Quick tip, don't read him.... you will feel better. That is all...

I understand the similarities with Leeds, but they spent what they couldn't afford on a bigger scale than us and paid the price. At least we are not spending money we don't have. Nonetheless, we still need an overhaul at the top because we can't sustain losing money as we are.
Prentice is obviously a puppet of Kenwrights and needs to wake up.
Anyway, to matters on the pitch, fingers crossed we get off the mark against Rovers.

I'm no fan of the Board, but you really did mischaracterise his article, massively. First off, he never mentioned the "real" fans, as you quote him as saying. Secondly, he pointed out the fact, yes fact, that the internet is a playground for unregulated conspiracy theory and disproved one of the latest ones, which has appeared many times on these pages recently. Nothing shocking there. And him writing an article calling for supporters not to fight amongst themselves is hardly divisive is it? What people need to realize is that as long as people are allowed to come on these message boards or conspiracy theories are allowed to be published on these websites, the message or what Evertonians are unhappy about and want will be lost. They can just keep shooting down ridiculous conspiracy theories and use those to discredit anyone who has a problem with the Board.

The Liverpool Echo is a disgrace, its journalists are all 'yes-men' who would make those responsible for the Libyan propoganda machine applaud in appreciation. There are two agenda's at play - continue to promote and indulge Liverpool FC as witnessed in the Spirit of Shankley campaign and completely overlook the demise of Everton and refuse to question those responsible i.e. the board as custodians of the club.

Peter Laing spot on. I'm sick of the rubbish coming from the Echo. With all the problems at Everton you would think Mr Prentice would have something better to write about.

A very melo-dramatic letter from the correspondent of the echo. Ofd course fighting between fans should never be condoned but needs to be kept in perspective. ultimatley all fans should respect each others opinion and if they wish to protest should be allowed to. In fairness Prentice simply relays a letter he recieved and comments that evertonians should not be fighting each other - difficult to criticise on this occasion to be fair

I have sent three emails to him this week about everything you have said and more having a right go at him and to be fair to him he has replied everytime and his arguements back to be fair were pretty good, he sounds like a good blue.
Today he ducked a few issues about everyone should have a right to a view without being labelled etc to which I mentioned about the lads who got threw out against Villareal for having a flag or two, plus I mentioned the banning of the AGMs and how his very own paper was reprimanded to which he never replied about, so it pisses on the bombfire of we are all in it together shite and the peoples club bollocks.
As for kenwright, it sounds like he does not get on with him as he said he has only spke to him once and that was when Kenwright accused him of fabricating a story that him and Moyes had fallen out.
I did accuse him of having no balls and cited Ian doyle in the Daily Post who seems to have some balls today in his write up, but like I say his answers were very good and I suppose that is why he has the job he has, but he is toeing the line.
I have given him some stick in the past on here too, although he does not read this site anymore because of the negativity but I was left with a bit of respect for the fella although despite him claiming the club is run poor he does still play by their rules and he claims there is no reason to force issues with kenwright if there is no one on the horizon to take over.
He told me about this write up last week and I expected better so it shall be interesting what he has to say next week as the Dixie statue issue pisses him off but that would as he is related (I think)

No one has claimed the new loan belongs to Earl and just pointed out that its from the same location as the registered office as BCR Sports in BVI that Earl used to buy his shares in the club.

Sounds like he didn't fancy the QPR game but wants another ticket now, don't read him you wont be missing anything. He's an utter disgrace to journalism.

I don't remember him telling Blue Bill about our unity being our strength when he split us down the middle with his move to Kirkby!!

How disappointing that the much publicised ADDITIONAL loan of £13M turned out to be nothing of the kind and was merely a REPLACEMENT for a facility already repaid!
How disappointing that it wasn`t director Robert Earl who was charging huge interest on the loan but an international finance company which was just one of a thousand or more businesses sharing his convenience address!
Overlooking the smalch that preambles Mr Prentice`s piece (I get dog`s abuse here and at games-and so what?),the Echo`s Sports Editor makes the point that just because somebody comes on here-and other sites- and says black`s white emphatically don`t make it so in reality!
What troubles me more every day is that the very people who constantly criticise the Club of pushing out disinformation are no mean pedlars of the same product themselves and thus totally undermine the case they are making.
Who`d be an Evertonian,eh?

Davis Barks #3 the "real" in this case is not a direct quote but reference to a thinly veiled attempt to differentiate between fans protesting and those sitting quietly and / or having a go at the protesters. DP clearly sees the latter as the real fans; this is basic english comprehension.

Doddy amazed at your comments. For someone who has over a number of seasons given the impression you have insider information to say "black's white doesn't make it so" beggars belief. What disinformation do you refer to ?

Ive just read the letter, if that wasnt written by a piss taking Kopite Ill eat my Everton scarf.

