fan.
Get behind the team - YES , get behind Kenwright and his joke fellow board members - Definately NO NO NO.
Sorry, but whilst I agree they are top players now, we got Cahill from Millwall on the back of a decent cup run, Arteta who couldnt get into Real Sociadads team, and Fellaini who was playing in that world famous Belgian league! It hardly took much to 'attract' them did it?
Logic tells me that the case against Kenwright is massive ? and I won't go listing all the failures again here.
I have asked several times for somebody to post a case in his favour and all that people come up with is that a) he is an Evertonian like us and b) the club has financial stability.
Well the first is nice but is not a qualification to run the club; and the second simply isn't true.
I put our "success" down to David Moyes. Yes he's maddening at times, yes he can be dour but he changed us from a relegation club to one battling generally in the upper half of the division. Sorry League.
But here is another point. OK in these times of crazy finance I know we need a dose of realism, but how can 6th or 7th place be considered success? Why is that good enough? Does the club's motto mean nothing more than a few latin words on the wall?
We are not going to win the league, we are probably not going to win the cup. But all the hope and belief and optimism are being sucked out of the club, like a Harry Potter dementor, and the buck has to stop at the desk of the Chairman. Every standard at the club is set from the top.
So: get behind the team? Yes. Get behind the Chairman? No chance. He has done nothing to earn my loyalty and everything to lose it.
"Go look at Birmingham, Newcastle or Leeds before you add any response and think hard what it is you want."
I've thought long and hard about what I want...and it's success - success being relative to your starting point so for us it's CL qualification, cup wins etc. For that we need money in the board.
No matter what Moyes or the Players or Bill tells you, Paul, finishing 7th ISNT like winning the Champions League. Wanting to finish as the best of the rest, is NOT ambitious. And, to me, being happy with that makes you just as culpable as Bill for our club standing still.
Support the team. Yes. Support the board. No.
- the embarrasment over Kings Dock and Kirkby;
- not confirming whether we are for sale or not;
- not "attracting" investement for 12 years;
- the Fortress Sports Fund bullshit;
- not buying any players for the past 2 years when not only are we desperate for numbers but also a few top acquisitions would have proven for sure the team's true potential;
- and the overall cringe feeling I get whenever he acts in front of the cameras (seriously the man is a whopper).
So in short: TIME TO GO BILL.
And to reiterate other posts, getting behind the team and supporting/slagging off Kenwright are two completely different things.
I've never read such utter drivel in years... and I've read all of Doddy's post before others ask.
Up the Blues everyday but Bluey can fuck off and take his yes men with him.
I had no idea till I read this that "New Ownership" was a guarantee that relegation was a dead cert. Anyway, no need to worry about that cos Bluey wont sell.
We will have to wait and get the front door key out of his COLD, DEAD HANDS to quote that gadger who originally fought the apes.
I'll get behind the team, even the manager and staff. But I'll never get behind a man that has taken the club he supposedly loves and uses it as his play thing. He's lost the support of the loyal fans due to a catalogue of lies and spin doctoring that would make our political parties blush(no bias there lol).
This pre season is the final straw for me after the Kirby debacle and all the other issues that have been highlighted on this site over the years.
Shameful in the extreme!!
While he's standing on the edge of a fucking cliff !
Are we talking about the same man who has his own supporters ejected from the ground for daring to suggest he was incompetent.
Then bans the Daily Post from a press conference for reporting it.
The same man who, as we all suspect is going to sell one of our senior players bang on deadline day to pay off some of the debt.
My gut feeling on this is it's Baines by the way.
That is the worst load of SHITE I have read in a long time and far outstrips Doddy's sycophantic ramblings.
If I didn't know better, I'd say you where a club plant.
Wake up fella and smell the coffee.
However, whilst he may have stepped in at the right time, in the words of ABC (showing my age) "That was then, This is Now".
Oh I get it now, it was a wind up. You got me!
Where exactly did you run into this 'derranged' Evertonian?
If it's all the same with you I think I'll refuse your offer to ignore the blatantly obvious facts about Kenwright's tenure ? or even his previous stint on the board as a 'Yes man' for Peter Johnson...
I wonder what this 'dribbling' incarnation of Ken Barlow thought of your two-bit arguments for continuing to 'support' Kenwright? (Not tolerate, acknowledge or even benignly accept ? You actually want us to SUPPORT this incompetent buffoon!)
Supporting Kenwright is like a new signing... give me fucking strength.
ps: Paul, you may pray you don't run into me.
a. need new faces for a bigger campaign and we can't afford them;
b. would be shown up in both the Premier League and Europe due to our vastly too small squad;
c. expectations would rise and he would be under increased pressure to actually do something positive.
the CLUB was not in a mess when Kenwright took over.
There was a £5 million overdraft but a net asset position.
Following almost 12 years of lies, deceit and incompetence we are now almost assetless, massively in debt to the extent we have one of the poorest credit ratings in the football league and we have no plan to take us forward.
And you want to go on with this clown in charge???
