20 Long Years And Counting…

It does make for sorry reading when you pile it all in together... but I just can't help feeling the ghost of the Blue Union and the incredible surge of derision they attracted from rank and file Evertonians will forever prevent any such groundswell from making waves — never mind actually changing anything.

㿈million paid for Lukaku? Are you having a laugh – we paid ٣M with the remainder paid over his contract,

The manager stated he needed 5 new players; we signed... Who? Where has the Fellaini, Jelevic, Anichibe money gone??? It will be interesting to see what our other operating costs are this time around.

This club is a joke and it's the fans who are to blame; the other lot would have had him hanging from the gates. Never Mind about "Be careful what you wish", for I just wish the fans would grow a pair and hound Billy Liar out of the club. But it seems like most are happy to have the high moral ground with the stance "we don't do that sort of thing at Everton."

And to think he nearly had us playing in a Tesco car park... UNFORGIVABLE!

A large number of blues seem to be happy with Kenwright and Co and, because he is a blue, it seems his complete lack of investment in the club (or lack of investment from fellow millionaire directors) is allowed to be seen as fair and above criticism. He isn't really interested in selling so what is the point in having him around??

The press seem to totally disregard his complete failure to take the club forward. I don't understand why they seem happy to bang the "Good, solid Evertonian" drum to be honest. I appreciate he is not minted but surely he should be looking for investment from outside.

If he does want outside investment, it's completely on his terms and it's never happened in 15 years of his stewardship. Whatever he is doing must make sane business people laugh.

This club was a giant in the 80s when I grew up; now we are happy to be in the top 10 of the Premier League with a sell-to-buy mentality that is pathetic. Once players are sold to keep the club afloat, they are then painted in the press as being "Money grabbing bastards".

Shameful.

I get fed up listening to people, some of whom have not been to the game for 30 years or more, telling me what a great Blue Kenwright is. I tell them he is a pseudo Blue, someone who knows next to nothing about football, it's purely a power thing with him. The sorriest part of it is we are stuck with the ------------. [Put your own adjective in.]

With the additional TV money in the offing, it is possible some American tycoons will be sniffing around clubs like Everton. Americans have expertise in making sporting franchises deliver a profit so we can look forward to remaining competitive and paying higher prices for season tickets.

As for winning trophies, that will be a secondary consideration.

We will need a new ground and that takes time. New owners want to see their money have an immediate impact, and with us needing a new ground, and possibly buying our training ground back, it will take a huge investment over many years. Then you have to ask with the FFP rules in place it will make it a lot harder for any new owners to have the same impact that the owners of Man City had.

Then you can't overlook the other clubs competing for new investment; we only have to look at another club with a similar fan base to us: Aston Villa – seems Lerner cant give them away.

Then there are the London clubs who will always be a bigger draw than Everton: West Ham are moving to an iconic venue which will definitely attract new owners; Tottenham have got the go-ahead to build a new ground and have the funds to build it right away; there is even talk of Crystal Palace getting new American owners.

So, despite our frustration in the lack of investment, maybe we have to realize we are not the attraction we once were.

It was Walter that put me wise to that Charlatan Shyster of a Chairman's 'exploits' 8-9 years ago and and I have followed the non-progressive / hoplessly flawed propaganda spins and rumoured change in fortunes that never materialised, tracing back to as we now know to the Kings Dock fiasco ever since.

I also have two neighbours who used to work for him in his theatres that told me of incidents and stories of his antics in his other domain down in 'luvvysville'.

The Blue Union have had a fair crack at him in the past, but again unfortunately... failed. Although they did highlight the supposed offer of 𧶀mil to buy the club which he allegedly / really did turn down. I think all-in-all the best scenario with the club was that we should've imploded a long time back, but Moyes's hard-set football dogma kept the corpse alive, so to speak, and therefore let this situation continue to the present day.

I know the argument of the Hull owner analogy but, let's face it, 'owt's better than... fuck all! As for the ٟ.2 billioned "Board of Directors"... who have never put as much as a porridge oat into the club for players etc, all I can say is this to any supporter who dosen't believe that is part of the problem, sadly.

So what's left, then? Well, all I can say and I have said the same thing over and over again, on this site and to every Evertonian I come into contact with, and that's that the Liverpool supporters / fanbase would not have put up with our situation for ONE season — let alone 15!!! It really is down to us now, people.

In the meantime, the new riches in the Premier League will allow them to sit back and do nothing. They are no longer affected by season ticket renewals, sponsorship or marketing. It all pales into significance compared to the hundreds of millions every club will receive. They don't need a new ground, a plan going forward, or a trophy. As long as they can keep us in on the gravy train, that's all they care about.