"...a day that will live wrong in the memory, IN FACT, it will be there the rest of my life......."

If its not blag, get a fucking grip you big tart.

As someone who lived in Leeds between 1999 - 2003 I can't see any similarities between the current Everton 'situation' (whatever it is) and the oh-so-obvious situation that there was at Leeds United back in those days.

ive seen a few punch ups at games over the years. it happens

beer, wisecracks, points of view, beer, more beer etc

the paddock used to be the place for it when it had the cheapest seats and i could afford to get in, its a while ago though, i generally go in the Park End now

Just accept its gonna happen, very occasionally.

How is the financing of a loan from a new loan company not a new loan?

well said Ciaran. If I borrow of one bank and get a loan to pay that loan back I'm getting a new loan.

For me what?s really disappointing is that Dave Prentice chooses to report the information without questioning it further.

Let?s not forget that by and large the Echo hasn?t really investigated what?s been going on at Goodison, unlike across the park. Now I know there?s a lot of secrecy at Everton, it has to be seen to be believed but that doesn?t excuse the fact that while the club were on the brink with the banks, if Kenwright is to be believed in the blue union interview, Prentice was writing this:

?Some fans have contacted this newspaper demanding ?action? ? the basis of their argument being that because we helped force the Americans out of Anfield, we should do something similar with the current Goodison regime. It?s a flawed argument. Tom Hicks and George Gillett came close to bankrupting Liverpool Football Club with a phenomenal level of debt that was unsustainable, levied against the club for personal gain. The current Blues board is refusing to spend money the club doesn?t have and doesn?t take a salary out of the club. That may not be very exciting, but it?s prudent housekeeping which doesn't threaten the future existence of the club.?

It?s taken three young lads to do the Echo?s job for them. Some of the reporters there can still hold their heads high but too many need to hang their heads in shame.

Isn?t it a pity that Dave Prentice doesn?t take the opportunity to press the source of this Vibrac information; he should be asking why we?re factoring the income not from this coming season but from next season. Isn?t it a pity he didn?t ask why both BCR and Vibrac have the same address or is it perhaps just the coincidence he hints at, that of all the tax havens in the world we just happen to be borrowing from a company that was formed by the same company that formed BCR Sports, hence the same business address. Wouldn?t it have been a good opportunity to ask who is Vibrac, is it a bank or what? Barclays is, Investec is, what is Vibrac? It?s sad he chooses to dismiss the opportunity on the basis some people chose to wrongly link Robert Earl with either company when there?s no evidence of that. ;-)

Of course there are to be no answers offered on Vibrac, like BCR Sports and Ken Bates? Forward Sports Fund Cayman Islands registered company they?re off shore and we will never know who?s behind them but its okay for almost a quarter of our club to be owned by one and equally okay for us to now borrow millions from another, isn?t it?

There?s a whole host of questions Everton don?t want to answer but isn?t it sad that most journalists just don?t want to ask them? Some do, some of them are at the same paper as Dave Prentice; they put up with all the shit thrown at them because they haven?t been beaten into submission, yet.

I?m of the opinion that publishing this fans letter, within the article, is another attempt to dumb down the real issues. I?m not one who supports calls to sack the board personally, you can?t, it?s their company, but to describe people who do as ?these idiots? would infer that the other people in the St End, opposed to ?these idiots?, aren?t.

Realistically I would say that there are very few calls to sack the board, but I would suggest that, listening to the reaction from the crowd when Kenwright?s face appeared during the same match, that the gentleman with the precious son in the letter refers to, there?s a sizeable majority at the game and indeed online that?s had enough of the chairman saying one thing but meaning another.

Some are quite happy to ignore the obvious; they?ll be calling for unity and to get behind the club and the team; I agree with them, let?s unite in a common cause, nobody needs a gobshite alongside them in a fight....take a look at this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBmZ61e_nVA

Just when you think the Echo could not fall any further from professional reporting they continue to outdo themselves.

"Great article, really cuts to the core of the real problem at Everton, the fans. How many tickets did you need for the weekend was it again Dave?".....

I always wondered what the Latin for cunt was, now I know its "prentice".

Steve,

Reading Comprehension is being able to comprehend/understand what one is reading. You put quotes around a word, attributing it to an author. That is not reading comprehension. You directly quoted him in the exact same sentence. Sorry mate, quotation marks are exactly that, quotations, especially when you directly quote and name the author in the same sentence. You were being misleading and you know it.

Mark #13. Similarities with Leeds ? How about spending and borrowing beyond our means ? Or how about no tangible assets apart from the Players and a ground that is falling to bits ? Or how about a manager and chairman warming each others slippers ? How many more do you need ?