We are gradually declining to Championship status.
We are the new Leeds, Notts Forest, Sheff Wed...........big clubs that got left behind due to mismanagement and short sightedness.
A few more seasons of zero investment and we will be heading only one way......DOWN.
Thank you Blue Bill
Round of applause......
You don't write a post like this, and then don't respond to comments, unless it's a futile attempt to support the chairman/board.
Why would anybody in their right mind feel that Kenwright deserves support. For what? He isn't doing anything for us to support him.
Come one everyone, join in!
Kenwright, Kenwright, ra ra ra .....
"Kenwright will be the downfall of this club" I can imagine us going down under Moyes and him not having one single iota of blame for the stagnation of Everton over the last few years, he would probably keep his job too. It would just be Kenwright, Kenwright, ra ra ra.
Yes Blackburn have been active in the transfer market as have Aston Villa but only because they have been able to finance any such moves by the sale of some of their top players.
A balanced view ? well I am not in any Pro Kenwright group nor am I in any anti Kenwright lobby. Some of the arguments used though seem to me to lack a bit of credibility ? The most common one is that we haven't signed anyone yet ? or will we? Has everyone else been active in the transfer market? Take Spurs for example ? there is more talk of whether or not they will be able to hold on to Modric. Does signing players automatically guarantee success? I am not sure that it does.
One of the arguments used against Kenwright is that more often than not we have to sell before we buy. Are we the only club in this position? I think not, judging by the transfer activity this summer.
It's clear that most fans want Kenwright to go ? but to be replaced by who? Do we want a similar set up as at Chelsea or Man City? Karl Marx I believe once said something about Capitalism containing within it the seeds of its own destruction. Mega rich owners or consortiums may seem appealing but I personally believe that they will only provide short term success. I am not sure about Kenwright but neither would I (if I was a Chelsea or Man City fan) be too willing to be taken in by their owners. Will they still be around in say 5 or 10 years time I wonder? Oce they have made the money they want they will be looking for other rich pickings.
You want Kenwright to be replaced by some mega rich "sugar daddy" ? be careful what you wish for.
Notwithstanding this his failure to change the modus operandi on the field is constantly a reason we lose many points in games we should win.
We have every right to call for changes and if Kenwright won't act then he should be forced out also. Oh yes, if you are content with being an also ran then by all means keep them both for years to come.
"He brought in a young, talented and motivated manager in David Moyes, who shared his vision and enthusiasm for getting the club back on track. Since then, we have managed to establish ourselves as a top 6-7 team, attract top players like Arteta, Cahill, Fellaini etc and enjoy some European football in-between ? as opposed to a relegation scrap."
OK, fair play. Kenwright was the man that employed Moyes (if we look past the fact that it was Gary Megson who he initially wanted to put in charge), but Jesus, talk about ambition. "A top 6/7 team who have enjoyed some European Football"? This is the point that some people seem to fail to grasp. 6th or 7th simply doesn't cut it for Everton Football Club. Taking into consideration the achievements of the manager up until 2009 then I would argue that 4th doesn't even cut it. We had the nucleus of a top team. We needed, and still do, two world class players (at the very least) and the potential of that squad was scary. The board let the team down, the manager down and the fans down. Forget all other failings in the past. The inability to move on from 2009 should be enough to condemn them.
One thing I'm also not happy about is the the concept of the future direction of the club (No, it isn't a club; it's a Company) being dictated by what may be a disgruntled, vociferous but small minority of fans. I'm not sure that the large majority of Evertonians necessarily want radical change.
I wouldn't dismiss the current feeling towards Kenwright as a minority, that would be very naive. Just read this post, there's only you and about 3 others out of 47 that offer any sort of support to Kenwright. The tide has been shifting for a while now and it's only the ones whose heads are in the sand that haven't noticed it.
Fair enough, we are a company and Kenwright only has to answer to the shareholders.
Just one point: isn't it Kenwright who has abolished AGMs and once infamously responded to a shareholders query of "How much are you asking for the club?" with the reply "I'm bored of this question, let's move on."
Wasn't Kenwright the same person who wheeled out the Fortress Sports Fund to the shareholders meeting in what proved to be a successful attempt to oust Paul Gregg ? only for the FSF to prove to be a complete myth?
The man doesn't communicate with anyone and the only time he is seen is when we are doing well or win a high profile game when he irritatingly acts like the greatest Everton fan ever to support the club. The bloke is an embarrassment.
Has he ever come out and said the club is for sale, or that he'd be willing to sell for the right bid?
Do we know for certain that bids have been received/entertained? Or is all the talk of him selling the club just wishful thinking?
And in all the opinions expressed here, I've never seen anyone make a prediction, so please do... will he eventually sell the club, or does he just love owning Everton and will hang onto it forever?
The fact you havn't responded to defend your piece also has me convinced this is just another piece of propaganda.
Put it on BlueKipper, they will lap it up.
Season tickets sales down and we can't even sell out for the 1st game. By the way, when did we last sell out a game?
