Here We Go

Think the TV mega deal means we can keep the vultures away provided we finish high up in league. To be fair we spend a load on wages as opposed to transfer fees but you're right our transfer policy is based on selling which is disappointing.

Why are we on the same road as Leeds and Portsmouth? They sniffed success and followed it up by paying huge transfer fees and wages for players that could only be afforded by prolonged success. We haven't done that, there's a wage structure in place and (annoyingly for us all) our transfer budget appears to be non-existent.

Yes there are problems but we're not some sort of Rangers or Portsmouth type basketcase, Liverpool have arguably sold more top players than we have over the last few years. Rooney, Lescott, Arteta and Pienaar are probably the only 4 that fans would have wanted to keep. Of these at least three forced their own transfer and wanted to leave (one of which now seemingly wants to return). Over 10 years this is not the behaviour of a selling club, or even a sell-to-survive club.

Liverpool sold off Alonso, Mascherano, Arbeloa, Torres, Benayoun and Meireles to teams above them, all in recent seasons, and now the vultures are coming for Skrtel and Suarez. Arsenal have sold Fabregas, Nasri, Henry and Hleb to teams above them. United sold Ronaldo, Spurs are selling Modric.

A compariosn with clubs such as Villa, Newcastle and Liverpool show us to be a club that can generally keep hold of their big names for a long period and only sell their top assets for big fees in the main. There's been a few mess-ups such as the Pienaar debacle but mostly our top players have been tied into long term contracts.

Other clubs sell all the time then they use this money and they buy, look at Newcastle last season. For some reason though we fail to accept our position in the football food chain, quite happy to take lower clubs' talent but then get in an outrage when teams with megabucks come along and steal a few players.

We could have sold Jagielka to Arsenal; if Moyes had done, we would have been slated for being a selling club. Now that he hasn't and he's still with us, people are complaining that he's old with no sell-on value and should have been sold. Can't have it both ways.

People kicked up a fuss that Beckford and Yakubu got sold, even though at the time neither were good enough. There's no need for a frenzy any time the s-word is mentioned – it's just a part of football that for some reason we seem unable as a fan group to accept.

James, the difference between Arsenal and us is that they were not reliant on the transfer fee to keep the club afloat. The reason many believe as to why those big name players wanted out of Arsenal in recent seasons is because the club apparently lacked ambition. To the players, the club wouldn't spend the wads of cash it has on a squad that would compete with City, Chelsea and Utd. It's a pity for the Board and Wenger because they are genuinely trying to run the club as a sensible business and refuse to pay silly wages or huge fees on players. Their big name players refused to show a sense of loyalty and buy into this. For the players, and their agents, Arsenal's spare cash equated to more wages for them.

I know several Arsenal fans who are in two minds about the club's financial policies and while they can see the sense in not paying over the odds, they are still fans and want to see their club winning things. If winning means spending the silly money, football fans, in their funny little world, can accept that.

With Everton, our transfer policy is the only working finance plan we have and even this plan is starting to become worn out. If you look at the names that Tom has listed in his piece, there are only five players that would generate decent money. That's a fifth of a very small squad. It is frightening to think that Jagielka, is fast approaching thirty and will soon cease to be the walking bag of transfer cash we all thought he would be. I know this sentence sounds overly dramatic but my point is that this is here the club is at transfer wise.

I certainly agree with you James in that we usually do manage to sell players on at our own speed. I think that the selling to keep the banks happy, while true, is usually a last resort. I don't think our relationship with the banks is that poor and I certainly don't think we are any where near being a Portsmouth or a Leeds. I do also think that most of the players we have had at the club have been very loyal and I think that in fairness, both Moyes and the club must be doing something right to generate this loyalty. Baines for example, could easily have agitated for a move over the last couple of season. I think Felliani, for all his talk, could have been snapped up by another club over the last season or to if he had really wanted to.

I do think though that if things don't change soon, things could become a lot worse. There was an article on this website recently which many agreed with that stated that this season coming could be a make or break season, both on and off the pitch. I think that this is correct and if you look at just the transfer argument, the law of diminishing returns could be a huge part of it.

Tom Owen,

I was hoping you had something new to say, which is why I read all thru' your article. I was wrong. You simply regurgitated what has been said on these boards all summer long.

Yes, it will solicit response but there will be nothing of substance in any of them – just they same old, same old – over and over again.

Give it a rest, and enjoy what summer there is – que sera sera!!

PS The article should have been titled - 'Here we go AGAIN'

I agree Bob, but what else is there?
We are all waiting in angst on the Pienaar deal, and until then we will all be nervous.

Jimmy, I think you need to get out more, mate...

James,

The trouble is we are not really much of a buying club either though, are we? All of those other clubs bought players as well as sold them. In the last 4 years or so, I think I am right in saying that the only players we have bought (i.e. not on a free) were Jelavic and Gibson, and even they were funded by selling Billy.
We are looking at buying Pienaar now, but can't do so without selling Yobo. My own personal view is that we will struggle to get Pienaar even with the Yobo cash. I can't see Spurs selling him to us for less than £5 million.
And all of this doesn't include the mass exodus last summer - Arteta,Vaughan,Beckford, Yakubu etc.
Not a selling club my arse!

Bob Willis, what is it with you? On another mailbag offering you attempt to belittle the author because he spelt "gilt" as "guilt"...then on this one you have a go at Tom Owen.

Here's an idea: why not try to stop being a prick?

No offence like.

