Season 2011-12
The Mail Bag
Cost Cutting
22 Comments: Is it just me, or has anybody else noticed the cost cutting taking place on match days? Food service bays closed in the Top Balcony to save on minimum wages. The now regular event of the escalators being mysteriously ?out of order? to save on electricity ? cynical I know, but probably true. It is a medical fact that it?s healthier to take the stairs, but the club should worry about the player?s fitness rather than mine. Now there?s a subject ? the players fitness. Was there anyone on the pitch against Bolton fit enough to play for our once great club?
So soon after Christmas we still had pantomime dame midfielders. Cries of ?It?s behind you, oh no it?s not; it?s passed you by? were directed at Neville, Heitinga and Cahill (when he came on), as the journeymen of the league?s bottom club played neat effective football in the unplayable conditions. How can professional footballers, men who spend all week practising their skills, studying the next opponents, receiving a plan to win the game from their manager; not have the basic skills to actually play the game.
That was a clueless, statuesque, static performance. It was like watching game of subbuteo football; all that was missing was the metal rod connecting the ?bank of four? across the middle of the pitch.
I know David Moyes is a pragmatic realist; he understands that we need to limp to the safety of 40 points. He obviously believes that the only way to do this with the present squad is to grind out results, and who can argue with that. The problem is that it is mind numbingly boring to watch and is driving the crowds down.
It will be interesting to see how well the team presently wallowing in 15th place in the Blue Square Conference contend with our fearsome four this Saturday.
Ken Jones, Posted 05/01/2012 at 21:48:15
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http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1004564/ken-bates-predicts-doomsday-for-football-finance?cc=3888
Leeds chairman Ken Bates has predicted a doomsday scenario for football in 2012 and thinks that banks will finally stop supporting financially-crippled clubs
"The s**t is about to hit the proverbial fan in football this year, mark my words,'' he told ESPNsoccernet. "The banks will no longer lend money to football clubs. There has already been a hint of this at Blackburn, but I know for a fact that at least three banks have crossed football off. I see football clubs facing increasing financial debt, but no longer will the banks bail them out. "The banks don't want to admit this, because they know it will attract some unsavoury reaction from certain sections of clubs' support. They don't want to be the man who bounces a football club's cheque. They don't want a brick coming through their window.
The statement might be over the top, but not if you are Everton. He is in the business, and should know. So, I think you might be on to something.
You could do the US model of salary caps, but then that means we struggle against Real Madrid, Barcelona etc so it wont happpen either
I suspect Moyes would claim that most of his fringe midfielders were unavailable or struggling with injury (Rodwell?),but `what we have we hold`was always likely to become a chancey option on such a wind-blown night.
Having said that,our so-called strikers are so totally ineffectual that hoping they could `nick one`has become the greatest gamble of all and even with three of their ilk up front,I wouldn`t back them for the task.
So odd,of course,is Moyes`reaction to those who do manage to find the net,
The Yak was banished as soon as he showed a return to form in last year`s derby,Vellios is seen no more since bagging a couple and now Victor gets dropped for the offence of scoring last week.Presumably,whilst they were putting the ball in the net they were ignoring their drill-time responsibilities to be covering Hibber`s back.
All so very strange but strangely
predictable from a manager who has lost all sense of logic whilst his world collapses around him.
The property market in north Liverpool is so slow at present though. I've a relative with a two bedroom terraced house in Kirkdale, with a leaky roof and rising damp. My relative tells me that he is constantly on the look out for a buyer and as soon as he gets an offer in the region £300,000 he's getting shut of it.
Sounds like a bargain. Can't believe it's not sold. Have you tried looking 24/7?
How about that bloke in the bedsit in Manchester?
1 If they were repaired or maintained, why are they unavailable so soon?
2 Does this only become an issue at night matches?
3 Is there a cost choice between escalators or floodlights?
4 Would we be better playing in the dark?
5 Has anyone got a shilling for the meter?
6 Could the escalators be used only going up before the game?
7 Are the team going down?
8 Could we install one of those moving walkways, so popular at airports, on the pitch --to help the midfield to make a move forward?
9 Would they end up in the departure lounge?
It all sounds terminal to me.
I also noticed a closed food service bay, but really, to say this is down to the club is ridiculous as it has been outsourced a point for which they were maligned. Seems they are damned if they do an......
In terms of the escalator being switched off to save costs its a bit of a tricky one if true as any machinery needs to be ran to reduce the risk of it seizing and causing other failures, it will be equally likely to break left off for long periods as it will be in use.
"Old, clapped out etc " could be a description of Goodison and also our squad.
Seriously though the Fire Service had to attend Goodison Rd before the match Wednesday night but was it for the escalators or for a strong smell of rubbish.
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1 Posted 06/01/2012 at 06:23:23
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Jesus have mercy, Moyes is helpless to do anything creative, to pick defenders to play in midfield is unheard of in many countries, but Moyes does it like he is coaching a conference side, come to think of it we play and look more and more like exactly that.
To be honest I am sick of being so negative about Everton, but I only reflect what I see. It is painful too watch Yakubu hitting 13 goals at Blackburn while we struggle for even a single goal. Even Donovan looked bad and depressed.
Moyes needs to resign, there is no other way to get the mood back. Enough is enough.