Billy Bullshit will he be there or is there a new show in the West End he is off to? So, if he doesn't have to speak to the fans, why the fuck do we have to listen to him when things were looking better?
Michael #44 the teams you mention have bought players funded by player sales, Everton have sold players to .... don't watch this space to service debts, that's a big difference
We are Everton FC ? not 'happy just to be in the Prem' nobodies which might make some happy but once you start accepting "Sixth is the best we can do" then why would any footballer with ambition want to ? sign even if the money was available?
You say Kenwright is better than Johnson and I would agree but could he really have been worse? The RS were owned by 2 cowboys and as phoney as they were they backed the manager in the transfer market plus once they were run out suddenly they are bought by a party out of the blue in about 1 week were as we have been for sale for how long? ? without a sole being interested. Many other Premier League clubs have changed hands with lots of them having no history no fan base a much worse squad than ours and to be honest not half the club that Everton is but they have had people interested in buying them and have been sold yet for some reason we seem to be like a bad smell who buyers stay well away from.
There are no certainties but if the club is run well why shouldn't we expect to be able to strengthen every season? All we seem to be doing is selling players weakening a already small squad and standing still.
I for one would am happy to see our money invested there rather than buying foreign mercenaries who don't know or respect the club and are just after a stepping stone/pay day (à la Heitinga/Bilic). How many other clubs are continually producing jems like Rooney, Rodwell, Barkley?
Some fans need to get realistic and stop looking at what Citeh/Chelski are up to. If we try and match the the teams above us, we will end up like Leeds. Remember financial fair play and homegrown rules are round the corner as well.
The way we are doing it is keeping us competitive and hopefully the board are learning from the mistakes they've made, so we can make the extra step up to challenge for the league.
You might say I'm dreaming but Barcelona have 11 homegrown players out of a core squad of 19.
We sold Bellefield (eventually) but we bought and then leased back Finch Farm. Maybe it is a tax dodge but it means that yet another asset, yet another piece of the family silver, has been disposed of without a replacement of tangible value. Indeed in terms of our balance sheet, our training facility is now a liability rather than an asset.
Andy (66) I agree, see my earlier post. The case against Kenwright is compelling, the case in his favour vaguely emotional.
Well said, I agree with the majority of the points you have made. Bill Kenwright's only crime is not having enough money to push the club forward.
We need a new owner or new investment with billions of pounds to sink in to the club and, as we all know, there are hundreds, nay thousands of them hanging round street corners, in tears, because big bad old Bill won't let them!!!!! No really, I hear it on ToffeeWeb every day.
I am Everton fan, I love my team I watch my team home and away, and although I accept that Bill Kenwright isn't perfect, I refer you to my previous point if he had money he wouldn't be far from it.
COYB.
Do you genuinely hand on heart believe that if we turned out another Rooney he'd stick around for any length of time?
How many of our top players have we sold against their will in the Kenwright era?
And if Finch Farm is a feeding farm where we produce enough that we can sell some on then it's a better plan than throwing stupid money at half decent overpriced mercenaries and ending up in debt that we can't cope with. (Portsmouth, Leeds, Liverpool pre-take over etc.)
I agree when the pair got together it was working, but now it's not; both have got stale in their jobs.
Leeds problem was they had a gobshite like O'leary buying overrated overpriced players. Also if youth is the way forward then we have to offer something different that makes us stand out for young players. Although we have had some success bringing young players threw,Finch Farm and Evertons Accademy is no different than that of every other Premier League Club.
Till now, what David Moyes has is what I have at my disposal. I love the players, because most of them do fall in love with Everton. David Moyes the same. Kenwright the same.
I say, the only thing that Everton needs is to put at least one jersey, anywhere in India, so that I can buy it. I can wear it and go watch Everton players play on big screen. I do a little marketing there. More fans, more jerseys, more fans! I might start using "we" for Everton.
I love the club, everything about it, even what happened before I was born. I do watch Everton players play. I have this thought that, our players play warm-up matches during first half of the season. They sometimes play beautifully as a team. The manager on the touchline, the same person for almost ten years. We have a beautiful history.
I'd like to see David Moyes end his career at Everton. That will make a history. We are lucky to have him. I guess he motivates the Everton players better than anyone can.
We have Arteta, Baines, Jagielka, Cahill, Hibbert, Rodwell, Fellaini, Howard. We need some players with pace on the wings.
COYB!
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1 Posted 17/08/2011 at 05:04:39
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Can't you see that this man has ran this club into the ground!! How much has our debt run up since Kenwright has been in charge? How many assets do we have left? How many players have we signed in the last 2 years?
"I wouldn't sell Rooney for £50M" ? then sells him a few weeks later for £27M!! But WAIT...... He is a True Blue so it's all fucking good, isn't it, Paul! The thing is, Paul, Evertonians don't want a billionaire, we just want a competent chairman & board to run this club to allow us to compete ? now that's not too much to ask is it?
And personally speaking fans like you put me off football all togeather...