Toffeeweb - The Mail Bag - Trust Everton? vs TrustEverton!

Trust Everton? vs TrustEverton!

7 Comments: First | Last

Where are we with this, how is it coming along?

To my mind, the Board have yet to admit that there is even a problem, nevermind a plan to fix it... Crisis? What crisis? They just come out and state: "These are the circumstances we find ourselves in today..." and add, with an unspoken shrug, "Well, what can ya do about things?"

I don't think there is one magic bullet, one plan to rule them all type of thing. What we require is any number of plans... short-term plans, mid-term plans and long-term plans.

For all we know, the Board's plan might now consist of selling off 'x' millions of talent for the next 4 or 5 seasons and that's the debt sorted.

I get the feeling that, behind the scenes, there is a lot of financial bobbing and weaving going on as the incumbents and/or usual suspects (take your pick) look to sort out some sort of endgame... exit strategy.

By it's very nature, the TrustEverton is at best a mid-term solution (5+ years) but every week counts in the old compound interest game.

How long before 'we' ? the prospective contributors ? get to start on our own mid- to long-term plan?

And when we get to the 5+ years down the track, how can we best wield our compound interest stick?

Hopefully not, that the only thing we can do with said stick is to put it in the ground as a marker: RIP EFC... gone but not forgotten.

On the football front, the two new loan signings and Arteta out may "force Moyes's hand" re his stodgy and turgid version of 4-5-1... or will it be Big Vic and 10 or 20 mins from the bench for the new guys???

Next weekend's team sheet will go a huge way in defining how our on-field season shapes up.

Derek Thomas, Brisbane Posted 04/09/2011 at 01:42:55

back Return to the Mail Bag : Add your Comments

Comments

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer

Tony I'Anson
1 Posted 04/09/2011 at 07:42:43

Report abuse

Derek, Trust Everton is definitely a long-term plan that will hopefully out live all of us. I will highlight your article to the team working on this and suggest that we post an update via your posting.

David Hallwood
2 Posted 04/09/2011 at 09:49:06

Report abuse

Nice one, Tony! The reason I've had it with the club is not that Bill hasn't got the kind of cash that is needed to compete these days (hardly his fault) or that no buyers have come forward (wrong economic climate, too much outlay) but what appears to be a complete lack of any type of business plan which should be at the heart of any big to medium sized business.

We appear to be (and none of us have inside information) floating rudderless as the debt mounts up and loans are taken out to pay off other loans, and like any business if income is outstripping expenditure and there is no money to invest, it is only a matter of time before the company will hit the rocks.

Perhaps the board's plan is to cross their collective fingers and hope Rodwell and Barkley both have blinders of a season and the 'big boys' will come in with stupid offers ? if that's the case then we have become Burnley (if anyone remembers the 1970s) or West Ham.

There appears to be no appetite for a rights issue or a fan share option that would bring new money into the club but would obviously reduce the existing shareholders stake in the club. Maybe DK has ripped the heart out of the board and they haven?t got the stomach for the fight anymore, and are just praying that some mug comes along with a stupid offer. If that?s the case, they should be fattening up the beast for sale not letting it die a slow, malnourished death.

Eric Myles
3 Posted 04/09/2011 at 11:34:34

Report abuse

A rights issue does not have to dilute the existing shareholders stake in the Club, they just have to put their hands in their pockets and buy more shares to maintain their majority.

Matt Traynor
4 Posted 04/09/2011 at 11:59:00

Report abuse

With the increase in players wages, a rights issue would not be the answer. £15m would pay for 5-6 players salaries for a year. We'd be back at square one in no time.

Plus, as we know, the current incumbents will not undertake a rights issue as Eric points out ? they'd need to spend their own cash to maintain their position.

Dennis Stevens
5 Posted 04/09/2011 at 13:37:46

Report abuse

I'm hopeful that the Trust would be a vehicle for supporters to indirectly gain a stake in the club. The obvious targets, to my mind, are Goodison Park & Finch Farm & it would be marvellous if one day these assets were owned by the Trust & leased to the club for a peppercorn rent. This would then put the Trust in the leading position regarding redevelopment of the stadium. The Board would have to concentrate on running the football club more effectively as a business.

Michael Kenrick
6 Posted 04/09/2011 at 15:24:57

Report abuse

I suspect the biggest reason why there has been no interest in a wrights issue is that the prospectus has to be underwritten by someone with money ? enough money to guarantee buying any or all of the new shares that are not taken up. That is exactly what Peter Johnson did, to both increase his stake in the club and increase the overall wealth of the club

As we know, sadly there is no-one connected with Everton who is remotely interested in casting their good money after bad. A much better bet is for TrustEverton to secure lower-level more reasonable funding to obtain a majority of shares from the incumbents and turn us more towards ownership by the fans, while we build our reputation as the Barcelaona of the North!

Brendan McLaughlin
7 Posted 04/09/2011 at 20:46:24

Report abuse

David #2
The reason you've had it with Everton....is the complete lack of a business plan! Fucking second funniest thing I've read on this site all week.

Add Your Comments

In order to post a comment to the MailBag, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.

Log in now

Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and MailBag submissions across the site.