Everton is mere toy for Bill & chums, they have never had a serious plan for our improvement. Ever.

They are brilliant PR people, and the majority of Evertonians fall for it every time.

The press would rather blow RS than dig into us. Plus a few 100 dollars in cold cuts in press row works wonders on the press rather then investing an extra 㿞M in the team.

Currently there are three teams who are playing in a different league: Chelsea, Man City and Man Utd. Two who are supported with megabuck owners and one genuine world brand money-making machine. These are the only sides who have won a title in the last ten years.

Follow that with three more who are comparatively rich: Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs. These are the sides that are normally competing for a CL place.

We are in the next tier with Aston Villa. Teams with relatively big fan bases but light years behind in being able to compete financially. And then there is everyone else avoiding relegation from the PL gravy train.

In some seasons, some sides do better than their financial position; in others, they do worse but ultimately it's the way it plays out. You can gnash you teeth all you like but the landscape has changed.

It's a hard realisation especially if like me you have watched an Everton side that was the best in Europe – but believe me it's liberating.

I do reluctantly agree with your premise, and would be hard-pressed to give a valid argument as to why Everton under the present circumstances could realistically ever be Champions of England, but surely part of following any sports team is the dream of one day seeing your club as the best in the country.

I would also like to believe that we could add a cup to our list of honours but, seeing as we rarely seem to take those competitions seriously, begs the question as to why we keep on attending football matches in relatively huge numbers – it's not as if the entertainment on offer is riveting viewing.

It never did make much sense to attend football matches on a regular basis year on year, but now it would appear it is utter madness on our behalf. BK can have the club for ever if we have no dreams, and what will be the use of a 55,000 capacity stadium if the fans' and owners' sole ambition is to pick up the odd cup and achieve a season or two in the Champions League once in a decade or so?

If we had a 55,000 stadium, we would be an attractive proposition for an investor. Then we could dream of winning the league again. It's a very big 'if' of course.

As for naming our price, it has been said by the press that Lerner wants 𧵎M for Villa. We are of a comparable size so that sounds like the benchmark.

Sadly, I see no evidence of this. I think this is just fanciful, wishful thinking on Mark's part, borne out of the obvious frustration he feels. Amongst fellow Blues, the only questioning I see and hear is of the manager, not the board.

Michael @ 2 and Tom @ 10 in this thread allude to Blue Union's attempts to instigate a movement and closer inspection of Bill and the rest of the EFC board.

The BU were well intentioned and had the best interests of the club in mind, but, to be brutally honest, their failure to gain a groundswell of support is evidence perhaps that Evertonians just don't 'do' demos or campaigns against the club.

As much as it may make uncomfortable reading for supporters of BU, rather than engage with and convert fans to their cause, they succeeded only in alienating them and drove fans to support BK, rather than oppose or at the very least question him.

The interview three BU members had with Bill in London, the transcript of which was subsequently revealed online, had some powerful, revealing content which should have been cause for concern for many a Blue and great propaganda for the BU cause.

Instead, the way it was handled and the insistent denial by BU that they had NOT recorded the interview (which was just not credible, given the fullness of the transcript) or betrayed confidentially agreements (more plausible, as in the meeting Bill actually encourages them to take notes and share the info with others), proved an own goal for BU instead of the coup it could have been.

The re,sult? At the next home game, when BK's mug appeared on the stadium big screens, spontaneous applause of support from the majority of match goers.

IMO BU further lost credibility in March 2012, just 6 months after their famous 'clown' march outside Goodison, by saying they were 'suspending' protests and their campaign as the team were doing well in the league and they did not want to be seen as a disruptive influence.

Eh?

Look ... either you believe in the justness of your cause, or you don't. Whilst the playing side and the stewardship of the club are naturally intertwined, in this case they can be separated. The deep-rooted problems the BU wish to raise don't evaporate simply because the team is performing well on the pitch. Any momentum gained was lost with that announcement.

In June 2012, the BU announced that protests were to resume with 'immediate effect'. In truth, what have we seen or heard from BU other than 1-2 meetings with a few 100 followers at the Casa? Nothing.

I'm not writing this to denigrate those Blues behind the BU movement. In part, they represent some of the feelings and attitudes I have about EFC under BK's chairmanship.

I'm just highlighting that the author of the article related to this thread is probably mistaken in his belief that there is finally some kind of awakening or questioning of Bill and the board, as evidenced by the apathy shown to the single vehicle – the BU – that in the last 4 years has at least tried to instigate change at EFC, or at the very least challenge and question the powers that be at the club.