David, I'm not going start teaching English, but I think you are the one doing the misleading here; as Colin #15 says. by calling one lot idiots it implies the others are not idiots i.e. "real" fans. The majority of posters seem to be agreeing with my interpretation of Mr. Prentice's latest foot in mouth piece of "journalism" (see what I did there ? ;-0), you of course have the right to put your own spin on it.

The Liverpool echo is a awful paper with glamourises crime, and carries nothing but grief on the front page. Truly awful paper. prentice has a job for life at the echo if he doesn't rock the boat.

Leeds gambled on the Champions League. They lost. Our plight is a totaly different (ball) game.

So its OK for the echo to slag off liverpool when they had the previous owners, however, we as Evertonians are not allowed to critiscise EFC, rings of reporters from the echo trying to get in the good books of EFC..Also, seem to remember EFC banned the echo some months ago for rubbishing the club.

STOPPED READING THE ECHO THE DAY IT MOVED TO MANCHESTER ANYWAY !

When is a loan not a loan ?.....Mr Prentice you really are a joke of a reporter......is it also called creative accounting ?.....you dingbat!!!

I was once given a great write-up by Prentice,and found him to be a nice guy & a good Blue.

I suspect he's in a difficult position that requires a certain balance on his part.

Last month, the fixed rate on my Building Society mortgage ended. As my bank was offering a better deal than the BS, I remortgaged the outstanding amount with them. Today, I owe no more than I did on the old loan so technically,I have a new loan but for the identical amount. That`s more or less what the Club have done and NOT INCREASED their indebtedness by £13M as so many tried to make out!

I've given up all hope of the national press taking any interest in Everton, but I'm really disappointed (although not surprised) with the echo.

They should have been embarrassed that the BU got the only story in town in recent weeks/months.

But rather than realising they had backed the wrong horse, and finally grasping the nettle and pursuing the story. They scramble back into their bunker, to pencil more warm fuzzy inane stories.

Looks like the 'minority' are on their own.

Richard, i think you should have shopped around more on your mortgage deals. they're are some great deals out there at them moment.

Beside Man City & Chelsea I don't see were any buyouts have made a difference to the clubs stature or trophy's. Man U & the Shite were already in the same position. You could argue that Villa, Pompey, Newcastle, leeds, Southampton, Sheff Wed, Coventry, Blackburn etc were in a much better position before any buy out.
Unless the knight in shinning armour (the one we all hope for) turns up a lot of the fans on here could do with less moaning. We all know the club is desperate for money, how many of these fans buy the programme etc at the match to give extra funds to the club. Small steps but show your loyalty and willing to help anyone can moan and groan when times are tough.
Onwards Evertonians

Yes Richard, Shaun is right

Oh dear.............

Continuing Colin's (#17) theme, here is a motivational management speech from Ian Ross on a Saturday morning at Goodison towers before the "customers" are let in. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlWZZSD4irM

It explains to his minions the reality of their situation. It also shows clearly the mechanisms of how the few in our world control 6 billion of us.

Better still,

Oh Jonathan, how true that seems .....

Richard Dodd, I pride myself as a being a true blue. I?ve had a standing search at Companies House since 2002 so that I can be assuaged of the real state of affairs at EFC.

I became really disgruntled with the club over Kings Dock and Destination Kirkby. By the way, didn?t the club have £30 million and £54 million ring-fenced for KD and DK respectively? Where has that money gone? This is what Kenwright?s apprentice should be asking. KEIOC have been totally vindicated as far as DK is concerned. Anyway, I digress...

Spend £7 and you can find details of Everton?s financial dealings off the field over the last few weeks. You will find that Everton?s recent loan has enabled them to pay off Barclays and all the homeowners in Sandforth Road who stood in the way of them selling Bellefield.

I can go back even further to when the club sold Netherton and bought Finch Farm and then leased it back etc etc. Do your homework.

We are a bankrupt club and I?m disgusted that the local paper is not interested in asking some searching questions like they did over Hicks & Gillet. At the same time, I?m not surprised, as Bill?s luvvie company buy a lot of advertising space in the Echo in order to sell his stage plays.

Richard #10, if the loan had been repaid then the debt had been cleared so why was it necessary to take out another loan to go further into debt?

Also the 'replacement loan' as you call it was with a DIFFERENT financial institution. That's a NEW LOAN in anyone's books.

So David #3, Prentice was able to prove to you that the club didn't take out a loan for £13 million?

Richard #27, you didn't pay off your debt which is why it remains the same.
Prentice states that Everton repaid the debt, and then took out another loan. That NEW LOAN increased the Club's debt.

WHY IS PRENTICE NOT DIGGING INTO THIS.IT IS THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM.