Because they have no choice: the Club is being run as it should be run and that is within its means. Arsenal are also doing the same and that is to their great credit as they are the only top 4/5 team that is. Chelsea and City have benefactors, United float on a sea of debt that can be serviced only as long as they are successful, and Liverpool are a financial train wreck just waiting to happen.

I'd love to see the club get an owner in who could pay off our debt and establish some kind of sustainability but I'd prefer that they keep the current philosophy of buying well, developing in house and selling well rather than find a mythical Sheikh or Oligarch to buy us unsustainable success.

We have a lot to be proud about in that we are stabilising at a reasonable level after being technically bankrupt; we have some very good players and can play some joined-up stuff at times and we don't have the humiliation of seeing the club buying dross like Ginola and Gazza.

If we get Pienaar back, if Jack and Ross step up to the plate as I believe they can, and if Naismith dovetails well with Jelavic, then we could just have a surprise season. All I ask for is some consistency and no repeat of that dreadful capitulation at Anfield and some of the awful performances against weaker clubs. Whilst I'd love to see them get into Europe, I won't class it as mediocrity if they don't.

Bob Willis - OUCH !

Your evisceration of Tom's post is dripping with ennui.

Must be very boring for you to have to mix with us intellectual lowlifes and correct our grammatical errors.

Martin,

I can't accept that the club is being run as it should be run. What, by asset stripping? Remember, this board have had 13 years. They haven't just inherited our mess. If they are not part of the solution, they are part of the problem.

Time for them to sell up, for a new owner to come in and clear the debt, and give us a fighting chance again.

Danny, EFC hasn't really been guilty of asset stripping. They have sold physical assets to pay for players and that isn't asset stripping. In the 13 years that I have seen under the present board, the club has improved from bankrupt, no hoper, relegation candidates to a team that is far better than we should realistically expect for the spending power we have. We are still technically bankrupt but at least we have hope. Your solution is a new owner, clear the debt and give us a fighting chance? Where is such a buyer going to come from being that we are possibly the worst potential buy in football. What is your plan B based on us not getting a buyer?
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see EFC get a rich buyer but the chances are negligible. I'm changing my view of the present EFC set up btw and my personal feeling is that in the absence of the rich buyer I prefer the present set up to any unknown alternative.

Martin,

From the 19 clubs we will face this season, 17 of them have been bought out while Kenwright has been in charge of Everton. Some of them have been bought out several times. The other 2 are Wigan and Fulham i.e. two small clubs being propped up by mega-rich businessmen, the likes of whom they could never improve on, so they clearly don't need new owners. Us on the other hand...

I accept we have our limitations – debt, limited assets, mortgaged to the hilt, tied into 3rd party deals etc. But I can't accept we are so unattractive that we are the only club in the Prem needing investment that hasn't had it. Our playing squad alone must be worth £100 million.

We have one of the best youth systems in the land that will surely produce more gems in years to come. We also have a big fanbase. The right owner could market us in many different countries across the globe, on the back of the likes of Howard, Jelavic, Fellaini etc. (I would have said Bily and Cahill 12 months ago but for some reason our current board don't seem to want to exploit the opportunity of getting into Russia and Australia.)

I think we were voted the 23rd biggest brand in football a few months back. We have the best pound for pound manager in the top flight. I could go on.

Key to the whole thing is paying off the debt. This will transform us into a club that breaks even, which changes the whole picture at Everton. Any prospective buyer will first of all weigh up the asking price and the price to pay off the debt (in the short term). Long term, there will be the issue of the stadium, I accept that. But in the short term, I cannot accept there is not a businessman out there (like Fernandes who bought QPR) who doesn't want to raise his international profile by buying Everton. It all has to come back to the asking price, which has never been revealed by the current incumbents.

If we can't get a buyer, what is Plan B you say? Well Plan B is what we have got now. But I am now fed up with Plan B. Plan B needs to sell the club more aggressively. Revealing a price would help this tenfold, we would be in every newspaper in the land if they came out and said they will let us go for £50 million. It would drum up a bit of attention if nothing else. But I guess it will never happen because Plan B doesn't want us to find Plan A, or C, D, E etc. We'll still have Plan B in charge in 5 years time at this rate...

Danny

Most people's solution for the future of the club is like me saying I think I'll win the lottery next week and then I'll pay of my debts and everything will be rosy. We do have many positive things going for the club but even allowing for that I doubt that we would find a buyer if the asking price was nothing because of the debt and future liabilities. Other clubs have been sold because the buyers obviously saw some justification in the purchase, how anybody could justify buying our club is beyond me. I doubt we could be sold if we were located in London. We live in hope though, meanwhile it's plan B.

Martin,
You keep repeating a very weak argument, even when overwhelming evidence is offered against it. As Danny stated.... practically ALL other clubs have changed hands in the same period (some very recently). So, far from it being a "lottery win", it's been the absolute norm, with us the ONLY exception. A club with all the attributes that Danny listed? You can go through the whole league to find similar change of ownership stories. Against that backdrop there can be no other reason for our lack of success in finding new owners, other than the motives of our current owners and their pricing of any transaction.....

I believe you are also you are confusing the board's successes with those of Moyes. What has been achieved has been despite this board and not because of it. You, or ,I or our hamster could've presided over the past 13yrs with similar input.

Looks like QPR are going to build a 38k stadium (which is bigger than their record attendance and double their average)........ That would be like Everton building a 100k stadium, that's how much bigger we are than them (conservatively). Lottery wins appear to be happening all around us!!!