Simon, ?Just going back to the finances, this conversation has gone all over the place?..you were saying before that you can account for where the money has gone?? Bill, ?I didn?t say that, what I said was the accounts are there? Simon, ?Yeah, I know and to be honest I don?t think that anyone is taking a salary out or anything, but one of the things that people are scratching their heads about is this rise in other operating costs, it?s gone from?? Mark, ?It?s gone to £24m so there?s twenty odd million there that Evertonians don?t know about? what?s that?s going on; that?s why we?ve come here, we?ve asked Robert to fill us in?? Bill, ?When you say other operating costs what do you mean?? Simon, ?That?s what it says in the accounts, other operating costs? Mark, ?That?s why there?s so much confusion, they?ve steadily risen?.? Bill, ?I?m sure? whatever accounts you get they go through the most stringent structure imaginable; It?s just a heading, what?s the heading again?? Mark & Simon, ?Other operating Costs? Bill, ?And how much is it?? Mark, ?£24m? Simon, ?And that has steadily risen over the?? Bill, ?Hold on hold on; then you haven?t got the £53m for the players? Hold on, fifty three plus twenty four, well that leaves you four or five for the other???are these other operating costs David? I don?t know, I have no idea?

Meanwhile, back in the real world -

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2030618/No-money-signings-hope--Everton-club-going-nowhere.html?ITO=1490

Andrew #39,I have no concern over the veracity of the accounts as they will have been properly audited and were not qualified by the auditors.Many private companies now choose to present their accounts in this shortened form which allows them to lump a number of former headings together under `other operating costs`.The practice is not good PR for those with `a public interest`profile but perfectly legal nontheless.
A simple statement from the CEO could clear the matter up but,as usual,the Club goes out of its way to attract attention to the issue by staying stum!
What I refuse to believe is that the Chairman is ignorant of what this heading refers to and the figures for the items included.If his ignorance is genuine,I will concur that he is in deriliction of his duty.If,as I suspect,he just doesn`t want to disclose the figures- a stance he is legally entitled to take- he should just say so rather than resorting to prevarication as he is prone to do.A GOOD PR Adviser could obviate these problems in a trice but.......

Whether you disagree with Dave Prentice's point of view or not, don't doubt that he is a proper blue. He has been standing on the terraces watching as a young lad same as you all.

He just doesn't think the 'protest' route is the right approach for the problems we face. He is 100% right as nothing is more likely to collapse the fragile morale around the team.

BK needs to go so put your energy into finding an investment package for the club.

I suppose if Prentice marginalises these Internet trouble makers it is because they are making a lot of noise and getting media attention without the consent of the majority of fans.

When we see a demonstration or meaningful petition I expect he will have no choice but to report on it but currently it's little more than an armchair revolution.

Richard #41 waitng for the rest after your but

The "other" operating costs are a bone of contention for obvious reasons, although as I've said before, a full list of those costs would have been supplied to companies house, abbreviated accounts for a company the size of EFC are not acceptable and, no company could just put down £24M other operating costs and expect companies house or HMRC to accept it without asking questions. Within those costs will be something that the club knows can be used as a stick to beat them with, hence the release of the abbreviated version for general consumption. Prentice makes out he's talking with authority about the ins and outs of this loan, when in fact, he's using guesswork, a lot of posters on here are guilty of the same, I have said before we should deal only with what we know and not what we think we know, I think the various pressure groups might be listened to a bit more if that was the case.

Jonathan 40:
I'm not the greatest fan of the Daily Mail, but that is an excellent piece of journalism in my opinion, for once somebody has listened and understood what a lot of our support are feeling.

Don`t disagree with either of those posts,Steve!

Anyone who doesn't think that our club is a complete mess is totally dilusional. And whose fault is it? Let me see... it must be the fans' as it can't be our wonderful board.

Richard #49 ?Many private companies now choose to present their accounts in this shortened form which allows them to lump a number of former headings together under `other operating costs?

But are those ?many private companies? reporting ?other operating costs? in excess of 1/3 of their expenditure? Go on Billl , sorry Richard, give us an example of one.

?If,as I suspect,he just doesn`t want to disclose the figures- a stance he is legally entitled to take? ? Is he??? Was Al Capone legally entitled to not disclose his figures to the tax man??

^by the way Richard in case you don't know, Capone was convicted of tax evasion.

Steve Smith
44 Posted 27/08/2011 at 12:03:02
?Within those costs will be something that the club knows can be used as a stick to beat them with? referring to ?other operating costs.

Richard Dodd
46 Posted 27/08/2011 at 13:31:17
Don`t disagree with either of those posts,Steve!

So Richard as a Club insider, what IS the big stick?

I read the article and also the rest of the Echo as i get the thing delivered (i know. its a habit i'm trying to break) and in the same paper we had reports of people dying of malnutrition and disease in East Africa, more people dying and being bombed in Libya, reports of victims of the English riots and more casualties in Afghanistan. Then i read of a 29 year old crying because he witnessed a fight between a few football supporters!!!